Wien!

And we're moving on from München... to Wien, Österreich. Train ride from 9:30ish to about 2 p.m. Unfortunately, no stamps for my passport because we stayed in the Schengen Agreement Zone of Europe. This train was different than the ICE train from Berlin and was individual compartments of six people each in the cars. It helped quiet things down a bit (I don't know if anyone broke any glasses this time) but this car didn't have working air conditioning. I was so tired when we finally got to Wien from the heat that I really just wanted to sleep.

Once we got off the train and on to our hostel, we realized it was a lot better than a hostel. This was more of a hotel that actually had double-occupancy rooms with in-room restrooms. Very nice! After a refreshing shower and change of clothes, I went out wandering through the city with a handful of other people. Wien is such a beautiful city! All the buildings look very old (really many are 50-130 years old). In the 1860s-70s (?), the Austrian Emperor ordered that the old city moat be turned into a Ringstraße (ring street) and he ordered the construction of several hundred buildings in various architectural styles. A lot of neo-Gothic, neo-Renaissance, neo-Classical and neo-Baroque buildings made the street a lot of fun to just walk along. (I'm really starting to both appreciate and like my architecture class!)