Day 2: April 13 -- Vienna

It seems like nobody wakes up early in Europe unless they have to. Even rush-hours seem later. I got up at around 7:30 and walked a few blocks up and down the street. Only a few people are out. As is generally the case, some of them usually include jackhammer operators working on the street.

Grocery stores are great places to get a feel for the local daily life and try to guess at what some foods are. I picked up a banana and a yogurt drink to get started.

I saw a church on near St. Stephen's was going to have a free organ concert later in the day, so made a mental note. The church was St. Peter's, which had a crazy baroque interior, the first I think I've ever seen.

I headed down to the Naschmarkt, an open-air market near the Sudbanhof train station. It too was just getting set up, but there were plenty of stands and cafes open. I used what was essentially my first German of the trip, or really ever, to get a pastry.

Thoughts on language: if the language is truly foreign to me, I usually find the following words and phrases get me just about anything I need, and therefore I try to memorize at least these with proper pronunciation:

• good day/hello (formal)
• please
• thank you
• yes
• no
  
• one/two
• and
• with
• how do you say....? (For example, if I see something I want in a pastry case, and not sure I can pronounce it, it's nice to let them know that I am attempting to pronounce something and not just blabbering. i.e. "Good morning..Please, one -- how do you say-- donut?". They usually either understand, or pronounce it correctly. If so I repeat again.) To me, this can help show a respect for their language while not pretending I'm fluent in it.
  
• sorry (e.g. if you bump into someone..common in transit or on the street).
• excuse me (to pass, usually)
• good bye
• water without gas (water is commonly sold either carbonated or not; if you order a water and they ask a question, it is likely "with or without gas")

I'm also not afraid to pepper sentences with English words if I don't know the local equivalent. It is likely that whomever you're speaking to knows far more English than I know the local language, even if they're not fluent.

Summing up, Europeans aren't amused by foreigners trying to speak their language, so whatever is needed to get the communication done quickly is how I do it; with so many countries in close proximity, it is common practice to point, use hand gestures (for example, with numbers), or write down numbers or symbols to get across a point. I rarely have to even do that.

The Naschmarkt was really neat, as are most open-air markets. That is one thing I like about Europe, that such a market is usually available every day of the week, and serves a huge variety of good-quality stuff, and is a great place to people watch.

At this point I decided that I may never make it to Slovakia in the near future, so now was the time to go, even for just a few hours. Knowing that trains to Bratislava left once an hour or so, I walked back to Sudbanhof to catch the next one. The ticket was 14 euro return, an open ticket for the day.

As luck would have it, the next train was about 50 minutes away, so I walked a bit around the station, got a banana at the grocery store (I'm a grazer), and waited.

The train was brand-spanking new, and hardly anyone rode it the entire way.

There wasn't a border check going to Slovakia. I'm not sure if that's the norm or if they're random or what. So no passport stamp to show I was there.

Crossing through the Austrian countryside, I made a video of some big wind turbines in action. (Note: this might actually be from the trip to Prague).

Here is a free trick that you can use on your next trip. When you get at your destination (and plan to return by train), take a picture of the departure schedule. Make sure at least the part you're interested in is clear. That way, you can just zoom in later and know when the next departure is, without having to write it down.

I was expecting Slovakia to be really dirty, dangerous, and run-down. The first impressions at the train station neither confirmed nor contradicted that notion. All in all, it was pretty typical, though a bit run-down. But it had an ATM, so I got a few Slovak crowns to spend in the city.

There was a tram but I didn't want to wait for it and then possibly get it wrong. According to the guidbooks, it was about a kilometer to the Old Town, so I walked. It might have been a little further, thinking back.

Bratislava surprised me, at least in comparison to descriptions I had read. Though a bit ragged, it was perfectly fine and pleasant to walk, even outside the Old Town.

The Old Town was pretty nice. Mostly pedestrian-only, it had a number of nice buildings, and cobblestone streets. It also had ice cream! Generally my rule is one ice cream per day max. Knowing I'd want one later that night in Vienna (night ice cream is the best), I modified the rule to be one ice cream per country per day. It was a bit small, but only 30 cents.

There were quite a few tourists and even tour groups wandering around. I liked the statues, especially the "peeper" looking out of the manhole.

Their cathedral had Mass going on. It was built right next to a highway...or vice-versa, thanks to the Soviets.

That particular highway had a weird spaceship-looking building hovering on top of the supports. I later learned this housed a restaurant. The Rick Steves book says that this structure, too, was a Soviet creation.

After a couple more small monuments and statues, I decided that this was enough to qualify as a visit, and headed back to the station in time for the train home.

I made it with a bit to spare for the organ concert. It was really a good concert: nice and loud.

I also went to the Hofburg Imperial Apartments and "Sissy" museum near the concert church. The apartments were the local home of the Hapsburg rulers when they weren't at Schönbrunn (which is the complex further out, similar to Versailles), and kind of an alternative if you don't have time to visit Schönbrunn, like me. Sissy was the wife of the emperor Franz Josef. She has become popular recently due to movies and general public interest and exaggeration about her life. It was a typical palace, full of gold and wood and paintings.

As night fell, I went back to Mariahiler street, where the hotel was, and wandered. This stretch is a popular shopping district...not upscale shopping necessarily but normal things like bookstores and shoes and clothing. I also checked e-mail and got the nightly ice cream cone. Tomorrow is the trip to Prague.