The Two A's of Austria

Getting to Austria turned out to be more of a hassle than I had planned. Not only was the train fare unbelievably expensive, but the credit card system at the entire station was inconveniently out of order. So, I had to find an ATM and take out a LOT of cash. I hate doing that on the last day in a country because I always end up with a handful unused. They just waste away in my wallet...(you should see how many currencies I carry around in my bag!)

The train from Prague to Vienna passed through a city called Brno in the Czech Republic. I had originally planned to spend a day there since my guidebook made the place sound rather intriguing. But that's what guidebooks do, I guess. Judging from the train window, the city seemed to totally lack character and appeal. OK, I admit that I didn't give it a chance at all, but I'm glad my laziness led me to stay an extra night in Prague rather than in Brno.

Vienna was cloudy, cold, and dark when I arrived. It was like that for the duration of my stay there. Indoor activities, therefore, prevailed.

A #1 - Art
There's a lot of it in Vienna!
The one I was looking forward to the most was the opera. You can get really cheap tickets to see 1st class performances at Vienna's opera house. And you don't even have to be dressed nicely - jeans and sneakers are no problem!
The day I arrived turned out to be the opening night of Faust. Awesome. I wasn't in the mood to line up for standing tickets, though. And when I went over to the box office window, they told me that the only available seats were up in the front...meaning very expensive :( There were a couple of scalpers around, so I could've gotten a ticket off one of them.
BUT...It was already 5pm by then - 12 hours since I boarded the train in Prague. I was getting a bit tired. Did I really want to sit through 3 hours of foreign-language opera until 10pm??? I decided that I didn't; I probably wouldn't be able to stay awake anyways.
Rather than have an intellectual, artsy night, I walked back to my hostel, eating McDonald's on the way, and just had a relaxing night in my cramped, yet comfortable, dorm room.
Looking back now, I have to admit that I sort of regret not sticking with my opera plans - When else would I have seen Faust?!

The following day, I finally exposed myself to "art" by heading to the museums. Out of all the museums in the city, I chose to enter the Albertina. I absolutely have no clue why....just ended up there. They had a Van Gogh special exhibition going on in the upper floors, and an assortment of modern art in the basement. Had an entertaining time.

A#2 - Apple Strudel
With excellent coffee, of course. I ate at least one every day : ) YUM. (Except for the one I had at the airport...)

Getting back to my day at the Albertina, I took advantage of the metro day pass that I'd bought and went to several other sites afterwards. Without much success, I must say...
The Freud Museum seemed interesting on paper, but when I actually got to the building, looked rather lame. Ended up not going in since the entrance fee was overpriced!
From there, I walked over to the Vienna Medical School in search for the Josephinum, which supposedly houses a collection of bizarre medical devices. (I did once think about pre-med, you know). Unfortunately, I never got to check them out; the museum is open only to prearranged tours on Wednesdays. Damn it.
Before leaving the area, I took a stroll around the University of Vienna campus. Reminiscing about those college years long ago.....
My final stop of the day was the famous summer palace - Schloss Schonbrunn. I think I must've been here before when I tagged along my parents' trip around Europe. I was still in elementary school back then (youth!), but the palace and garden seemed familiar. Then again, most gardens look alike, so it could easily have been somewhere else. Having little desire to pay to view the palace interiors, I was content with walking around the drizzly garden. Very palatial. I couldn't help but wonder how much money was spent on mowing the grass (neat as the golf course greens, only much larger) and trimming the trees. Also, how much water was being wasted in the huge fountains???

Anyways, as you can tell, I haven't been very productive over the past few days. But I seriously needed the downtime to do some research on my next stop - Iran. I've only heard positives about the country from other travelers. Yet, I wasn't comfortable enough to simply fly in to Tehran without a clue as to where to go! A bit nervous...