To Vienna…a long 6.5 hour train journey - but amazing, another compartment - these are quite nice! Definitely getting used to these long journeys - James is proficient at napping on trains and I am now quite comfortable with just staring out of the window for hours on end! Coming through Slovenia early morning with the sun shining, was beautiful, can highly recommend it as a train journey to do.

Our train stopped at a station quite far away from the centre of Vienna so we had a bit of a trek to get to our hotel (how novel! A hotel!). After James leading us out of the train station in search of our metro line on foot in a vague direction, we decided the best option was to ask a nearby taxi driver, who promptly opened the boot of his taxi and offered us a ride…we declined and asked for the best way on foot…ah…back to the train station and just get the metro with a few connections - easy when you know how…(or choose to listen to your girlfriend….). Anyhow, after mastering the Vienna metro, we were there. Nice little hotel by a tributary of the river Danube that is used for all kinds of boating and water-based activities - nice and chilled.

Keeping with the success of the Zagreb restaurant, we headed out in search of the XXL restaurant - they served meat, and lots of it. Aber nicht. After a rather long walk up the road, we still weren't anywhere near! So opted for the local steakhouse that we passed. Hmm, the chilli con carne was interesting - more kidney beans and sweetcorn than meat. James's burger was amazing though!

The next morning we'd planned on getting out early and heading into the city to explore, but unfortunately James wasn't feeling too good (the amazing burger, perhaps?), so we opted for a more leisurely walk around the river. We stopped off for lunch - apparently ribs are a speciality in Vienna - so we shared a big rack of yummy ribs then headed back to the room to relax. We'd tackle the city the next day. A little later we headed out for a spot of dinner at a little place by the river we'd seen earlier. I just fancied something light so ordered some soup…note to self - soup on the menu is very small and intended to only be a starter - so I shared some of James's main and treated myself to an apple strudel - mmm! All washed down with some mineral water (our first day of the trip with no alcohol…..)

And so we ordered the bill from a slightly grumpy looking German man…"can we have the card machine please?"…again - Aber nicht. Cash only…ah, b*****. Not having really gone anywhere near a cash machine all day, we didn't have enough for the bill and we didn't know where the nearest one was! After getting some loose directions from the waiter, James headed out to save the day….40 minutes later….it seems that upon finding said cash points, none of the 11 available would accept our card. A few girls were there, so he asked them to try, but they couldn't get it to work and they didn't know where another one was. Luckily, he found a guy and he directed him to another one - quite a way away! With no phone he couldn't send me a message to tell me what a palaver he was having. Meanwhile, back at the restaurant waiting patiently and hoping not to get moved off the table, I'm beginning to wonder what could possibly be taking so long and trying not to let my imagination run away with me! All's well that ends well though. Enough excitement for one day - home to bed.

We got up early and headed out to explore Vienna, starting with the colossal and stunning Schöenbrunn Palace. Having looked at the ticket prices (ouch!), we'd opted to stick to the main gardens (free) and the maze & labyrinth (5 Euros each)…the place was vast! It's got something like 1,400 rooms and grounds as far as the eyes can see. The maze was only small, but pretty good all the same - naturally, James beat me! We jumped back on the metro and went in search of some lunch, armed with some trip advisor recommendations off we went. So, apparently there was a 'cheap-eats' café not far from us - as soon as we found it, we thought it looked a little posh. Indeed it was, once we sat down and looked at the menu, we very quickly upped and left before the waiter came back! Not far away, we found somewhere a bit more on our budget level, unfortunately, it was in a bit of a wind tunnel - well you can't win them all!

After a traditional Wiener Schnitzel (and burger for James again - other meals are available!) we were suitably refuelled for a little tour around the old town. Lots of pretty buildings, natural history museum (not free like in London), art galleries, Palace of Justice (it looks much better from the front!) …and so on. All very nice! The Rathaus (City Hall) looked amazing from above all of the other buildings, however when we got close, we found that the steeples were about all we could actually see - not under construction this time though - there was a film festival on and a huge screen had been set up right in front of it! Both feeling a bit shattered after trying to get back into city mode, we stopped for an ice-cream filled crepe with chocolate sauce and headed home to sort our lives out ready for going to Munich.

Another note to self - a 'Schweiz Wurst Salad' is not your typical salad with sausages…it had more processed cheese and ham than vegetables. Another experience ticked off the list for sure….it's actually just struck me - how much processed meat and cheese do Europeans actually eat?! Breakfast, lunch, dinner and probably snacks - how are they all not really fat?!

Anyhow, another city bites the dust, Munich beckons and our first dorm experience….