Rachael and Jacob go to Vienna.

11:22 pm CET

Happy Halloween to everyone back home!!

Yesterday was quite relaxing; I slept till one (it was wonderful) and after getting up, I met up with Jacob at a STARBUCKS (I almost cried out of sheer joy). We caught up over coffee and after that we bought some groceries, went back to my room, and watched Labyrinth (awful) and Clue (awesome). We then decided that we wanted to go to Vienna the next day, so we planned to meet one another at Keleti pályaudvar at 6:30am, so we would have enough time in the city.

Of course, I had forgotten that DST ended early this morning, so when I meant to wake up at 5:45 to get ready, I actually woke up at 4:45 because of the time change. It took me a few moments to realise it and, by that time, I was already mostly awake (although still obscenely tired). I tried to go back to bed for an hour with no such luck, so I finished getting my things together instead. At 6:00am I headed for Keleti pu and met Jacob, where we bought tickets to Wien (Vienna) and hopped on our train.

Three hours of farmland and several wind turbines later, we arrived in Vienna. We got a 24-hour public trans pass and took the metro to the Volkstheater, and continued on foot to Maria-Theresien-Platz. From there we walked to Heldenplatz (Heroes' Square), which is right in front of Hofburg Palace, the President's residence and the former winter palace of the Habsburg dynasty. I was completely taken aback by the grandeur of the place; I could never imagine living somewhere so huge!

After the palace, we walked around, saw some churches, had lunch, and made our way on the metro to Schönbrunn Palace, the former summer palace of the Habsburg monarchy. Again, it was enormous, and its grounds extended even farther than Hofburg's because of the massive gardens and landscaping. Jacob and I walked around the gardens, enjoying the chilly autumn stroll and the leaf-covered ground. We saw a bunch of fountains and obelisks and we ran around in a hedge maze. When we had finished with the gardens, we took the metro back to the center of the city to see the Rathaus (City Hall), the University of Vienna, and the Parliament building (all three were very big, very imposing, and very beautiful). We then searched for somewhere to get something to eat before we had to return to the train station. We both got some Vienna-style hotdogs (which were very, very good) and made our way to the station, where we got some snacks and drinks for the journey home.

We got back on time, but I am still thoroughly exhausted. Lack of sleep combined with a week of travel has left me worn out, so I am more than happy that we have still have one more day off from school. I will probably spend it in bed, asleep or reading. I would not be opposed to a day spent lazing about; I would not be opposed to that at all...