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Published: June 24th 2008
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FOOTBALL
just bizzare.. "The streets of Vienna are paved with culture"
We've watched the games the past few weeks and cheered on the Country in which we were of course..but to finally be here in Vienna where it's all being hosted was mental...Unfortunately i think it has taken a lot of this culture that Karl Kraus speaks of, away from the streets of this city......It has so much to offer but it's all hidden beneath so much building structures and advertisings just put up for the matches...
We stayed in a pretty amazing hostel out in Westbahnhof..The wombats hostel-The base, but never got to appreciate it's greatness as we were only there for the night....It had amazing facillities such as the pub and what not...The first thing i noticed when we got here was the fact there were PUBLIC phones and call centres to be found, this meant i could finally make one or two cheap phone calls home to friends at last...
All we managed to do the first day was eat and sleep..I awoke the next morning and I couldn't BREATH. My throat had completely blocked up and i was gasping for air...It was
the strangest feeling and was so shaken by it for a good few hours after...During the day though it quickly went away and all i'm left with now is a deep chesty cough to remember it by...
We made it to the town centre early enough...First though we made a quick pit stop at an electrical store to buy a new camera...After spending a hundred and forty euro on a new camera we then realised that it had been my Memory card that was the problem all along....Dear lord...When will this black cloud over my head ever leave me be???But we returned to the shop and very nicely asked to return the camera and bought a new card for 14 euro instead...Happy Days...
Once that was over with we made it to the street with all the museums and had breakfast high up in this "Kurler" cafe type place. It was built up on high scafolding over a famous garden in Vienna just for the duration of the Euro 2008....It was this famous coffee maker thingy, where they held demonstrations all day on how to make their coffee or even apple struddle...very strange altogether but the nicest breakfast
THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN
A city of boys/men making there way to the matches.... we've had yet..They brought out a massive spread of food and drinks for us, all for a reasonable enough price...
Then we went to check out some of the museums that Vienna is so well known for..At the entrance of the main square which holds most of them, we came across a hilarious display of gigantic Soccer Boots for the Euro 2008, each boot representing a country in it...Nice idea though, it has to be said..
The first Art museum we visited was the Leopold Museum..Amazingly put together, It's a collection of paintings by a number of artists all donated by the Leopold Family, Rudolf and Elizabeth Leopold in 2001. It holds the world's largest Schiele collection. It also offers an extensive selection of works by Gustav Klimt. It has original pieces of Art Nouveau furniture on show here as well! I would definitely recommend that you get an audio guide also because it think you come away from the exhibition with way more by doing this...I think it was only like three euro and worth every cent for sure...There's plenty more to see around this area but the Leopold Museum is currently the most-visited museum in the
HEAVEN ON EARTH
we're in The cente of ViennA...the weather is glorious...Beautiful park..yes..i think we shall lay here for a bit.. Vienna MuseumsQuartier!
In Vienna we also saw one of the MOST bizzare churches yet in the centre..Stephans Dom...With some very oddly white shaped objects hanging from the ceiling reflecting the lights from all different angles...It was free also..Which ALWAYS brings a smile to my face ( Yes i know mother, I AM my father's daughter before you say anything)...
The streets In Vienna are quite simply beautiful. Lots of fountains to be seen, Plenty of shops to explore and many Restaurants for you to choose from! I was surprised also at how reasonably priced everything was. I had been so sure that they'd up all the prices during the soccer events but no, it appears only where one lays their head at night that they have increased it's value...
We went and visited the Mozart Museum, a house in which he lived for a few years during his Peak in Vienna. It was money well spent. Audio guides came with your ticket that worked just like mobile phones held up to your ears. It was a pretty cool experience walking through the same rooms he composed some of the most incredible pieces of all time, still recognisable
today! It went through his life story and works and everything you really needed to know about him. Looking out at the little alleys from the apartment's window, it almost sent shivers down my spine..Mozart looked out at that same view on a daily basis not so long ago...Fascinating stuff no???Well I think so anyway...
Nearing the end of the day, the sun was still shinning brightly so we stopped at a park and threw ourselves down in the sun for an hour or so and listened to music as we watched the world go by...We later took a train ride to bratislava on quite possibly the SMALLEST train i've ever seen in my life..A tiny carriage on its very lonesome with only a few seats inside...
Within moments we were leaving Vienna behind and with the weather improving by the day we looked forward to every moment ahead of us..It's suprising what some sunshine can do to a backpacker who's been taken over by a bit of bad luck isn't it??ha ha..yes..indeed..
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