Touché.
Note: I wrote this over a week ago, but am just putting the finishing touches on it now.
At the moment I'm on a bus heading to Berlin, back on my own for the first time in over a week. A friend I met in Istanbul came and met me in Vienna, and we traveled together to Prague and Munich before parting today. As much fun as it was, I'll be the first to admit I am ready to be traveling solo again. Having been in my own for so long, it was hard to adjust to having company, and there were more than a few times where the phrase "I have one nerve left and you're standing on it" popped into my head.
(Ok, that was weird, they literally just made us all get off the bus and then drove off for about five minutes...)
So, Vienna.
I took the train from Budapest on a nice sunny day, barely making my train because the line at the ticket window was so long. That'll teach me to not buy tickets/plan ahead. I arrived in Vienna in the late afternoon and found my way to the hostel where I proceeded to lounge around until Amitabh's arrival that evening. Well, with a quick jaunt out to the train station where I picked up a really delicious kebab sandwich and discovered my bank card only works at certain ATMs. When Amitabh showed up we made our way downstairs for a couple beers and met some fellow travelers. A few beers and some catching up later we went to our dorm and I crashed out, despite Amitabh facebook messaging me from across the room imploring me to get up and drink more.
The next morning we made our way, without a map or any idea what we were doing or where we were going, to town where we wandered aimlessly. We stumbled on the concert hall and then onto some church before I led us towards the market, because my Canadian buddy has absolutely zero sense of direction, as I would come to find out repeatedly. We stopped at a breakfast place, getting the Austrian version of huevos rancheros, which was fine but nothing like home.
I'm assuming they sell American and British products, hence the flags?
Breakfast of champions, beer and orange juice...
Then we found the market. Which quickly became my favorite part of Vienna and where we spent the most time. I got overly enthusiastic and bought a ridiculous amount of olives, including some red olives which I think must be dyed that color. There's no way that happens on its own.
(And then we forgot the olives when we left Vienna).
The afternoon mostly consisted of us having a couple beers/glasses of local wine and then wandering aimlessly before heading back to the hostel so a rather grouchy Canadian could take a nap. During which time I hung out with some of the guys at the hostel; Rob from the UK, Aaron from Kansas, and Kyle from Montana. Honestly the couple of days we spent with them were some of the most fun conversations I've had on this trip, where we covered everything from whether or not good and evil exist since they're a construct of our personal perspectives, to booping someone on the nose when they try to start a bar fight with you (something evidently that Kyle has actually done successfully). Definitely one of those "you had to be there" moments. But there are few things better than finding that balance where you can be serious but when things get too heavy someone makes a comment to bring back the humor. My favorite example of this - during a discussion about how there are still people who believe the earth is flat, Kyle piped in with "well I've seen the map, it looks pretty flat to me." Classic.
For some reason I fell in love with this statue and made us sit by it for a while.
That evening since sleeping beauty was still passed out in the dorm room I went with a group from the hostel down the road to get Chinese food, which turned out to be surprisingly good. Rob showed himself to be literally the most polite person I've ever met by beginning and ending every request with an apology, and everyone made stupid puns involving the word "shell" after spotting a giant conch shell in the restaurant. We also met the tiniest and cutest puppy in the world, which we took turns holding after dinner.
The rest of the evening we hung out at the hostel in the backyard, where Aaron and Amitabh spent a great deal of time riling each other up into faux arguments about absolutely ridiculous shit like whether or not it gets hot enough in Arizona to melt tires. Which worked out great for me because I got a break from relentless teasing. By the end of the night we had agreed to venture to the market together the next morning.
The next day we made our way through the market, where we snacked on street food, drank beer (coffee for Aaron), and discovered a plethora of weird and interesting fruits and vegetables that, lacking a kitchen, we couldn't actual buy and experiment with. After a few hours we hopped back on the train, stopping off at the schönbrunn palace and wandering through some of the gardens (they wanted something like 25€ to actually go inside - which is insane). On the way out of the palace we stopped and bought some original paintings from an artist on the street, and after almost losing mine repeatedly I actually did manage to send the damn thing home. It was a good, relaxed day. I also jumped in and kicked the soccer ball around with Aaron and Tobias, a kid staying with his family at the hostel who found our attempts to learn simple things like counting in German utterly hilarious.
Why don't we have a kitchen?!
Kyle.
Aw they match ❤️.
So many different kinds of hummus!
Burek!
At the palace. "Guys I don't know what to do with my arms..." "You look like you're holding shopping bags."
Hard to tell if he's annoyed.
I think my favorite part of this is the guy busting a move to the side there.
The very strange fountain.
Snakes!
That evening we managed to make it to the Chinese restaurant about ten minutes before closing, getting takeout sweet and sour chicken and spicy pork with noodles.
I had really been enjoying our time in Vienna and was definitely a little bummed to leave the next day.
But onward we went, taking the train to Prague and saying goodbye to our new companions - except for Rob, who we wound up meeting up with a couple evenings in Prague.
My first thing to note about Prague; their public transport is exceptionally confusing. I don't know what it was, but I have never had so much trouble finding my way around as we did upon our initial arrival. We had rented a two bed apartment in Prague, which turned out to be quite nice, if a little pricier than I'm used to. Our first night we had dinner down the road, and there ensued the relentless teasing that had been diverted to our travel companions for the last few days. Oh goodie.
As it turns out the threat of an elbow to the stomach does stop such things.
Oh, the joys of traveling with friends.
The next day we made our way on the bus to the old town, where we did a bit of wandering, ate some really amazing pasta, and then settled in for a couple beers before heading back to the hostel so Amitabh could nap. I am not the best napper so I passed and read instead.
The main square.
These guys were playing music here pretty much every day.
Bubbles!
Sitting by the river.
That evening we met up with Rob and a friend he had met at his hostel, and we indulged in cheeseburgers and beers at the Beer Museum (I know right?) in their garden before being chased indoors by the rain. Hugh took his leave pretty early, having traveled all day, but Amitabh, Rob, and I continued onward to a British pub where we stumbled upon some live music and discovered Rob's super entertaining and infectious dance skills.
Amitabh and I caught the last bus back to the hostel just before midnight and I stayed up far too late watching movies and reading.
Our final full day in Prague we started off with some kebab, which I was actually getting sick of, and found our way to the free walking tour in the old town. Three hours later we had seen at least a little bit of the city outside of the local pubs, and met up once again with our English friend, grabbed a traditional Czech meal, and made our way to the big beer garden on the hill.
Roast duck with potato dumplings and cabbage is amazing, and the beer garden was quiet and beautiful.
This is as close to the palace as we got. Not going to lie, I'm a little sick of palaces. #Firstworldproblems.
This one is for dad.
The "most underwhelming tourist attraction in Europe." But considering how old the church is you have to give them some credit.
And this is for Sparky, aka Ryan L.
Amazing!
View from the beer garden.
Rob and Amitabh.
We said our goodbyes a bit earlier, since all of us had to get up fairly early the next day, and made our way to our respective hostels for the night.
Amitabh and I made our way to the train station way in advance the next day, not wanting to run the risk of getting lost and missing our bus. I did manage to find myself a new pair of sneakers, finally throwing away my beloved (but uncomfortable) converse in favor of something more practical and less destroyed.
Finally we boarded and made our way to Munich, which would be our last stop traveling together.
In Munich we had to book an air bnb, as the city was lacking sufficient hostels on short notice. As it turns out we had a lovely place and our host Carmen was very nice. Our first night she recommended a restaurant down the way where we ate some damn fine Wiener schnitzel. Yum!
Wiener schnitzel is the best.
The next morning we slept in, and got an even later start because as it turns out my Canadian friend takes forever to get ready in the morning. But we made it to town, wandered through the market, and grabbed some lunch before parking ourselves at an outdoor table for the next few hours drinking wheat beers and chatting up the several people that shared our table. Yep, a typical day in the travels of Swan and Amitabh.
Buying some snacks.
The edge of the market.
Apparently this fountain is the place to hang out if you're local.
For dinner we went to the Hofbräuhaus, one of the most famous beer houses evidently, and I discovered schweinebraten. Aka crispy pork with gravy and potato dumpling. Um, pork cracklings? Yes please...
I seriously needed two hands for this beer.
That evening we both passed out unbelievably early, waking up at a very reasonable time the next morning for more exploring.
Or so we planned.
But after a remarkably complicated mission to find presents for my friend's new lady friend back home, we decided it was time to just relax.
We made it back to the hostel pretty early, where I redyed my hair and chatted up Carmen while Amitabh napped. That entire day I had been feeling a bit under the weather, but we ventured out to the beer garden in the English gardens which was crazily packed but worth the experience.
The English garden. Reminds me of a festival, only this is just a normal day here.
An easy night at the air bnb, then an early alarm for me this morning to catch a 7 hour bus ride up to Berlin, where I'll be spending a few days. Back on my own I go! Unfortunately my first day back on my solo journey has been tainted by what has turned out to be a head cold of some sort, complete with lethargy, stuffiness, and ears that stubbornly refuse to pop. Fingers crossed this doesn't last long... (Note: it did, I was sick for days...)
So I obviously skipped a few of my adventures for now, but I will attempt someday to go back once I go through my endless array of photos. Better late than never, right?
Thanks for reading!
~Swan
