With love from Austria

Location: Salzburg, Austria

The Brazil and France game ended with me having to watch the 2nd half while rushing about in the train station. We had to catch an overnight train to Vienna, which I must say was...interesting. 6 ppl packed into a tiny cabin with just enough space to sleep, not enough to sit up. We literally got on, said our hellos to the fellow travellers and turned off the lights and went to sleep. We were sharing with an Alabaman family of 3, mother, son and daughter. Luckily i slept quite well, altho it ws probably because I was shattered from the last 2 nights.

Vienna turned out to be a disapointment. Boring, dull, too many big soulless buildings and too much shit on the streets. You literally have to do a dance walking on the pavement trying to avoid the brown goo. We stayed in a HI Hostel, proper dorm style but we got a 4 bed to ourselves. Austrians seem a bit reserved and moody at best, and no offence intended but German is one uh-gly language.....makes me appreciate travelling in Spain so much more, listening to their gorgeous language. It makes such a difference. Perhaps I'm judging Vienna unfairly though, we did arrive there on Sunday, which meant the entire city was d-e-a-d, but we did catch a glimpse of the Vienna film festival, but just as dad and I sat down to watch something, it started drizzling so we legged it! One good thing though is this seafood restaurant we have discovered, Nord See......one word: divine. Dont miss chicken at all.

From Vienna we headed for Salzburg, but on the way stopped at Linz to visit the Mauthausen concentration camp. We took an hours bus ride there, however, only to discover we'd have to walk 2km with all our luggage to get there. We were forced to head back to the station, superbly disappointed. What a waste of a whole day and 24 euros. But things improved vastly upon arriving in Salzburg......birthplace of Mozart and the setting for the Sound of Music! This city is so picturesque, we quickly fell in love with it. So we decided to forego our Switzerland plans and spend the extra day here.

Tonight we head to Budapest!