2nd July 2024
The second phase of the year has begun. My birthday has passed which means we're heading towards Christmas. Right now, I'm heading towards Prague for 7 nights and I thought I must document my last 7 nights in Vienna before the memories get mangled up.
I booked into a hostel and a room for 8 ladies. European hostels are usually very good unlike the cramped quarters of the Spanish Camino which put me off hostels for 'ever'. But a nice stay in Barcelona immediately after my Camino restored faith in my fellow 'pilgrim' Grace's explanation that European hostels are better. My Venetian hostel wasn't bad but I was in the cramped area of 2 bunk beds while the other 4 ladies were next to a large window. One of these ladies was a really loud talker and on the first night I was huffing and puffing while booking a holiday inn for my last 2 nights in the city.
The hostel neighbourhood was also more residential than touristy which meant that some of the food was cheaper but it wasn't quite as clean. But it had an amazing indoor swimming pool which I visited three times.
I was a little disappointed on my first evening in town because I wasn't seeing the architecture that I was expecting. But the following day in the city, changed my mind completely.
Oh my! The frills and curves and balconies and details kept my eyes upward and my jaw downward. The parks, fountains, bicycle tracks, benches, water sprayers, churches, trams, underground trains, horse and carriages around the fancy center, the pavement restaurants, the smokers, the heat, the museums, the music... all unfolded like a well wrapped present over the week. I took a trip to a different suburb to get a swim in a different pool and I marvelled at how the suburbs change. Street art popped up every now and then and I lunched on the top floor of a 'aqua zoo' and gazed across the city in awe.
I'm so glad to have changed hotels for the last 2 nights because although I'd made peace with the hostel and chatted to a SA guy on the front desk, the shift in neighbourhood gave me a different experience. I dined in the Indian restaurant next door to the hotel and they gave me a free magnum ice cream in the 34°C Sunday heat. I wandered through the city seeing how many stores are closed on a Monday and thought about how the first world cities seem to take their Sundays as rest days very seriously and it spills over onto Monday.
I'm so grateful for the many people who are able to speak another language and English to me, because my 300 days of Duolingo and many years of Afrikaans, had me stare blankly at any explanation/direction/order coming from a mouth I didn't understand. I'm loving this experience and surprised to be so calm in spite of my language barrier.
Now I have to learn how to say Thanks in Czech... Děkuji
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