I´m sure gonna miss it.. it´s now the 2nd best city that i´ve seen so far in Europe ahead of London and Barcelona.. the Austrians sure know what beauty is and Vienna just is it.. visiting the new Danube city with its UN headquarters and wonderful buildings just confirmed that this has to be one of the best cities in the world..
Gonna miss the underground train announcements - in Vienna, it´s a clock dong, then the station name, e.g. Volkstheater, then some German stuff abt links to other trams and underground lines,.. Auch Zig Links.. which prob means next station.. when i got back from Salzburg today and hit the trains to go see the last of the wonderful art galleries that Vienna has, hearing that brought a smile to my face..
And Vienna does have some wonderful art galleries, in my opinion, they are two of the top 5 in the world, i.e. Leopold and Belvedre.. just like the country itself, there really isn't a place for ugly.. every work of art in those galleries is just beautiful even the modernist post-1945 ones if you appreciate that sort of stuff.. and i just couldn't find postcards for some works which I really liked but are not as famous, i.e. there was this painting by Moser which I don't know how he did it but the detail of the Alpine forest was just amazing, like 50 shades of green.. they're both set v well too which prob helps - u can make a gallery dull even if the collection is great, which is prob why there was hardly anyone at the Hungarian National Collection even though I reckon it's one of the best collections of art and sculptures you'll ever see.. Just wonder what Albertina and Kunsthistoriches would be like..
Can go on about the palaces of Schonnbrunn and Hofsburg but it's all in the same theme as the museums.. All I have to say is that I thoroughly loved Vienna even despite the crappy weather - the best day was the day that I left when the sun actually came out in the morning but even then it started to rain just as I was walking to the station, that's Austrian weather for ya.. And probably coz I built such wonderful memories from the hostel that I stayed at.. During my time in Austria, I did two stints of Vienna (first one, spent two nights, second one, one night and it was more so I could catch a train to Budapest, with Salzburg in between) and I stayed at both Wombat hostels in Vienna - best hostels in the world and best that I've stayed so far in Europe - although Mambo Tango experience in Barca is still quite a wee way to catch but the nights at the bars of the hostels weren't too far off, probably coz they were started by Austrians and being of Germanic descent, they always seem to know how to organize things and make sure everything runs well..
anyway, I'm not really quite thinking too well.. it is quite late at night after all..which is prob why when I get back from Europe, I'll spend the month I have in Malaysia writing a book and going through every single day - think it will work, there's always something that I'll remember, the burning plastic smell in Italy, the accordion players on the trains, the countless number of girls that I meet on tour who always seem to have boyfriends but only tell u like an hour after u meet them..
all i can say is that Austria is now 2nd behind France on my favourite countries in Europe list and definitely ahead of Britain.. Austrians just seem to know how to build cities that look good not just in the middle but at least in the next level of suburbs, i.e. Salzburg has tons of open green spaces.. the transport system is great.. everything just seems so nice and elegant, whether its the Schonnbrunn Palace, the Ferstung in Salzburg or even the Volkstheater metro station, they always seem so nice.. and the hospitality is always good even if the service at the cafes and bars never is.. that and the crappy weather are my only two bugbears from Austria.. and expensive internet..
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