Vienna

I'm slightly behind. The last hostel I stayed at how some pretty inconsistent wifi connections and it was just a waste of time to try anything like posting to this blog. Vienna doesn't have the greatest vagabond travel setup either. Grocery stores were closed on BOTH Sunday and Monday (why?). Wifi throughout the city was extra (not typical in Europe). Restaurants are mostly cafes and are all closed on Sundays...and counter service is difficult. This is my second trip to Vienna, and if you can't tell I have issues with it.

Vienna...grand polished city that has gone from one of the most important cities in the world within the last century to...just another national capital. Vienna used to be the capital of a great empire. The empire originally started as Charlesmagne's Holy Roman Empire back in the Middle Ages (not to be confused with the real Roman empire) to the Austrian and then the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Vienna was the center of Central Europe and carried enormous wealth and power with it...thanks to the ruling Hapsburg Dynasty.

But World War I reshaped alot of Europe and this century's old empire collapsed under the political and financial pressures of World War I. The governments of several WWI nations basically couldn't handle the pressures of the war and they ceased to exist as the fighting came to an end in 1918.

Fast forward to today, Vienna is a city of 1.6 million people. The once grand palaces, operas, cafes and cathedrals of the early 1900s and the empire are still here. The city carries an extravagance to it.

This is my second time around to Vienna. It's a great gateway city to Eastern Europe and has always been through history also. I toured the giant St Stephen's cathedral right in the center of town, the royal summer residence for the Hapsburgs and a quick hour tour of the opera, which is still very big in Vienna.

The weather...still perfect. I'm definitely blessed with that. It's been nine days now of 60s/70s with not a drop of rain...and it will probably stay that way.

I'm in Ljubljana (former Yugoslav Republic) now. I just got off the evening train after my 5.5-hour trip. I'm staying in a hostel that appears to be a converted home. I haven't seen the city yet, but I'm very excited about this stretch of the trip. I'm be in the Ljubljana/Slovenia area for the next three days.

Oh...I had to hunt, but I found some of my favorite foods in Vienna. Bratwurst with kraut today and some type of apple sauce, plenty of gelato (they have a great place here), and apple strudel and Sacher torte (basically, chocolate cake).

Photo: my bratwurst & strudel meal in Vienna