Tuesday afternoon, after a goodbye lunch with my Brazilian friend, Gabriela, I headed back to my residence to start packing. Like any responsible young person, I left all my packing to the last minute. Which, led to the last minute realization that all my stuff wasn't going to fit into my suitcase. So consequently, I sent a last minute package home, and by last minute I mean I ran into the post office and they locked the doors behind me. I gave away all the kitchen and housewares stuff I bought for the semester. All it took was a "free" sign and everything was gone within minutes. (That's student life for you!)
Once getting rid of the extra stuff, packing was a breeze and I called it an early night for my big day of traveling to Vienna!
Wednesday morning, I woke up, checked out of residence, and headed down to the bus station. Taking a bus to Vienna meant the route was north through the French alps, all the way across Germany and to the opposite side of Austria. That's right, that distance plus the rest stops meant a 21 hour journey in a cramped and stuffy bus! I left grenoble just before 11am on wednesday and arrived in Vienna at 8am on Thursday.
The bus had two drivers, while one drove the other slept in a little cubby under the stairs. We had rest stops every 3 hours or so. While it was not the most comfortable or speedy ride of my life, it was cheap - which is all that matters on a student budget.
Now I'm in Vienna and very tired! I cannot check into my room until 3, so I'm just killing time. It would be more fun if I weren't exhausted and if it wasn't raining, but oh well!
I've already learned a few things while I've been here: Vienna is spelled Wien in German. And secondly I'm really bad at using maps and I should stick to the subway to get me around. I got myself very lost this morning and ended up walking myself in a circle back to my hostel.
The rain doesn't seem to be letting up, so I might call it a day once I'm back at the hostel. I hope this eternal cloud over Europe leaves soon!