Day 2

I know I know... one post right after another... it's sheer madness.

Today was the second day of my journey and it has been rough. Last night was a nightmare on the train, with us being woken up every two hours! First, make room there are more people. Second, make MORE room. Third, move entire cars because we're leaving these at the next station. And finally, more people again. I hardly got a wink of sleep and after arriving at 9am I had to find my hostel. It was extremely easy to find, a mere two minute walk from the station. Unfortunately my room wouldn't be ready until 2pm so I had to find other means of entertainment.

I left my bags and took off down what seemed to be the busiest road I could locate. I walked for awhile until I ran into the area filled with museums! What joy! On my way into the Leopold Museum my bestie Matt Duncan called and we spent a good while chatting about how he should be in Vienna. The Leopard was great!! I got in for free (thank you ICOM) and got to see some great pieces by Picasso, Monet, Miro... the original Water Lilies by Monet is there! I had no idea. After a successful museum trip I grabbed some lunch items at a grocery store and headed back to the hostel.

I checked in and have since spent my time organizing the next few days, and leaving the hostel here and there for little random things. For dinner I ended up wandering off the beaten path to find this ADORABLE little cafe with the most amazing smells wafting out. There was a sign out front that I couldn't read of course so I went in and asked if I could sit at the bar. The woman seemed mildly annoyed, agreed and brought me a beer. I then noticed that every table had a "reserved" sign on it. I was crashing a party. Too embarrassed to order food I just sat quietly with my beer and my Berlin book and spent an hour absorbing the great atmosphere of family and friends eating and drinking together. No one seemed bothered by my presence and after staying longer than I should, I moved on. At this point I was starving and simply settled for a pizza on the street. Tomorrow I will hopefully be having something similar to the mussels she was making.... Yum.