Where Is Joey Today?

We're in Vienna! Yeah I Donau either...

We decided to waltz down to Vienna after being shut out of our Budapest train. We aren't yet in Europe's peak season but this is closer than I have ever been (while backpacking) so I am still getting used to the idea of hostels/trains/restaurants etc being booked.

Just before leaving Krakow, I messaged a former colleague, Joachim, and told him that I would be in Vienna and that maybe we could meet up for a beer. He ended up treating us to lunch, showing us around the world's oldest zoo at Schoenbrunn and inviting us over to his house. We started off our Viennese tour with a stop at Minoritenkirche right off the Herrengasse metro stop for a look at the Last Supper. Yeah you heard right. Apparently Napoleon was fond of the Da Vinci original in Milan so he commissioned a mosaic copy that he intended to swap out with the original. As a nice surprise, Joachim had never seen this.

He then showed us the oldest cathedral in Vienna dating back to the 1100s. It is easy to miss if you don't know what you are looking for. From the Stephansdom entrance you may notice the outline of a cathedral a few meters away. On that site there was a 12th century cathedral that was torn down in the 1700s. It was largely forgotten about until the metro workers, while tunneling stumbled into an open space...the basement of the cathedral. The remnants are viewable through a window in the Stephansdomplatz metro station but it is tucked away a little and easily overlooked. That night we went to see the Indiana Jones movie in English at a local theater. It was a throwback to the times when megaplexes didn't exist (which has its advantages and disadvantages).

The following day Joachim and his son came with us to the world's oldest zoo at Schoenbrunn. It hosts an impressive array of animals: pandas, hippos, penguins, sea lions, and even bats. In a "Jungle House" exhibit, bats fly freely (though mostly they just hang on the ceiling. But in the Bat Cave exhibit, the lights are off and you can feel then whistling past your hair! We returned to the hostel, Ruthsteiner's Summer house and made a big bowl of fettuccine alfredo with chicken, broccoli and carrots. We had made so much that we had some left over for the two person staff who were awesome during our stay. Luke and Keesha you two rock :)

That night we went to the Opera which is always a great experience regardless of what is happening. As I mentioned on the blog the last time I was in Vienna, if you show up to the ticket counter 2 hours before show time you can usually get a standing room seat for 2-3 euros which is worth it just to see the inside. We were decidedly underdressed for the occasion. The Viennese crowd attends the Staatsopera in business or even formal wear. My travelpunk tshirt and jeans seemed a bit out of place. After the show, the audience gave a 3 minute long standing ovation during which there were no less than four curtain calls. As the applause died down they still came out which was hilariously awkward. So with that we decided to start applauding like ANIMALS in order to coax another trip out. The three of us and another 3-4 wise guys in the standing room only section got them out 2 more times. Each time with less of their costume on!

On the last day in Vienna I was arranging Em and Cheryl's trip to Venice while trying to get myself to Slovenia and still do some laundry that was badly overdue. The washing machine left my clothes soaked since I didn't fully read the instructions which made the drying take hours and they still didn't complete. The damp clothes then smelled even worse. My train to Ljubljana would have required a change in Salzburg and an arrival at 2a. None of that was particularly attractive to me so I was thinking of staying another day in Vienna when I got word from Dad that he had the Holiday Inn points to put the girls up in a Crown Plaza just outside of Venice proper. Hmm...

So the three of us headed to Venice that night :D

Venezia: The Venice of Italy

Last time I was in Venice was during the Torino Olympics and it happened to coincide with the first day of Carnivale which was an extra cool bonus. The weather was a little dreary and my impression of it was a cool little town that was absolutely artificial. Every shop was selling masks, batteries, maps and other touristy kitsch stuff. Restaurants menus resembled the Rosetta stone, Gelaterias were everywhere, and high end clothing shops rounded out the remaining businesses. This time, I felt like people lived in Venice, and while still very touristy, I had a much better appreciation for it. The first order of business was to get some gelato. The creamy Italian specialty that NEVER tastes as good in any other country. I have tried it all over Europe and in the states and there is always something missing.

Em using her mother's spider's sense when it comes to bargains found a garage/chruch sale on the outskirts of town where she picked up a small Carnivale mask at 1/4 price. We wandered back and found a nice Chinese restaurant where we ate some dinner by the canal for a surprisingly reasonable price.

Day two we spent heading toward San Marco square. There are signs in most alleys leading you there, but (un?)fortunately the twisting maze of Venice makes it so easy to lose your direction and yourself that you end up not caring as much about your destination. As a result we ended up arriving a little too late.

The last item on the tourist trap list was a gondola ride. They charge you 80 euros for up to 5 people. As we cringed and divvied it up into thirds we met a couple from Miami on their honeymoon who were thrilled by the idea of splitting it 5 ways. Good luck Steve. We'll post a video somewhat shortly.

We headed back to the hotel and enjoyed lying in bed. I ended up passing on a shower figuring I would do it in the morning. That turned out to be a hilariously bad idea. The next day in Venice we started by eating at a restaurant called Restorante di Bepi. I give it two thumbs down even though the food was ok. I thought we had strayed far enough off the tourist trail (this was in Venice Mestre instead of the Venice everyone thinks of)...

The owner is this obese slob who is rude as hell. Cheryl and I ordered our food and as Em tried to decipher the menu he leaned on his fists breathing heavily. She buckled under the pressure and said just bread. Haha poor Emy. The food came out a little late and as we finished up we had 20 minutes to get back to the train. We asked for the bill. 10 minutes later, in a near empty restaurant, nothing. So we nodded to one of our servers. Still nothing. So I got tired of their crap and went up to get a menu to add it up myself and we left the money on the table. I didn't see a price for the drinks but figured it couldn't be more than the service charge and for such crappy service I wasn't inclined to pay it anyway. So we left and 100m down the street the guy comes waddling out yelling for us to come back that we didn't pay enough.

Our bill was itemized and he said, "You didn'tah pay the cover noabody wants your money". Which wasn't true, he was very interested in my extra 10 euros. He also said he was waiting with the bill for me...if he had been you would think he would have come over when I was doing his job for him. The back and forth escalated to a screaming match where I called him and his restaurant a steaming pile of shit. I hope this fat douche dies of a carbonara induced heart attack at 45. Next time you go to a restaurant in the states and you get service and don't have problems with your meal, try to appreciate it, the rest of the world doesn't always operate that way...

By 2ish I was planning on heading to Trieste then Slovenia but the line for the tickets was too long so I followed Em and Cheryl to Rome. Now I plan to loop the Adriatic and fly out of Venice...for now anyway :D

--Joey