The weather in Munich had been decent, but pretty cold for being in the middle of summer. Naturally, I dressed accordingly on the morning I left for Vienna.
Well, as soon as I stepped off the train, I realised how unfitting my attire was. Vienna was hot and it was sunny and after locking up my bag at the train station, I spent the entire afternoon sweating and feeling slightly annoyed abou everything.
The first thing I did in Vienna was to eat a snitzel, because that was what they eat in Vienna. According to my guidebook. And sitting there, at the restaurant that actually was quite fancy, I had the realisation that this was the first time that I ate at a proper restaurant, by a table with the table cloths and everything, all by myself. Everywhere else, I’ve eaten different kinds of take away. It felt odd. Not as agreeable as walking around a city, sightseeing by yourself. That is nice. Sitting in a restaurant, not so much. Listening to music or a pod would be rude, so you just have to sit there and listen to your own thoughts. I studied the map, but that felt kind of unfitting too, at a restaurant with the waiter that came by and asked if the food tasted good. No, it was just odd. And the snitzel was dry.
Walking around Vienna, I thought of two things: The buildings all seemed to be built in the same kind of massive, heavy and decorated style, all painted in white, and it was really hard to cross the heavily trafficked roads. There were really few crossings, the roads were wide and the cars were everywere. Compared to Munich, where people bike and walk and many areas are pedestrian, this felt just too noisy and confusing.
Karlskirsche. Big church.
Lots of decorations in the ceiling, and restorations going on.
I felt relieved, once it was time for me to get my bag and catch the underground – to get out of the heat and stuffiness of the city, to get to a home and cooling shower. Off to the first Couchsurfing experience of this trip.
Katja Malmborg 