And if you'd like to see my other albums from this trip and most trips I've been on in the past, check here: https://picasaweb.google.com/GuitarGodAdamp
Today, we had the plan of taking the first train to Vienna from Budapest. Before though, we ate our last breakfast at the hotel. I didn't really have anything different, but I had some more of the delicious sausage and bacon. Before checking out, we spent a few minutes walking to the Danube but turned back when it began to rain.
After we checked out, we took the metro to the main train station, Keleti Pu, and searched for the international ticket office. After asking a janitor, we found out that the ticket office was an under-construction room with a ticket system for a line. We grabbed number 652, and noticed that only 638 was being called. As we waited, we pondered the ridiculousness of the system, and how there could be so many other different ways to solve this problem. After about 30 minutes, we had two economy-class tickets on the train to Frankfurt, stopping in Vienna.
The actual train ride was very comfortable, as it was in a brand new, very modern train. By 4PM, we arrived in Vienna's Westbahnhof. We then took the metro to the area near our hotel. Because we were confused, we got off on the wrong station and located an interesting part of town with many restaurants. Although we were technically lost, it was somewhat of a good thing as we found a place to eat at later on. To get to our hotel, we went back to Schwedenplatz via the metro. From there, the hotel was a mere 2 minutes away. We checked in and then decided to take a preliminary walk around Vienna.
We began to walk up the street of our hotel away from the main part of the city. We then took a tram to the area of the city we found earlier on the metro and had dinner at a decent Japanese restaurant where I had noodles with fried beef. We went back to Schwedenplatz after dinner and walked into the direction of Old Vienna. Here, we found a major street, Rotenturmstrasse where all of the big stores and restaruants were located. It was also a haven for street performers of all genres. We continued walking down the street and took a random tram deeper into the city near the parliament, where we stumbled upon a film festival near a beatiful church building. After some more exploring, we returned to the main street area via tram and started to watch some of the street performers.
First, we watched an incredibly talented African singer singing pop music, attracting huge crowds of people. Next, we watched a young group performing some folk music. Then, we watched an artist rapidly produce amazing pieces of art with spray paint. Police actually stopped him to check to make sure he was legally in the country. Lastly, we watched a street performer who was an expert in juggling a "diablo", a strange tubelike prop, on string. Unfortunately, an obnoxiously drunk man disrupted his show, forcing him to stop the show before it really ended. After this, we went back to Schwedenplatz one last time to get a kebab wrap and returned to the hotel.
Tomorrow, we will truly begin our stay here with a walking tour, and then visit a museum about the history of science. I hope that our visit to Vienna will be just as exciting as the one in Budapest.
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