Austria

I had a rule when I moved out of home, never eat the same meal 3 days in a row. Well I broke that rule quite badly in Vienna having 4 schnitzels in 3 days, but when they were served on a sword and in a wheelbarrow, how can you refuse ? After leaving the beautiful little town of Cesky Kremlov, we arrived in Vienna in the afternoon. After finding are hostel, we had a feed and went down to the fan zone in the city square. For those who dont know, Austria and Switserland are hosting the Euro 08 soccer tournament, which is a big deal over here ! The corwd was quite tame on the first night, but when the Turks stole a late win, the streets were alive with red flag and chants I couldn't understand ! The next night was the big big big game between Austria and Germany, but it was a bit of a fizzer and there was not much of a party going on (even though my face was painted red and white). While the schnitzels and the soccer were good, by far the best experience we had was a day trip to the Daunabe Valley wine region. Here we rode around on push bikes all day, drinking wine and schnapps, follwed but eating some sausages and chocolate, and finishing with a game of volleyball and more wine. We loved everything about this day except for when I tore my trusty pant/shorts in 2 whilst showing off in volleyball. This resulted in me having to create a makeshift cod piece out of my hat to protect the region from my nether regions ! Funny for all, emotional for me ! Still a great day though.

We didn't really get to see much of the classical Vienna as it was all covered up with soccer stuff, but the atmosphere made up for it.

Oh yeah, Peto you might like this, they make a sausage in Vienna called a Bern - Wurst (or something similar) which is a sausage filled with cheese and then wrapped in bacon. I now know what they eat in heaven !

We are now in Krakow after a long, long train trip, so we will update with more soon !

Until then.....