Advertisement
Published: June 24th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Garden
A garden in Vienna oh man. how many problems can two young travelers encounter in 3 days....i´ll tell you how many. a lot.
so like i said...after our ridiculously long day of travel we finally made it to vienna. it is gorgeous here. the architecture alone is worth going to see. we spent our only day there simply wandering around soaking it all in. we wandered around the ring road that used to be the old city wall. its really pretty, it goes all the way around the old city and is surrounded by old buildings, including the pretty spectacular parliament building and the unfinished cathedral...the damn thing has been under construction since around the 1300s. as you can all probably see we are getting really sick of the tourist stuff. we´ve stopped going to all the museums and churches in each city. we are at the point now that we just like to simply walk around and people watch and enjoy what the city has to offer. of course there are the occasional museum or church that we end up going into...but after awhile all the art and artifacts and chapels and stained glass start to look the same.
but anyway....we
did end up going into the freud museum in vienna. it was kind of a strange experience. the museum is actually in his old house. they give you a big book that diagrams the house and what all the rooms used to be used for. it was a great way to learn about the guys life. i dont think he was as crazy as i used to think he was. they also had a bug exhibition there of cartoons about fruedian psychology from the new yorker that were pretty entertaining.
that night we went on a mission to find a mexican restaurant that i got directions for from a couple of local guys on the bus ride into vienna. we knew exactly how to get there...but as we were leaving our hostel it started to DOWNPOUR!!! just like at home....so we decided to take the tram down there, because the place wasnt too from from one of the stops. so we hop line 18 back towards the train station. we made sure it was the right tram and everything. all of the sudden the tram stops, makes some annoucement in german...and some people get off the tram. we had
no idea was going on...so we stay on the damn thing. a few stops later we realize that the tram has completely switched lines in the middle of the route. pretty sweet huh...we had no idea where we were, because we were no longer on the map. so we hop off and get on another tram going the other direction...out of no where this one also stops and this time kicks everyone off. everyone...even the locals....were confused. so we just followed some people to another station, where we waited for about 20 minutes. i decided that a tram wasnt coming and something had to be going on with the whole system, so we asked for directions at a pub across the street...of course no one spoke english. we understood that he said to go to the underground and get off at a certain stop, so we did. and we found our way...finally! and let me tell you what...the food was totally worth it. delicious mango daiquiris and tasty spicy enchiladas. what we will go through just for some tasty mexican food.
we had to get up pretty early the next morning to head to prague. we left our hostel
The Cathedral
in Vienna...from the inside...obviously at about 9 to head to the train station. this time i asked the tram driver if it was ACTUALLY going there..and it was...and it actually did. so we made it to prague yesterday afternoon, about 3....MORE TROUBLE AHEAD....
we get off the train in prague and discover that it isnt the train station that is right down the road from our hostel...this train station isnt even on the map. so we go to grab some cash from the ATM only to find that our cards wont work. no, we werent out of funds...i had checked that morning. we are pretty sure that the credit union froze our cards...for the 3rd time on the trip. so there we were....stranded at a really shady train station without any money or anyway to get out of there. even if we had found a way to our hostel we wouldnt have been able to check in because you have to pay in full up front....so yes. i lost it. i had had enough travel problems by that point and i was pretty much ready to hop on a plane home. we tried to call home to see if mom could find a
Street performers
Some breakdancers in Vienna way to contact visa...but it was 6am...and no one was answering...and there was a guy across the train station shooting up. uh huh. cool.
it was bad. we decided to exchange our emergency funds...the only place to do it around there that we could find was at the train station...with a commission rate of 5%....agh. so we exchanged everything we had...and got back just enough to pay for our hostel and get there...with only the equivalent of $4 left. finally we got a hold of mom...who checked our accounts, sure enough we had plenty of money...and called visa, since the credit union was closed--it was a saturday--and they said our cards should work...but they didnt and probably still dont. so dad had to wire us money. by the time all this was kind of sorted out and we got to the hostel, paid, and found a western union, it was after 7pm...and we hadnt eaten since that morning with the exception of snacking on the train. let me tell you what...we were two incredibly cranky weaver girls.
we found a little cafe and ordered a couple of beers and some pasta. it came to just about 400kc...or $16
Czech republic
A beautiful day in Prague US dollars. pretty sweet deal. the food and beer here are so cheap. beer is cheaper than water...
last night we found a cool little irish pub just down the road from our hostel and spent the night laughing at a big group of drunk old irish men who sang to every song that came on...and danced. it was a scene...and a good way to wrap up another terrible day.
today was our first full day in prague. its really beautiful here. we wandered around the new town, which is really commericial...lots of new stores and stuff...feels like back home, shopping in seattle or something. we made our way down to the old city and checked out the astronomical clock, tyn church, st. charles bridge, and the river area. we also went into the torture museum. pretty interesting stuff...and nauseating. people were crazy back then...the things that they would do to people who were different or suspected of witchcraft...nuts.
tonight i think we are going to go out with a group of mexicans from our hostel...it should be fun. listen to some music or something.
heading across the river tomorrow to check out the old castle.
Prague
Astronomical Clock it should be pretty sweet.
we miss you all and we are getting incredibly anxious to head home...but theres so much left to see....germany...the netherlands...and belguim. we will be home soon though. 13 more days.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.049s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 27; dbt: 0.0288s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Mom and Dad
non-member comment
How about...
Saturday the 21st for a welcome home party?