Vienna, Austria 9/2- 9/3/2011

"I remember my first trip."

Sarah, Courtney, Grace, Nellie, Evan, and I in front of Parliament.

Wiener Schnitzel

Planking with Sarah in front of Parliament

The summed up experience

Mary Callaghan: international traveller!  This Friday I took a trip to Vienna, Austria with a couple of friends for the night.  Vienna is about a 2.5 hour train ride away, so it was an easy trip to make and have under our belts.  It was a quick 24 hours.  We did as many things as we could, talked to as many people as we could, and had good luck stumbling upon different things throughout the city.

117 meter high swings

First of all, I'd have to say that this trip reiterated to me the importance of my new mantra...."live and learn."  I barely planned for this trip, because we booked everything and made decisions last minute.  Meaning that after going out to Szimpla (a ruin bar) with everyone the night before, I spent an hour hung over and rushing around in the morning doing a terrible job at packing.  I also never got to drink my coffee and instead left it in my closet for the duration of the trip.

Including the clothes and shoes I was wearing, I had: 3 pairs of shoes, 2 changes of clothes, a dress, makeup, a bathing suit, underwear, passport, forints, and sunglasses.

What I did not have: my debit card (so I didn't have to exchange money), visa, pajamas, and sunscreen.

My packing made my first day very difficult...

Consoling me after I deleted my pics!

• I exchanged 30,000 HUF for a little over 50 Euros - aka $150 for 50 Euro. I also had left the Euros that I had already in my apartment... 
• After getting to the hostel and waiting for a bus to Vienna with everyone, I started talking to an old lady, so I got distracted and got on the wrong bus.  Before making it to the actual stop, the bus driver yelled at everyone in German and everyone ran off the bus, leaving me in their dust.  I asked the bus driver for directions to the stop I needed and because he did not speak English, he pointed and I walked the rest of the way.
• About 15 minutes later my phone died.
• While wandering around, we found an amusement park right in the middle of Vienna...I couldn't go on the roller coaster because I wanted to save my euros! However, I did go on the highest swings in the world! 117 meters high, and so amazing.
• At dinner, still trying to be thrifty with my euros, I wanted to share a meal with Courtney. The waitress didn't understand us, and I ended up with my very own wiener schnitzel.
• Found what I've been looking for since I got to Europe, but had no money!!  



Sarah at the Dali exhibit

• Wondering why you can't see pictures of all the adventures from this crazy day? Accidentally deleted all my pictures...oops.

Crime Museum exhibit

While ordinarily I would have flipped out....it got to the point where it was all so funny that it didn't even bother me at all.  We were all in tears while laughing at my misfortune.   I wasn't going to let myself get upset and let any of this ruin my experience...I am Austrian after all!  I think I might have had more fun than anyone else (subjective opinion).

Rathaus

Find Nellie!

We really did have an incredible time though.  I had delicious wiener schnitzel, went to the museum quarter and spent a beautiful night outside, went on the highest swings in the world, went to the crime museum, went to see the Salvador Dali exhibit at the Kunsthalle Wien museum, saw St. Stevens, Rathaus, a big historical area, Parliament and the other sights that make Vienna such a special city.

I had so much fun with Sarah, Courtney, Nellie, Grace, and Evan.  It's awesome how much you learn about people by traveling with them, and it's even better to share these experiences with such amazing people.  

Live and Learn.

P.S.  I highly recommend the Palace Hostel to anyone visiting Vienna.  Sarah did an amazing job in finding it and it was one of the highlights of our trip! 

Hostel

                                           

At the hostel! 

Amazing view of Vienna from our window