MOZART BALLS - PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC & VIENNA, AUSTRIA - DAY 21
After seeing the rotating Kafka statue and another cubism building, we left Prague with a last-minute lunch, spiced wine, and trdelnik- A common, sugared, donut pastry with Nutella as the filling. We caught our train to Vienna for four hours. We passed a bunch of tanks and military vehicles. I wish I filmed it, but it was too brief, and I couldn’t know that would come up on our route. Still, a tremendous sight representing Czechoslovakia’s history of constant war. We arrived in Vienna and immediately pulled money and booked our trains for Italy. It was -10C (14F) yesterday, and -7C (19F) today when we got in. I thought it couldn’t get colder than Prague on this trip, but Mother Nature is taking the piss.
We take an Uber to our hostel and walk around to the Hofburg Palace, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, and the home of Mozart, (my favorite). My phone of course died with the freezing temperatures, so a lot of the photos here are also on my good camera.
After, we head to dinner per a suggestion of Kay’s Friend. I’ll be very honest, I thought the place was basically a Viennese Cheesecake Factory- A tourist trap with over priced food. I paid 8 euros for soup that was basically just broth. I stuck it out for Kay because she really loved it, and she’s been bending over backwards for me to ensure that I see everything I want to see on this trip. We had Viennese wine, and Mozart balls cake, (also per her friend's suggestion). The wine was just okay, and the cake was basically just chocolate, liqueur, and marzipan. I was not impressed, but it was just one expensive night, and Kay was really enjoying it.
We come back to the hostel and ask each other if we want to go out. Both of us agree to have a quiet night in, and take the one, free Austrian beer provided to us by our hostel bar. We'd rather have a good night's sleep, and eat more before going to bed because we barely slept during our last night in Prague... But leave it to the Americans. Before you know it, Kay and I are chatting with others as they come into the bar, uniting all nations with drinking games that we've started. Team USA IS WINNING, and the hostel bar is the place to be! Guys are buying us pizza and rounds we can’t refuse. I play a tight game of beer pong. It's Team USA vs. Team France. We're tied, and have a sudden death round. Things are getting intense. I've sucked at beer pong my entire life, but have an epic redemption shot with a Hail Mary on an island that keeps us in the game. The crowd goes nuts! I'm standing on a table shouting "USA! USA! USA"! All of those times I never attended a college frat party at University (or any party), and all of the times I could've been an embarrassing, obnoxious, loud American at those non-existent parties have culminated to this. I was the exemplary American frat bro. Kay, the other US team members, the Irish guys and Aussie guy that we met, are throwing their hands in the air for me / us. The French are cursing in their native tongue, I'm cursing in French back at them, until I get down from the table. Team France calls for a pause to have a smoke break- The Frenchiest French that France has ever Frenched. We play the remainder of our game. It lasts for ages, until we begin to lose momentum and interest. Team France won by ONE point. We shake hands- It was a very good game. Our little group plays a handful of other games until we're the last ones out, and the bar closes.
We go to bed at 5am and wake up at 8am to check out. We unintentionally and certainly went out with a bang on our last official trip together before splitting for Italy tonight, and then meeting up again in Croatia with the boys, *(Kay's med school buddies). It's true what they say, the best nights are the ones that go unplanned. Totally worth it, and a night for the books.
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We barely can get out of bed the next morning, but once we're out, we walk and hustle to breakfast, The Belvedere Palace, and the Schöburnn Palace. I really wanted to see the Wotruba Church, but it’s a 30min. train and another 30min. walk to get there. I’ll be honest, if I weren’t at the mercy of the weather and relenting to it, I would hustle there and back today. Truthfully, it’s just too damn cold, AND I found out on the train yesterday that you have to email them in advance for a tour, which isn’t possible with such short notice. Another time hopefully!
Currently, we are staying warm in our hostel. Vienna is absolutely gorgeous as well, but I think we covered the main highlights, and withstood the unyielding cold better than most. Going to grab lunch and dinner soon before splitting for our trains to Italy. Kay is heading directly to Florence / Tuscany, then Venice, and I’m off to Milan and Lake Como for the next two days!
Love you guys!!
-eM
