Europe - Day 1

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After a 12 hr flight from Bangalore to Vienna (connecting via Delhi) i was ready to soak in Europe. Everything about this trip was new to me, the fact that i needed a visa, food, culture and the number of white people around! I mean i know they exist but I thought it was always around people who aren't white and with fake accents.

We landed in Vienna and the few things i noticed were

- The number of security gates and lines we had to stand in were minimal. It was almost like they trusted us.

- The aroma (which didn't stay very alluring after a few days) of bread and cured meat.

- Everyone was clothed fashionably

- It was easy to get out and reach the city

We hired a cab, and we walked down to the basement with the driver. It was effortless and nothing about it was fishy; at home drivers are standing around with the bunch of others to jump up and say "Yes ma'am. I take you, where you go"

The driver asked if we were new here and suggested the places we could go to. He talked about how Vienna is a place for people who love culture and history, not for partying. Apparently his previous customers didn't see anything in Amsterdam but the clubs (sounds like the kind of thing young people do). He dropped us off after pointing out places we could eat and shop. We had arrived at our hostel - Wombats.

I have seen hostels in movies. I was wondering how I would fit into an environment of partying and wet t-shirt contests. I was wrong, again. Here, the bar was equipped with Jenga and other fun broad games and closed down at 12! There were a few people around, but around a pool table or playing Foosball.

Disappointed (secretly relieved) we dropped our bags in the room and went in search of a restaurant. This was after meeting our roommate, hot half naked guy who slept through the day and didn't come in till late in the night. We ended up in a Turkish restaurant and ordered more than we would eat. However, the meat was so succulent sometimes charred around the edges. However I am not a big fan of the leafy vegetables they served, who eats that raw? also where is the cooked lentil to go along with it?

As we were walking back to the hostel I noticed that all the shops and streets were lit. Nobody sleeping on the pavements. No garbage lying around. The air doesn't smell of anything. It was lovely. I felt like I was in Bangalore after a zombie Apocalypse, who after eating up on brains also cleaned the place up. The street that we walked around had many shops lined up that made my day(as I was on a budget that only allowed window shopping). The jewelry was the kind I liked, subtle but expensive. The clothes were chic and mainly in blues and blacks with color added in for a pop every now and then.

We came back to the hostel as we were sleepy. I settled in to one of the bunk beds (not noticing the graffiti and puke until I had woken up) and slept through complete silence.

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