My socks have been rocked.

Dear Vienna,
Thank you for an absolutely AMAZING day.

I don't know that I can quite explain how amazing yesterday was for me. I started off waking up on my sleeper train, which was really quite comfortable. I will definitely look into traveling this way again. They come and wake you up 30 minutes before your stop and then come again five minutes later with breakfast for you. Simple yes, but a nice courtesy I had not expected. There was an Austrian girl in the bunk getting off two hours before me, so I woke up with her wake up call and spent the morning looking out the window. What a gorgeous countryside. I discovered the girl was Austrian when she said something to me in English, and I swear to you she sounded American. She laughed when I told her this and said she had studied in the states for four years. Her accent was perfect. She was really nice though and spent her last bit on the train teaching me some German niceties. Excuse me, hello, good bye, thank you etc.
Now I don't remember if I had posted this before, but about the time I got on the train, I realized I had booked my hostel in Vienna for that night as well, and I definitely wasn't getting there before 9 in the morning. Oops. This usually means you have to suck up the cost on your own because you didn't call to cancel, though I had no means of doing this. When I got to the hostel, I explained this and my receptionist pursed her lips at her computer and thought for a minute before smiling at me and saying, I'm not going to be that mean to you. Not only did she not charge me, but since my bed had been set up the day before, she let me up early to the room! She was so friendly and helpful. Even gave me a map of Prague for the next day too.
I got up to my room and all the girls were awake but present. One gal from Minneapolis (Bree) and another from Korea (Yun) got talking with me and we made plans with each other for throughout the day, though we didn't split up till after breakfast. I had my first turkish tea call cay pronounced chai and it was delicious!
Bree and I hung out first. We were going to head down to the old Schonbrunn palace on the south end of town. Talk about an amazing mix of cultures! The palace was set up like Versailles with its structure and gardens, very western Europe, while buildings across the street had the Eastern Europe steeple style. Similar to what you think of in Russia to top buildings. Austria is definitely the cusp of the two halves culturally. The grounds were beautiful though, especially the Gloriette which gave an incredible view of the city, and you could tell how amazing they would become in the summer. There was even a full labyrinth, though we didn't go in because it had started to pour on us and we didn't fancy getting lost crammed under one umbrella. Sad though, because I would have loved to get lost in an old hedge maze.
After this we decided to get my second umbrella (I brought two because the one starting to break) and find a place to hole up for lunch. Bree was wanting to try Wiener Schnitzel and hearing her talk about it had made me want it as well. Of course as soon as we get the umbrella, it completely cleared up, but it did this on and off all day. I ended up giving my spare to Bree because she was concerned it would continue, even though I told her north Italy was gorgeous right now and is supposed to stay that way all weekend. We went to a cute little restaurant that sold dyed easter eggs for a Euro on the table and each got a different style of schnitzel. They laughed at me because I ordered not only the one off the kids menu, but also a raspberry soda, which the waitress informed me was a "youth drink." Who says pop is only for kids! It may have tasted rather similar to a Shirley Temple though, which may have explained her comment, though ensured that I enjoyed the experience. Both our meals were delicious though.
After lunch we headed to the north side of town. I was determined to see as much as possible in my one day there, and it is one of the few cities I felt positively giddy about the second I had stepped off of the train that morning. In fact, I believe Paris, Florence, and Vienna have been the only so far, though I am expecting Copenhagen will be much the same for me. We went to Stephensdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral) because we heard you could climb to the top of the south tower. Over 400 steps up a narrow, spiral, stone, staircase. The view at the top was worth every moment of it though. The church was all old gothic architecture and the roof was tiled in colors to create patterns and pictures. When we came down, we tried to find Mozart's house which was around the corner, but turned out to be a complete bust. Still, it was neat to know that's where we were at.
After this we stopped at a chocolate store, got distracted by some break dancing street performers, and got caught in another sudden downpour. Eventually we headed back to the hostel though, as she had to catch my sleeper train in reverse, heading to Venice, and I had to get changed. This is because I was to meet Yun at the Staatsoper, the Opera House. In Vienna you can get 4 euro standing room only tickets for the show each night. I got to go see Don Quixote the ballet, and it was amazing! I couldn't believe how long the prima stayed en pointe without moving! And they even spun Don Quixote around a windmill on stage.
The opera house was absolutely beautiful. I almost wish I had arrived a day sooner though, because last night they had performed Madame Butterfly, and that would have been worth seeing! Still, the ballet didn't end till almost 11 and there was the 30 minute walk back to the hostel, and I was exhausted! I can't begin to tell you how tired I will be by the time I get to Copenhagen. I wasn't kidding myself about this being a whirlwind week!
None the less, I have enjoyed it all. Vienna was beyond incredible and I loved every single minute of it. I will definitely be back here again. It's a big city and tons to do here. My feet will attest to the amount of walking I did there too. I have blisters on the ball of my right foot, that are making life interesting today, especially since I went to the wrong train station at first and really had to hustle to catch the train I'm now on to Prague. Obviously I made it though, with about a minute to spare. Thank god I had tried to get there early! That'll teach me a quick lesson though, and I can bet you I'll never make that mistake again. So cheers to Austria, for the most amazingly chaotic day. You rock my socks . Prague, you have a lot to live up to now!