Arriving relatively late in Vienna, we checked into the hostel and walked down the main street towards the city center. This was a good hour-long walk, so when we got back to the hostel we enjoyed our COMPLIMENTARY drink from the in-house bar, then headed up to bed.
The next day was very full. We left the hostel around 8:30 so we could find the chapel where the Vienna Boys Choir sings. Every Sunday, they sing at a mass in the Imperial chapel, so we were hoping to find some standing room just outside of the chapel (it costs 30-some euros to actually sit in the chapel during the mass). After getting lost several times, we found the chapel during the preparation of the gifts, so we stayed and listened 'til the end. These boys can SING, that's for sure. It was really cool. After the mass ended, Molly and I went to a High German mass just next door. Although I didn't understand 95% of what was being said, it was still a pretty cool experience.
Vienna Boys Choir in their Postlude.
The rest of the afternoon, we walked the Ringstrasa, the circular road that encompasses the entire city center. Nearly every major sight-seeing place is located along this road, so we got to see some pretty cool buildings. Once it started raining, we went to the Museum of modern Austrian art and spent about an hour there.
Haufburn Palace
That night, we also decided we needed a bit more culture than simply looking at the art gallery. Molly and I were able to buy some three euro tickets (standing room only) to the Vienna ballet that evening. For me, it was the first ballet and I had mixed opinions as for what to expect. Turns out I didn't have to be worried at all; it was pretty cool! I even recognized a bit of the music!
Vienna Ballet Hall
The next day, Monday, was by far the best day of the trip. Molly and I had signed up for a "Grape Grazing Tour." This is a bicycle tour of the wine region just outside of Vienna. Not only a tour, but also a wine TASTING tour. Beautiful, eh? We took three trains out to this really isolated village in a valley and met Walter, the owner of one of the taverns. He sat us down and we sampled six types of wine; five white, one red. Oooh man, these were tasty! After we finished sampling, we got on our bikes and began riding down the trail deeper into the valley! Two stops later, we were eating a wonderful barbecued lunch with marinated pork, bacon-wrapped cheesy sausage, and steak. And to drink? Well, wine of course! It turned out that we were the last tour of the season, so he was trying to get rid of some extra wine. Bummer, eh?
The group of us. Emma and Courtney (Australia),
Kay and Brian (Chicago) and Molly and myself!
After having copious amounts of wine, we arrived back in Vienna in time to catch an 8:30 train to Salzburg. Now, we had told Chris that we would be arriving in Salzburg that evening, but we never told him a time. Well, to our absolute surprise and delight, as we were getting off the train at the Salzburg station, we were met by none other than Chris himself! A good thing too, because our hostel apparently closed at 9:00, so we would've had no place to stay. Chris took us back to his dorm and we celebrated his Polish roommate's birthday!
This is actually a picture from Munich...
The following day, we wandered throughout Salzburg with our guide and got a history of the city. Unfortunately, it was an Austrian national holiday, so nearly everything was closed, but we still got a good look at the city. That night we treated Chris to a nice dinner (a leg of pork, dumpling, saur kraut!) and headed back to our hostel, having enjoyed Salzburg thorougly!
Sound of Music, anyone?
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