Austria: Vienna

Bad first impression of Wien. Grey cold and raining, and a terrible 'traditional' lunch of the most albino luke-warm sausage you've ever seen. Went sightseeing in the rain; Mum's umbrella broke and I was having brolly battles with other tourists. Big grand concrete boulevards, elegant buildings, designer shops, museums. Not really my thing.

But we went to see one of my favourite movies 'The Third Man' at a cute little cinema that night which was awesome. Love that movie so much. And walking out into modern Vienna after seeing Post WWII bombed and occupied Vienna was cool.

Mum was feeling the same way about the city so we escaped down the Danube on a boat the next day between Krems and Melk. That section of river is called the Wachau, it was speccy with steep vineyards, castle ruins and old towns on the banks. Plus it was sunny :)

We ate an amazing Wiener Schnitzel and some Sachertorte (chocolate cake) so okay Vienna, I forgive you.
For our last night we went up the Riesenrad which is the ferris wheel in The Third Man where Orson Welles makes his famous speech about bloodshed, brotherly love, and the cuckoo clock.

Then Mum's two weeks were over and she jetted back to Melbourne! We'd had a lot of fun, kept thinking the same things as each other, and always liked the same things on the menu so could share. She went home with half a kilo of chocolate, a tan, and without her cold. I caught a train to Bratislava captial of Slovakia, 1 hour away. Imagine going to Geelong and it's the capital of a different country. Vienna and Bratislava are the two closest capital cities in the world! I was there before she even boarded her flight.