So, Vienna again...
I was sitting in The Loft Hostel in Budapest the other day trying to decide on the next location, and after about 30 minutes of my mind wandering to other things I managed to whittle it down to two possible destinations; Bucharest or Zagreb.
This was quite an achievement, because (yet again) I was a little hungover. So, with two potential candidates to choose from, I did a little research. Here are two extracts from the Lonely Planet's Shoestring Guide to Europe,
"Stray dogs, rip off taxis, lack of tourist information and communist smears aren't great press agents for Bucharest..."
and,
"Bucharest's stray dogs number 100,000 and, on rare occasion, bite. If bitten, go to a hospital for anti-rabies injections within 36 hours"
I think it was probably the anti-rabies injections (plural, I hope you'll notice) that didn't sit so well with my delicate, alcohol-soaked frame of mind, but I had a strong feeling that the 16 hour train journey to a city full of red-eyed, foam-lipped, blood thirsty slathering hell hounds could safely be postponed for a month or two.
Zagreb actually sounded lovely, but a quick inspection of the Hungarian railway network's website showed that the only trains available got me into the city late at night, and to be honest I just wasn't in the mood for that. I've arrived late in strange cities on quite a few occaisions now and it's always a bit stressful, no matter how safe or beautiful the city.
That left me in a bit of a pickle; where to go? Where to go...?
Of course, Vienna is only three pleasant hours away by train...
And it's a major transport hub...
And it's now officially my favourite city in Europe...
So here I am. And a good decision it was too. The journey was beautiful; a deep red sunset lending a warm glow to wide green fields, with frequently snatched glimpses of solitary deer and long-legged hares. Loads of hares for some reason. Definitely hares - not rabbits. I'm from the countryside you see, we know about these things.
As if to confirm what a good choice it was, I bumped into Chad (my fellow zombie bather from Budapest) almost immediately after arriving, and we had a few beers.
The next day I saw a man in a big flashy 4x4 (a real Chelsea tractor) cut across the road and get hit by a tram. Amazing. I love this city.
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I'm a big fan of Vienna too -- spent about a month there over the last two years of travelling. In fact, I just interviewed some students studying there and they're having a blast too.
DO avoid Buchurest. It's a horrible hole. However, get up into Brasov for a few days at least, then head westward towards Sibiu, stopping wherever you wish along the way. Apart from the capital, Romania can be really nice.
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