May 22 - Vienna

What's up. From some of the feedback I've gotten, my last post (ie. the drunk one) was good...unfortunately I am sober right now. Had a blast the last several days, they have been quite memorable. Also, it's been a ton of fun spending time in Austria so I can speak some German. Granted, my German is pretty crappy after not having used it in 10 years, but still fun to fumble my way thru. After I left you all in Innsbruck, I hopped a quick 2 hour train to Salzburg for a night. Great place. On the smaller and pricier side, but very cool. I stayed in a hotel right near Mozartplatz, which, you guessed it, is named after Mozart, as he was born and lived in Salzburg. I wandered around for a while around the Old Town, which was very cool. The best part about Europe is wandering around cities that are 500+ years old, walking the same streets and seeing some of the same buildings that people did a long, long time ago. I took the tram up to the Hohensalzburg Fortress, which sits up on a hill overlooking the entire city with an amazing view. Very cool fortress, toured aroud there for a while and took some pix (I think I figured it out....look below). After the fortress, I went thru the Dom, aka the Salzburg Cathedral, which was insanely beautiful inside. The churches here really don't compare to anything you see in the states, the european churches blow them out of the water.I walked to Mozart's birthplace and then his residence, then made it over to the Mirabell Gardens. Then it was time to get a beer. Found a Irish pub, and then decided to make my way over to a beergarden called Augustiner Braustubl. Great choice.

So I walked in and grabbed a beer stein. The not so helpful and very condescending beer stein dick laughed at me when I grabbed the smaller one, which still held about 20 ounces of beer. After I finished that, I went back to kick him in the dick (I didn't, but I wanted to show that I wasn't a total wuss) so I grabbed the big one. He looked me up and down, scoffed, and walked away. I thought it was great. Anyway, so I grab my beer and walk into one of the rooms to get a table. I hear a raucous table a ways away, and they look like Americans - the giveaway were the baseball hats. So I walked over and struck up some convo. Turns out they are 7 business school students/texans from TCU, who were in Prague for a weeklong course and then are travelling around. They invited me to have a beer, so I sat down. Great call. We start pounding down beer steins like they are water. A while later, the waiter comes by and shushes us. So we tone it down for about 3 seconds...and about 15 minutes later we get shushed again. Couldn't believe it. After another beer or so, he comes by and says, "so, when are you guys heading out of here?" So we took our cue and walked outside...we got kicked out of a beergarden. None of us could believe it. But it was pouring, and there were no cabs. So what did we do? We walked back in, took a table in another room, and ordered some more beer. I'm sure you can guess what happened next. We get shushed again after a couple more beers.... at this point we are all pickled and dont really care, but its still funny... Then...we got kicked out. Again. It was awesome. So we found cabs and headed to another bar. Big trouble... but it was a great night. Had a blast.

The next day, I hope the train, this time to Vienna. A very good college buddy of mine, Alex Meier, moved here about 2 years ago, so it's been awesome seeing him. I arrived on Tuesday late afternoon, and after heading to his place to dump my bags, we went out and grabbed some dinner. Then to another bar, and then to a club, which was hilarious. It's been a long time since I've felt young in a bar, but I felt like a child here. Older people acting like college kids - horrendous dancingto 70s and 80s music, which, incidentally, was the last time most of the wome there were attractive, Saturday Night Fever rocking on the TV's, old people making out all over, it was a lot to digest. Unintentional comedy level was very high. The next day, I had a lazyish day, slept in and then did some sightseeing. Went to the Schloss Schonnbrunn, a beautiful, Versailles-esque palace. Awesome. That night, Alex and I went out to dinner and got some authentic Austrian schnitzel, and a beer or 2 as well.... Last night was also very cool. I didn't hang with Alex, as he had to go to Budapest for work. But 2 very good frinds from Florida - Pat and Kathy - were here on their honeymoon so (I know, I know, I missed their wedding and crashed their honeymoon, but they assured me it was cool!!) we met up and had a great night. Had some drinks before dinner, hit another authentic Austrian place called Plachutta (amazing food) and then went out later. SO Vienna has been an amazing stop for me. It's great hanging out with friends from the US in another country. So much fun! Now, I am off to Budapest for 2 nights to hang with Alex, which is going to be great. Can't wait!!

I think I have some pix below...