We bought tickets and caught a tram down to the station so we could get reservation for the night train down to Rome (and then to Naples). We booked couchettes which were apparently like seats that extended or folded into something. Right next to the station was somewhere that we had wanted to go see anyway, the Belvedere.
We strolled over and got to the entry. A lady as handing out flyers for something, and I automatically just walked past and gave the ´no thanks´ gesture. Little did I know that she was also giving out free packets of gummy bears, which Emma had got. Danm! Oh well, I didn´t want to embarrass myself by going back and asking for some, so I just shared Emma´s packet.
The Belvedere palace reminded me a lot of Versaile, with large palace buildings set into even larger gardens, very well kept and showing off extravagance. Well, they were filled with lots of statues anyway, including more of people fighting things, some sphynx and some built into some large fountains. There were some bushes cut into geometric shapes like cones or tall pyramids.
The sky was clouded over, keeping the hot sun from beating down on us, which was nice while we were walking around outside. It wasn´t raining however which was also quite nice. We walked down to where there was a maze. Well, I wouldn't really call it a maze myself, more like an afterthought of a maze, really, but it was nice nonetheless.
Having reached the bottom and finding out that the art exhibitions we wanted to see were back up at the upper palace, we walked all the way back up the garden. Up there we got tickets and I also got a call from Dani about getting my Ipod all fixed up. I tried to give her instructions as much as I could but it didn't seem that it was getting picked up by Itunes. Hmmm. I told her to maybe take it in to an Apple store and see if they could reformat it for me.
We then went into the gallery. We saw some older Viennese stuff but then there was a whole bunch of Klimt and some more Schielle. Good stuff all round. Klimt´s work is truly amazing, especially the colours in some of his stills of houses and gardens. The Kiss of his was also amazing to see in real life.
Once we´d done the gallery we headed out to the gardens again and had ourselves some lunch. Once cheese sandwiches were devoured and thoroughly enjoyed we made our way out of the gardens and then headed north into the city. It was a bit of a walk but we eventually made it back to the crowded streets and tourist groups. On the way I stepped in some gum. Really now, is there anything worse? That is completely the lowest point of civilisation. Could they not wait another few meters (and yes, it was just a few) till a bin?
We wanted to get coffee and cake (as we have a taste for now) so we stuck our heads into our LP guide and tried to find somewhere good. We decided on somewhere called Central Cafe, supposedly a famous Viennese institution; a place where key figures like Lenin, Stalin and Freud used to go to. Sounded good. The place also apparently was the last remaining café with the original type of architecture.
On the way there we walked through another small street which had a café that almost made us stop, with pictures promising for delicious slices of thick chocolate cake and warm cups of tea and coffee. We decided to press on though. Eventually, we did make it to the Central Cafe.
The first thing that hit me as we walked in was that it looked a bit more upmarket than what I had expected. I was worried at how much we might be paying for this little adventure when we could have easily stopped in at a nice little small place in some side street and got a cheap but cosy and warm seat.
The architecture was amazing. There were pillars everywhere and the roof was composed of a series of arches. It all looked very exquisite and I almost felt out of place wearing jeans and a t-shirt. We ordered our usual drinks (Emma got peppermint tea, I think) and then steamed chocolate cake and apple strudle. Steamed chocolate cake apparently means a chocolate soufflé in German, but that was okay because it was delicious. The apple pie was even better than the chocolate soufflé.
The bill came out to be 18 euros. Just like I expected it was quite a hefty bite into the wallet. But, considering that we had only spent about five euros each on the last five or six meals, I wasn´t too fussed. I thought, you know what, we´ve been good with our self-catering. I can have that delicious apple strudle without feeling guilty.
From there we decided to head back. It was threatening to rain and the afternoon was getting on already. So, we made our way back to the hostel to do our usual blog and internet thing. On the way we went through the museum square and sat on some cool blue furniture.
That night we cooked fish fingers and frozen veggies for dinner. Yum.
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