Oh Vienna!

Hurray! I am awake before 8am for the first time on my travels (it doesnt count staying up all night) and as if to mock my achievement theres been a power cut in the hostel and no hot water for a shower. Undeterred I shower (shiver!) check out and head for the bus-station. So its winter, its Monday morning, but I am travelling so getting an ice-cream whilst I wait for the bus seems logical, even if I get some odd looks!

Its only a short journey across the border to Endberg and then a metro ride into the centre of Vienna. After consulting the information point and finding a hostel near the Westbanhof station I go for a look round. St Stephens Church is grand but very touristy, it even has a souvenir shop inside! But the weather is too good to stay indoors and I wander about admiring the buildings and plazas, it is definitely the most elegant city I have been to. The Karlskirche Basilica dome stands out amongst surrounding buildings and is almost deserted in the early evening. I sit there for a while and watch a teenager pull wheelies on his bike for about 10 minutes until we both get bored and head off in different directions.

As I wandering I find a street vendor selling copies of English language newspapers and buy the Guardian to find out that Chelsea won the Carling Cup and three people were sent off, excellent! Later in the evening I wander about the Museum Quarter and Parliament buildings which are striking lit up at night-time.

Sigmund & Orsen

Two days in a row!! Im up at 7.30am and out of the hostel by 8.30am. I go to see 19 Bergasse Wien, which is the house where Freud lived and worked until 1938. Standing outside Sigmunds front door I cannot help but feel a little bit inadequate, my door is never that big! The museum has tried to recreate the authentic spaces and has panoramic photo displays across the lower part of the walls which show the rooms as they were. After an hour and a half Im feeling a bit tired, probably due to the unfamiliar early starts, I wonder if theres somewhere I can lie down, a couch perhaps?

Across the way is a secondhand shop and after a few minutes browsing I find a tattered copy of "death of a salesman", great that sorts out my afternoon! Walking back towards the centre I find a stand selling hot chestnuts and end up sitting in the Volkspark munching on these reading Act One. I could do with something more substantial and I find a pretty posh looking place "Cafe Central" that has a daily menu for only 6 euro so I sit down next to the door and spend a couple hours eating and reading, occassionally getting the odd glance from another customer wondering if I am eccentric... well I have just visited Sig...

"Carmen" is on at the Royal Opera House but all the least expensive tickets have been sold. The box-office woman kindly offers the middle range ticket for only 65 euro, I politely decline. However, Im not too bothered because just across the way there is a small cinema showing "The Third Man". Its me and about 3 other people in the place. Watching the film I realise I walked past many of the places used as locations in the film without knowing. The film is excellent and as ever I want to laugh at Welles accent.