Underwhelming Vienna

Well all has been dandy so far but now time for a whinge....

From the moment we crossed the border from Czech Republic into Austria, we have been disappointed to say the least. Our experience in Prague was so lovely all around, even to the train staff and ticket inspectors. Everyone was smiley and friendly. (ok the staff at the post office were dour) but... when the lovely czech guys stepped off at the border and the humourless Austrians boarded it went downhill at a quick rate.

The train trip finished without event but the "simple instructions" on how to use the train system to find our hotel proved not to be so straight forward. Changing from one line to another within our arrival station meant a 300 - 400m walk through a construction site along the side of a busy road to find the station we wanted. (the instructions given by the unsmiling woman at the information desk were missing a couple of details... ... though she managed to wink at me while still not smiling.)

Eventually with the help of a couple of wayward kids we found the station. Still they did not make it easy. There was no signage or boards with the train system up allowing details of which of the 18 tracks we should head towards. Again after much frustrated wandering I got directions from a lovely lady who was also homeless and selling the equivalent of the Big Issue. There were NO staff anywhere to be found in the very large train station.

Once on and then off the train at the station near our hotel, we found the hotel within 3 blocks. Proud to have saved ourselves a taxi fare but beating ourselves up for not just getting a taxi, which we have done at every other arrival. (this one was to be easy and straight forward)

The hotel itself is ok... but again ... what is with the bloody small bathrooms. (For those in London with me last time recall the bathroom we had there and then double the size of the handbasin, so as to ensure there is literally only enough room to stand on one spot and spin.) For those not there... picture being able to sit on the toilet sideways, whilst also being able to brush your teeth over the handbasin as well as wash your hair under the shower.... small small small is all I can say. Literally we cannot fit our feet between the toilet pan and the wall without angling them sideways.

Not to be beaten, we headed out for a walk, lunch and in search of a net cafe to post the Prague details. We did enjoy a lovely lunch and the net cafe was great if you managed to ignore the fact that though it was a surprising 24C ouside with the sun beating in, they hadnt turned the heating off, and they were charging us an exorbitant rate.

After that... more strolling and a stop at a pub with an outdoor deck. We spent a lovely hour or two sharing a bottle of wine (Austrian Sauvignon Blanc... delicious) and a tapas plate. Of particular mention on the plate was a dish with spread that Mark said was delicious though he wasnt sure what it was. On close look it was a bowl of very tasty and smooth pig fat (lard) with small bits of very crispy bacon through it. Once we realised how much fat we were consuming our minds only let us eat 1/2 the dish of it. (shame this same mind set doesnt click in when consuming cheesecake or alike). At this bar we were served by the first lovely Austrian we have met. She was a lovely girl, chatty and friendly but not too much. ... Lovely. Possibly part of our fascination with her was the most unusual piercing she had. When she smiled a little a tiny little blue stone appeared just under the middle of her top lip.. and then when we were given a large smile or laugh this little blue stone showed to be hanging on a tiny gold ring. We believe she had the tiny strip of skin between her gum and lip pierced. Ouch! but fascinating still...

After the drink and light meal we decided to pass on dinner as we had eaten a late lunch. Instead we headed straight for the gelati. Because, as mentioned earlier it was quite warm the streets were busy and the very large gelaterias were doing a roaring trade with queues of people at each shop. So we squeezed through the crowd, placed our orders only to find later that both of us had only received one of the flavours we had ordered and hidden underneath were unexpected flavours that left us guessing as to what they could be.. They werent bad.. just not what we ordered.

We then felt like a coffee. We found a bar/ cafe and ordered a couple of latte´s. Only for the fact that there was no ice or icecream you would be forgiven for thinking they could be ice coffees that had just sat there for a while. Barely tepid are the only words to describe them. It was just not worth complaining though.. they wanted to sell wine not coffee at that time of night. (instead I am just venting here...)

The streets were busy and we spotted lots of laneways with restaurants, that felt like home, which we may go back to for dinner tonight or tomorrow night.

We headed off to bed... saying how underwhelmed we were with the city (after Pragues beauty the buildings here look dull) and hoped our opinion would change over the next couple of days.

We started our day (after the frustration of bathing in one of the worlds smallest bathrooms) with breakfast which is provided by our hotel. Though we were impressed with the array of food, and noted that including sparkling brut and sacher torte and local chocolates was a good sign... we will not be so easily wooed. This city is going to have to pull out all stops to change what is our underwhelming opinion of it.

So off we go in search of it. Today we are going to do a bit of a city tour which will also include Schonbrunn Palace. We have also found this net cafe which will let us use their computers if we buy a drink. Good sign... AND... the coffee is pretty good... and at least hot.

Wish us luck in our search... x D