Monday, 31.03.08, 11:48 a.m., Vienna, Austria, Westbahnof Station, en route to Salzburg

Today has been a pretty cool day connection-wise. So far, I woke up at 6 a.m. without a beat, checked out, and got on a bus to the station. After the ordeal of wandering far outside of central Bratislava, I had no problems getting back. A word to the wise---always, *always* get sugar in your coffee if you order from a vending machine in Slovakia. I didn't and it was so bitter and tasteless that I thought I was going to shrivel up and die. I drink coffee black almost always, but this was some vile shit. I couldn't finish it and instead bought another coffee *with sugar* in an effort to use up Slovak Crowns. I went to the upper level of the station to people watch. I completed another transaction in Slovak with no English as well! Ordered real coffee (I equate that with anything other than Nescafe) and a Nutella-filled croissant. It was a nice breakfast on the way to my bus. The trip into Vienna was just over an hour, if that. The Austrian border is just about 15 minutes from Bratislava. It is so hard to believe that less than a half hour separates shabtastic Bratislava from sylvan Austria. Developing to developed.

Austria is gorgeous, but not as you would expect. It isn't the decadent palace of Earthly delights that the media would like you to believe. There is some of that, I'm sure, but it is pretty much a mix of classes, similar to what I have seen in Germany. The two women sitting in my compartment are French and we conversed briefly about how hot the train compartment is. I'm glad that I was able to use some of my French language skills, even though they are slipping since I have not had a French class since November 2003! I try to keep up by watching French and Quebecois news on SCOLA.

Vienna was very nice. I only had the chance to spend a few hours there, but I walked into town and snapped some photos of the stunning architecture. I also went into "Hoffer" (Aldi) to shop. I bought mineral water and beer. I am pretty sure that I prefer Prague to Vienna, but it is still fantastic. The train that I am on is pretty fantastic. Austria is not quite as flat as Germany or Moravia. There are more gentile rolling hills like in Ohio. I head back home on Thursday, but now it is time to keep smelling the roses...