Day 33 – Wednesday 10 June

The temperature dropped yesterday afternoon as some rainy weather arrived. Thankfully the room had dropped about 4 degrees so our sleep was a bit better. The rain was light but consistent, so after breakfast and packing up, we checked out leaving our bags at reception, until the early afternoon train. We had booked a taxi the day before, and confirmed this at check out.

The manager was there and enquired after our stay. I gave her polite and honest feedback, acknowledging the small room was my error in booking, albeit the photo’s were a bit deceptive. I noted the cramped bedroom, the lack of cooling and ventilation, the hard bed, and the faults at breakfast – such as recycled food from the day before that was not appetising, boiled eggs re-dished up, and the scrambled eggs being undercooked – still full of raw liquid. (Hurl material).

She was most apologetic and asked what they could do to improve our experience. I responded nothing, it was ok, I was just giving feedback. She scuttled off and came back with a bottle of Prosecco for us.

Oh dear, I must have lush written all over my forehead! We graciously accepted and chatted some more. I get the feeling like the previous experience that people really do not want to get negative reviews, and that whilst Europe may be over-touristed there is tough competition out there.

With umbrellas open we enjoyed a couple of hours wandering the cobbled streets for the last time looping around the river. This gave wonderful views of the castle rising out of the rock and showing it’s grand scale. We also revisited the cafe from yesterday for a cuppa and cake lunch. This time we had a strudel and a poppy seed yeast cake (with cream). Again, very Germanic flavours and enjoyable – however not as good as my mum or Omi’s (or most humbly mine 🙂

The taxi arrived a few minutes late, with the manager having rung up to check and assuring us that she would take us to the station if he did not arrive! The train trip was regional most of the way, so no 1st class for us this time. We also had two changes, one with a 30 minute delay, and the other a whole hour.

The trip went smoothly, and we enjoyed a hot dog with a Czech smoked sausage at the first stop and vendor machine coffee at the second stop, as there were no cafes at the latter.

The country side was pleasant and similar to the previous train trip. When we got close to Vienna the scenery was less woodland, more open, and very slightly rolling countryside. Neat towns, tall churches dominating the horizon.

The train arrived in Vienna at a smaller station for the regional lines, so we had to get a tram to the main station – Hauptbahnhof where we were staying. The transfer was researched by Vern of course and easily completed with a ticket machine and tram stop right outside. The station was very modern with grassed roofs over tram stop shelters, and little wildflower garden areas. The neatness of the city was another level again.

The tram system operates on honesty and is frequent and modern. Of course we had purchased tickets – 3 euro each for a single journey. With all the stops it took about half and hour to get to the Ibis which is right outside the Hauptbahnhoff.

What can I say about Vienna? But (once again) I had underestimated how beautiful a place was. Perhaps I am a little sceptical due to the privilege of seeing so many beautiful or inspiring places and things; not to mention living in such a beautiful country that I am not as gushy about some places as others are and have learnt to adjust expectations in order to not be disappointec?

The tram trip had Vern and I dropping our jaws and swivelling our heads at the grand and majestic architecture, manicured parks and gardens. Statues and gilt everywhere. Before we hopped off the tram we had both decided we must return and have a good look.

Once settled in the weather packed in – with decent rain and a drop in temperature that required our down jackets to come out of the suitcase. It was also getting a bit late to find somewhere decent to eat so we just went to the first place open around the corner for an upmarket burger and chicken Caesar salad meal.

The fries side were cold, so they were duly sent back and the salad was soggy and a miss match of ingredients with little parmesan flavour. Ah well, the burger was tasty with goats cheese and fig sauce. The beer was also noticeably not as nice as the Czech or Hungarian to my disappointment.

We were too tired to really care and felt that we had eaten a reasonably nutritious meal. I also did not expect that great a quality food in Austria, following our previous experience in Salzburg in 2013 (bland and uninspiring).

Another lovely day with pleasant surprises and a welcome stretch out in a king size bed with opening window for fresh air. Yes, it did have air-con, but it was not needed due to the refreshing weather.