Day 7: Vienna!

Got up pretty early this morning to take advantage of the super nice buffet at the hostel. For 100ck, you can have all you can eat with fruit, omelets, and pancakes, as well as cereal, yogurt and tea/coffee. We spent a good 45 minute pigging out, and it was a good thing since that was the only meal I had until 11pm!



The train ride from Prague to Vienna was pretty easy, we left at 10:30am and arrived just after 2:30pm. Again, the directions to the hostel were super easy and we were checked in pretty quickly. Only sad part was that it started POURING rain as soon as we arrived, the only bad weather we've encountered since we've been on the trip (well, besides a little bit of rain in Prague that stopped before we had to get off the train). Not bad, really.

As we were checking in, we noticed a brochure for a tour company that runs all kinds of tours from an office just around the corner from our hostel, so we decided to check it out, thinking we would make reservations for an evening bike tour.

We arrived just as another tour was leaving to check out the "Schnapps museum and factory" and got peer pressured (OK, it sounded delicious for 6 euros) to go.

It was pretty fun, the guy in the factory is the 4th generation of schnapps makers, and he was really funny and cool. We enjoyed him telling the history of schnapps and absinth, which they also make.



The best part was clearly the tasting, which I enjoyed as well, although I couldn't have too much because I hadn't eaten since breakfast and was still planning on the bike tour!



After the schnapps tour got back, we left almost right away for our 4.5 hours bike tour of Vienna. Sadly, it started to pour raining just as we arrived, and when the temperature dropped, I was afraid I would freeze to death before we finished. Thankfully, the rain stopped after 10-15 minutes and all the work we put into biking (hey, Vienna is not as flat as Berlin!), warmed us up.



It was a great tour, I'm convinced bikes are a perfect way to visit a European city. I am also convinced that I need a bike, because they are fun.

We actually covered a LOT of ground on our tour, which is why I enjoyed it so much. You get a much better sense of the city, and can then make a list of the things you want to come back and explore in more detail. I am REALLY looking forward to the next few days here.

Right now Vienna seems to be my favorite city so far. I loved Berlin and Prague, but there is something really beautiful about Vienna, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of it. The buildings are beautiful, the streets are wide, so you can really appreciate the aesthetic value of the streets.

We got back at at 11:30, ate some schniztel/kebab and planned out the next few days in Vienna. Will definitely try to get some pictures up soon, it looks like this computer has an accessible USB drive.

So far Vienna rocks, can't wait for tomorrow :)