Vienna - Day Thirty One

Ok, I yesterday I overslept again. This time it's because a couple of people were having sex in my dorm that night and it's hard to get your beauty sleep when your head's buried under the pillow and you're waiting for the fleshy panting noises to stop.

So, because of the bedroom athletics I missed the walking tour for the second day in a row. I'm not too gutted about that though, because the cold, rainy weather would probably have taken the edge off things. I caught the U-Bahn across the damp grey city to the Zoologischer Garten, which I would have checked out if the rain hadn't started coming in sideways at that point.

I ran through the downpour for a couple of blocks, nearly getting run over at an intersection where the green man turned red a bit quicker than I anticipated, and made it into the warm, dry sanctuary of Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche. This once grand cathedral was bombed to ruins by the RAF in WWII. Today it's broken tower and shattered body stand as a powerful anti-war memorial - the gilt-mosaic ceiling of the only remaining original section arcs gracefully above an interesting and moving museum exhibit that aims to convey the futility of war and the importance of understanding and dialogue between different nations and cultures.

Beside the ruins of the original church there is a new church. It's a simple tower from the outside, but as you enter through its heavy doors it is illuminated by thousands of blue glass windows - it was impressive even on the dark, rainy day that I visited. These two churches are well worth a visit if you are in the city. I found the ruined, bullet-strafed old cathedral profoundly moving, despite the thirty or so noisy English schoolkids who were bustling around when I was there.

Just before 9pm I borded a sleeper train for Vienna. This one was a lot more comfortable than the one from Barcelona to San Sebastian - I actually fitted in the couchette bed for a start. Like the previous train I had one of six beds in a private compartment, but there was only one other woman to share the cabin with this time (and she got off the train at about 5am) so I had a lot more privacy.

When she had left I opened the blind for a while as I tried to get back to sleep in the empty carriage, and the journey became surreal and cinematic. The train was quiet, except for the soothing background hum of the carriage sliding over the sleepers and cruising around long lazy corners, and my cabin was almost dark; illuminated only by the stars and the occaisional light from a farm in the sleeping countryside outside.

I was woken at about 8am this morning by the conductor as she brought me a cup of tea, some bread rolls and some tasty peach jam. As I had the cabin to myself I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast as the Austrian countryside rolled casually past my window. My interRail ticket is valid until the 5th of April, but I have a feeling this might be the last journey I make on it. I arrived this morning in a sunny, welcoming Vienna, and I have a strong suspicion that this city deserves more attention than a couple of short days.