Austria

The massive 8 hour bus trip from Venice to Vienna was suprisingly easy, I guess that's generally the case when you sleep most of it, as I, and many others on the coach seemed to do.



Austria

In between a few stops at my second home, Autogrilles, interspersed with some insanely nice river/mountain/valley combinations, the trip was rather event free.

After arriving into Austria, and a quick drive around the city on the coach, we settled into the hostel for an hour or so, before getting changed for dinner, and the nights entertainment – a Mozart and Strauss concert in a concert hall in Vienna.

After considerable amounts of European food over the last few weeks, we ended up at none other than an Australian Pub... in the streets of Vienna. I don't know about anyone else, but I've never had ostrich, grasshoppers or crocodile before, but this pub had the lot...including icy cold Coopers, which was the first Australian beer we had experienced (other than Fosters), since we departed. It's really weird that upon leaving the country, and being on the other side of the world, that you realise how patriotic you can be, and how much you enjoy certain things about Australia, as well as feeling almost subconciously compelled to act Australian, and let everyone know you're Australian – even if you think such attitudes are a bit stupid normally.



Aussie Pub in Vienna...


The Mozart and Strauss performance, which included a bit of ballet and opera, was suprisingly extremely enjoyable, and I felt all the more cultured and learned for having been there, if only for the hour following the concert. While the hall in which the performance took place was smaller than expected, the sound and views were still pretty good, and I even managed to down some of the complimentary champagne.



Mozart and Strauss Concert


The next day was spent exploring Vienna, which could almost be described as a smaller, less busy, and more modern version of Paris, although many may beg to differ. The city (and country as a whole, so far), is all very attractive and clean, and has endless amounts of old, classic buildings much like a lot of European cities.

After looking at a few monuments, as well as the home of the Vienna Boys Choir, we headed to a nice cafe and enjoyed coffee, apple strudel and an omelette, before heading to Stadt Park for a bit.






A bit more exploring of Vienna kept us busy until we headed to a nearby Schapps museum to sample the goods (which included Absinthe), and get a bit of a history lesson on the place itself. Having taken advantage of the included free samples, I headed off to the Schonbrunn Palace, which is just this epicly huge uh.. Palace, with massive gardens. The whole time I was walking around, I just kept thinking how fun it would be to run amok through the gardens, but much like most gardens/lawns throughout Europe, walking/running on the grass is strictly forbidden.



Schnapps Museum






Schonbrunn Palace


From Schonbrunn Palace I spent the evening at another theme park, and sampled some local food, including an awesome schnitzel, before heading back to the hostel, and getting ready to head into the eastern section of Europe, the Czech Republic the next day.