My Top Ten Moments

This was quite difficult to compile, but here it is. I can't even decide on an order, so it's bullet points instead!

• Watching Germany win the World Cup at the Kulturbrauerei

Machine

• Hearing and seeing the Blue Danube at a dinner show in Vienna

• Experiencing the gorgeous Christmas markets in Strasbourg

• Playing the Mind Maze in Prague with Sia and Sarah

Happy defeat

• Exploring Plitvice National Park in Croatia

Just call me Kirsty Two-Pairs

• Spending my 21st birthday in Paris with my best friend

Possibly my favourite picture of us ever

• Going to the fashion show at Galeries Lafayette with Elinor

Yeah I don't have any pictures of the actual show, soz, have this beautiful tree

• making Stollen with Niamh and Joe

It turned out wonderfully

• Seeing a Lippizaner perform a Levade in Vienna

The Lippizaner's saddles

• Having a 3 course meal in an empty restaurant with a view of the Alps

Pie in the sky

Oh and going up the Eiffel Tower at night with my sister!

Up in the fog

Is there any wool?

I'm currently on my last bus journey of my little adventure, heading back to Berlin. It feels weird to be going back as it already feels like I've left. Tomorrow will consist of packing, last minute souvenir shopping (how many Ritter Sports can I squeeze in my suitcase?), going to the bank and having a wander around soaking up the city. I'm definitely going to cry!

Anyway, Sia and I made it to Vienna and headed straight to the McDonalds near her flat. We just chilled out and watched tv, as we suddenly realised that Croatia had been quite stressful.

Wednesday was really relaxed. We stopped by the art school that Hitler was rejected from, twice. It was just so odd to stand there and think, wow, even mentalists like him had dreams once.

Then we went to the Haus der Musik, which was entertaining and interesting, albeit quite bizarre. We composed a song by throwing dice (for which I bought the certificate because it was a real achievement) and learnt some very interesting facts about Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven (he lived in 68 flats in Vienna because he was an awful tenant and also wrote one of the most well-known love letters?) and Schubert (who died at 32 from typhus).


For lunch, we went to Naschmarkt which didn't feel like Vienna at all!

Look at the size of em!

We had a Chinese there and then headed to the Hofburg Palace again to find the Papyrus Museum. We found it on our second attempt - we were actually in the right building the first time, we just didn't realise it was there... Anyway, that was really interesting and, as usual, I yabbered on about Ancient Egypt for about an hour. The ticket we bought was also for the Globe Museum and the Esperanto Museum... obviously we went. We have now got some very obscure facts under our belt for future quizzes. Do you know what graticules are? Do you know who the most prominent globe maker in the 16th century was? No? Should have gone to the globe museum.

The Esperanto museum was really small but I loved it. I didn't really know anything about it but I'm basically fluent now. Vi telefonas?

Dinner was at Vapiano, followed by coffee and cake at Cafe Central. I've just realised I didn't eat a single Sachertorte this time!

Today, we headed straight to the Spanish Riding School where we had a ticket to watch the morning exercises. Those horses are beautiful, and we were lucky enough to see one horse do a 'levade', where the horse rests on just its hind legs for 5 seconds. It can only be seen with the Lippizaners in Vienna, and I saw it even though I didn't go to a performance! You can't take pictures of any of it when the horses are around, because obviously it upsets them. Sad, but I have some lovely postcards. We watched for a couple of hours, then headed to lunch at one of the most famous restaurants in Vienna. After that we paid a visit to the old library in the palace.

My camera really didn't do this place justice, as usual

I want it!

I spent most of it whining about how unfair it was that I didn't have one. It was unreal. Beauty, eat your heart out.

Then it was back to the Spanish Riding School for our guided tour. It was excellent, and we got to go in the stables, inches away from these incredible horses! A question for all the horse riders out there: Is wool usually used in the soil stuff in a training centre? A woman was surprised that there was none there?

The indoor riding area, with the royal box

Our next stop was the Imperial Crypt, of course, where we saw the tombs of Franz Josef, Sisi and Rudolf. I may elaborate on this at some point but I'm tired and well aware that my Blackberry keyboard is horrendously loud so I need to end soon...

We had more coffee and cake at Demal, which is another famous cafe, stopped at Spar to buy Mozartkuegeln (amazing dark chocolate marzipan and pistachio balls) for my mum and then chilled at home until it was time to drop me off.

I'm glad I came back to Vienna again, and I reckon it's not the last time. As Billy Joel once said "Vienna waits for you."

See ya in Berlin
Xxx

Vienna, du bist so bloody schön

After being excited all day at work, and suffering very badly from Friday afternoon syndrome, it was finally time to get the bus to Vienna! I was so stressed getting to the bus station because, well, it's me.

I ended up sitting next to a large snoring man, but at least I had the window seat and could bury myself as far that way as possible. I didn't manage a massive amount of sleep, mainly because I just couldn't wait to see Austria for the first time. It didn't disappoint. I woke up just as the sun was rising, to see rolling hills and farms bathed in soft pink light and mountains rising in the distance. It was the definition of idyllic.

Ugh, well it looked better than this in real life ... awkwaard

Enough of me pretending to Wordsworth. I met Sia at the station and we went straight to hers for breakfast. On the way we went past the parliament. My jaw actually dropped. It looked like someone had winched it over from Ancient Greece.

The Parliament

The day was a very busy one, yet at the same time really lovely and relaxed. We started off at the cemetery (none of you should be surprised by this). We were, of course, looking for the graves of Beethoven, Mozart, Strauss, Brahms and Schubert. We found them, primarily by following a large group of Chinese tourists.

Next up, Sia took me to Belvedere Palace and again, I was just like 'oh woah'. The views from here were stunning and I couldn't get over the fact that I could see mountains. The last person to live here was Archduke Franz Ferdinand! We also saw Karlskirche, which was beautiful inside. We then decided we were hungry and grabbed lunch, sitting in the shade of the cathedral near Sia's uni, before heading down the road to Cafe Landtmann for a Sachertorte. This cafe was lovely and was apparently the preferred coffeehouse of Sigmund Freud - but there'll be more about him later. I also quickly decided that Viennese coffee is superb.

Moi outside Belvedere

View from the palace

Following that, we went to the Museum Quarter, where I again marvelled my little head off. We were now in the Hofburg Palace and, boy it was something. I was excited to see all the Ancient Egyptian stuff, including a mummified crocodile. We saw the rest of the first floor as well, and the whole place is just ridiculous. It's not quite as insane as Versailles but it's still like, guys, really?

Creepy

Roses in the Hofburg Gardens

Then I saw the Spanish Riding School to see the famous Lippizaners! I only saw them in their stables but whatever. I'll be back in Vienna at the end of August so we're going to take a tour then.

After a long day of being sweaty, we went back to Sia's to freshen up before going to the dinner concert. It definitely ranks in my top 10 year abroad moments (maybe I'll make that list happen when I leave). The food was good and I even tried some fishy stuff, which was brave of me, because I hate fish. Everything was traditional Viennese and the performances were so much fun to watch! Near the end, we were treated to 'Edelweiss' and the whole room joined in, followed by 'The Blue Danube', danced to by a lady in a gorgeous red dress. It ended too soon, but as soon as we stepped outside onto the square, there was a massive disco going on? We weren't sure what it was, but we grabbed a beer and had a little dance to Queen and the like, before dragging ourselves on home.

Please excuse my humming and muttering

Probably one of our nicest photos together! (stolen from Sia)

Sunday was a bit more chilled and after a nice breakfast, we headed out to Schonbrünn Palace. You know what I'm going to say, right? It was stunning. We took the little tourist train tour, which took us to the top, to the Gloriette. From here, you could see the Palace with the city behind it, and then some mountains. Sigh. We sat on the grass for a while, taking in the view and having a little picnic.

Outside Schonbruenn

Sia and I on the little train

View from the top! (I stole this from Sia)

On our way back down to the carriage museum in the main building, we stumbled across some mazes and decided to try our luck. I think we did okay! Put it this way, no one had to come rescue us and we sent up no flares.

Sia in the maze

We went through the rose garden and then into the carriage museum. Granted, it sounds a bit random but it was really interesting. One of the carriages on display was the one that Napoleon used for his coronation in Italy! They also had the HUGE funeral hearse for Queen Sisi, which was pretty morbid but incredible, and was last used in 1980 ...

Sneaky museum pic ooh

Anyway, it was good and after that we sat down for a cool drink before going home. Sia cooked for us, which was lovely, and we had dessert at Cafe Central. This cafe was also beautiful, complete with a pianist.

We were both incredibly excited for the Prater; one of the oldest Ferris Wheels. It's pretty huge too, and one of the most well known symbols of the city. It took a little while to get on, but get on we did and enjoyed a gorgeous night view of Vienna and the fun fair below. We rustled up some money for the water log ride and then I determined to find an ATM because we'd walked past a fun house that we just NEEDED to go in, okay?! And yes, before you ask, I did fall over at one point. But it was hilarious.

Trying to be arty ...

On Monday, we started with the Hundertwasserhaus, a really awesome apartment block that has trees growing through it. I bought most of my souvenirs here and then we went onto the Sigmund Freud Museum. Everybody at least knows his name, so to stand in the rooms that he used to practice psychoanalysis was incredible. I bought a pen inscribed with 'Prof. Dr SIGM. FREUD', because I like to think this makes me quirky and interesting. We lunched on Schnitzel, followed by yet another Sachertorte, but this time in the very building they were invented.

Hundertwasserhaus

Wienerschnitzel

We had dinner at a really nice Hungarian restaurant,which unfortunately did bad things to my tummy which had me almost in tears on the train and locked in a toilet without toilet roll. Sigh. It was time for me to go catch my bus home ... and go to work that morning.

Anyway, it was such a good weekend, and I'm looking forward to going back already! Next up is my sister's visit in two weeks time!

xxx