I am finally in my next destination, Paris, but before I can talk about the city of love I have to debrief from my adventures in Vienna. It was quite interesting. And what better way to sum up than to make a top ten?! I haven't done one in a while, so here we go.
1. No pictures. A rule of thumb to have in Europe is if there aren't signs telling you it's ok, assume it's NOT ok to take photos. I found this out the hard way more than once... but I have become an excellent sneaky photographer because of this!
2. No food/drinks. Again with the assuming thing, don't drink or eat on the metro or in churches. Huge mistake on my part to bring my Starbucks cup into St. Stephens Cathedral... I just couldn't part with my skinny caramel macchiato!
3. Euros aren't like kroner. They don't convert as nicely. By this I mean the price you see is less than the price you pay, not more like in Denmark. So that three euro pastry? Yep that's more like five dollars. Not fun! But I did find some great pastry shops with 20 cent rolls.
4. This is more of a general rule of travel, but don't book flights at horrible times because they are cheaper. Break down and go with the one that fits your travel plans the best. You will end up paying more in the end if you don't. My day today was horrible because I mixed up a flight time and got to the airport seven hours early. My flight wasn't until six and I didn't get to my hostel in Paris until 10pm! Not fun when you've been traveling all week long. Pay the extra thirty dollars!
5. Find places to eat before you get to the city. I know this sounds strange, but especially when you're traveling alone, the idea of sitting down for a meal can be scary. Sitting alone in the dining hall is hard enough, you'd have to be seriously brave to sit down in a foreign country and have a full meal by yourself. Vienna had so many fabulous cafes that I was afraid to try because I didn't want to feel awkward. Not fun.
6. Don't always rely on the travel guides to give you the best information about where to go and what to do. If you hate going to churches, and the travel guide says you must go to the five greatest churches or you don't really see the city, why would you still go!? I searched around and found a great medical museum in Vienna with wax figures of the human body in various forms that was obviously nowhere in the guide book. Unfortunately unforeseen circumstances stopped me from going (long story) but it's an example of planning your own trip!
7. Ok... four more. Let's see, this might be weird for some of you (and non applicable for guys) but one of the nicest things you can do at a hostel is plan your outfit the night before. And shower/dry your hair the night before. You may night be 100% happy, but your roommates will like you and you won't wake them up. Like four of mine did each morning (ranging in time from 6am to 9am). Crumpling plastic bags, luggage zippers, hair dryers - no fun when you're trying to sleep!
8. Take advantage of your student discount, and don't be afraid to leave if you decide it's too expensive. I was at the Museum of Fine Arts when I decided I'd see enough art in Paris, and left the ticket line to cross the square and go to the Museum of Natural History instead. It was four euros cheaper and a very unique experience. Definitely worth it.
9. I always struggle with the last two... If in Austria, you MUST try mozartkugeln. It's kind of weird-tasting, but a staple of Vienna. Something not so fabulous but what everyone eats anyway: schocotorte. I had some today and it was dismal at best. And I thought I'd be missing out...
10. Go with the flow! Ok this might be lame, and I might have stolen if from every other advice column in the world, but it's in all of them because it's true! Especially when you're traveling you can't control everything. Yes, today I sat in a Starbucks in Vienna for three hours. But I caught up on some things I needed to do, and had a day to relax! My flight time was bad, but I'm over it (I have another flight that's at the worst time ever too... more on that next week). I got to where I needed to go, and that's what matters.
I really did love Vienna, but am SO excited to see Paris. My friend Rachel is here for the semester, and I think I'll see some other friends while they are visiting too! I really need to see people I know from home, I miss them all so much. You can't go abroad and not get homesick, it's a fact. But more on that later, too!
All about Paris tomorrow!
- Devon
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