Vienna Day Two

Day two in Vienna was eventful as well (I think that all of our days on this journey will be eventful!). We decided to take a train from our hostel to the northern part of the city and then walk from there. After walking through the Vienna hospital for 20-minutes (don't worry Mom, no one was hurt), we were able to see the sights of Vienna: Hofburg Schloss, Stephansplatz, the Rathaus and more! We also toured the Albertina, a musuem that houses Impressionist and modern art. My favorite pieces were titled, "Peeing on someone's rug" and "Spit in someone's soup."

Vienna is known for its opera and we received an insiders tip on how to score cheap tickets. Although neither of us are fond of the opera, we decided to "go for the experience." Plus, at four Euro a piece for Madama Butterfly, you can't beat the price! It was a cool experience to have in Vienna.

Dinner on day two of Vienna, I will never forget. As most of you know, I am an adventerous, picky eater, but I promised Tim that I would try to try new meats on this trip. At the selected restaurant, the menus were all written in German, so I had no clue what to pick, so I suggested two meals to Tim and those were what we ordered. When my dish arrived, I thought, "hmmm this looks interesting..."

First bite, this tastes weird...

Second bite, this doesn't taste like meat...

Third bite, well, that was a potato...

Fourth bite, maybe its crushed lentils...

Our conversation at this point turned to our trip in Ireland when I unknowingly ate an Irish specialty called bread pudding (XX). And I said to Tim, sarcastically, wouldn't it be funny if this was some kind of blood dish...

Fifth bite, I really hope it is crushed lentils...

Sixth bite, I can't eat this any more...

I was done.

When I got back to our hostel, I looked up our dishes... Clotted blood and veal. Can't wait for Prague!!

A couple of observations on Vienna...

In Vienna, we rarely heard people speaking English (maybe five conversations max). However, everyone that we spoke to was either fluent in English or knew enough English to help us out. We overheard one woman saying that students in Vienna must take at least four years of English before they turn 14! I wish it was a requirement for Americans to have that amount of education in a second language by that age as well.

Vienna seemed to be a pretty homogenous city. Mostly caucasian with just a sprinkling of different races. Everyone seemed to act and dress the same. There were no alternative people at all; no rockers, no goths, no supermodels, no punks, no homeless, no elaborately dressed people - no one stood out from the crowd.

I also noticed strategically placed rainbow stickers on select restaurants and businesses throughout the city. I am not too sure if the rainbow stickers were to show gay pride or to say that the restaurant/business was a safe place for gay people to hang out. Any insights on the topic would be appreciated.