Wieners for a day!

We found our way off the train in Wien/Vienna around 8:30 in the am on Saturday (May 23) and promptly stowed our backpacks in lockers for the small fee of 3,50€. After making reservations for the that evening's overnight train to Prague (yay, beds!!!), we set out to find the tourist information office.

Coffee was a decided initial necessity, so we steered our groggy asses towards the first spotted McD's... it sounds bad, we know, but really the coffee prices as well as the amenities (free internet kiosks, water-closet facilities, etc.) can't be beat! After finding the damn place, we opted for the most economical plan provided for us by the tourist office: a self-guided walking tour around the city.

We passed up a couple costly museums, and continued on to a stationary store where we invested in cheap, colored, felt-tip pens to liven up our journal entries. We came across destination 3 on our map, Stadt Park, where a chorus of Asian schoolchildren were singing in front of the gilded Johann Strauß. We felt no desire to hang out by Mr. Goldenpants so we ventured into the depths of the park and ate our apples with _____ the forgotten civil servant, with a crumbling fountain shrine.

Moving onward, we passed by many buildings suggested on our map, without really understanding the significance of any of them. Surely they all have long elaborate histories... we just don't know them. We found ourselves a sunny little spot in Karlsplatz to enjoy salami & bread sandwiches and some good books.

After some time, our bladders made themselves known and we set off to find a McD's to pee in free of charge. As we came up on the nearest of our favorite fast-food chain, we noticed a higher and higher concentration of police vehicles (meaning, absolutely NO jaywalking for us). The source of this infiltration stemmed from a massive protest of none other than our faithful Golden Arches. Damn. It was after this un-relieving occurrence that we returned to the MuseumsQuartier, and walked through their grounds. These morphed beautifully into the grounds of the Imperial Palace and after a couple photos, we walked through those too.

At this point, our feet/legs ruled all judgment and we opted for the quickest and easiest path back to the metro so that we could go out to the Schönbrunn Palace before we collapsed. The grounds behind the palace were spectacular. I hope the gardener(s) is adequately compensated. We walked down to the Canyon Lake-sized fountain (or so it seemed) and back taking our time and enjoying the sunset before returning to Westbahnhof station.

On the metro to Westbahnhof we made the awful mistake of seeing a Burger King out the window, which set our glands a-salivating. :) Hot food is good. We reluctantly (ha!) commenced a hot-food mission with one simple guideline: cheap. We entertained many options but settled on a kebab shop located just off the main drag and enjoyed the best kebab of our lives! It was so good and filling! and for less that 3€ too! What a marvelous decision.

With stomachs satisfied, our legs exhausted, and our shoulders burned, we returned once more to the train station to retrieve our beloved, green backpacks and wait on the platform for our train.

We boarded and were greeted by Vaclav, our cheery, red-faced cabin host. He was positively adorable and would make a wonderful Santa Claus, if given a white beard and wig. He was sooo kind and hospitable as he showed us all the goings-on of the grounds to his "small (self-proclaimed) kingdom". He continually reassured us, "don't be afraid" adding once, "I'm sixty... (continued gibberish)." After overseeing each of us successfully unlock the door, and showing us every possible thing in our closet, I mean compartment, he gave us a laminated menu for our perusal, which we could order from should we require anything. He didn't have a kitchen, but he did have a... "small kingdom" where he could work some magic. We almost busted a gut, once once finally bidding him adieu and closing the door. We loved him though.

A few minutes later, after adequately stowing our minimal amounts of shit in every crevice, we met our other cabinmate, Marina. She was a sweet Russian lady who lived in Australia. We talked for about 5 minutes, read for about 2 minutes, and passed out.