Vienna, Austria

June First, 2012 –

Today began much better than yesterday ended, when I woke up early this morning and I was now cold.  With the awful train ride behind us we made our way to the hotel.  Once we arrived Drew and I were lucky enough to get one of the only rooms that were ready.  We got in the room and the first thing I did was put my bags down and then brush my teeth and took a quick shower to get the filth of the train off of me.  Shortly after we arrived we all congregated in the lobby and left for the Schönbrunn Palace and its beautiful gardens.  We walked all over the grounds and took in the beauty of the magnificent compound.  After seeing everything we could we broke up and set out for some lunch. 

On our way to lunch some people wanted McDonalds and just an easy meal, but I was looking for a true local Austrian meal.  I stumbled across a small little “hole in the wall” called Gasthaus Zum Sechshauserwirt.  I ended up just eating there solo today and enjoyed being completely immersed in the culture.  I sat down and everyone there was local and spoke almost zero English.  Luckily for me I sat down at a table next to a guy who was the only person that could honestly speak enough to help me out.  I ordered the grilled white fish special with potatoes, soup, salad, and a beer “Gösser”.  Throughout my time at the restaurant I had a conversation with the guy helping me order his name was Helmüt.  He was basically legally blind, but very nice and helpful.  At the end of my meal the waitress, Helmüt, and I all had a Jägermeister shot to cleanse the palate. 

After my awesome meal I went back to the hotel to lie down and rest for a little bit until we had to meet again later tonight.  We made our way to Karls Platz, which is a very famous train station and was for a very long time.  I then was asked to guide us to Kärtner Straβe the main street with shopping and food.  This was an awesome street that had good performers and was just quite nice itself.  At the end of our journey was St. Michaels Platz the one and only giant cathedral in Vienna. 

Anoop recommended that we go to Wiener Wald for some good food.  I ordered the veal Wiener schnitzel and some fries.  It was pretty good, but a little expensive.  Right after dinner we went to an Australian bar called Cross Mark.  They had good deals on beers and a home made brew called Cross Mark.  We stayed there for a little while and met an Irish guy and Italian guy that we ended up talking to for a while about the different cultures and places to visit while we were studying here in Europe.  After a few beers and some conversation we headed back to the hotel for some rest.