Amschterdamm

Amsterdam: Vice City. Good boys go to Heaven, bad boys go to Amsterdam. Or so it was written on one of the many tourist shirts around the place. But before we arrived in Amsterdam, we had to leave Berlin. Our train was planned for 12:30am (overnight sleeper train), due to arrive in Amsterdam at 10:00am. We arrived at the station at a quarter to twelve to ensure that there would be no holdups. We took our place on the freezing hauptbahnhof platform, with snow literally blizzarding in at the end of the platform. Twelve thirty came around, and here comes the train! Except that it wasn't the train. It was a different train - same destination, half the carriages. You guessed it - our carriage wasn't one of the included ones, which we learned from a monumentally energetic sprint from one end of the platform to the other. Twice. On overnight trains, reservations are a must - and I had reserved us seats weeks earlier. The krauts, however, had decided that they'd not sold enough seats on the regular train, and had thus cut off half of the train, without telling us before the train arrived. Filthy bastards. Needless to say, I was -fuming- at this point, as I was directed to the Customer Service desk five floors below the platforms. We waited in line for half an hour (Deutschbahn had obviously screwed over many more than just the two of us that night), and at 1:00am finally got to the desk to be officially informed by the attendant that "Zis train ist cancelled, ya?" He told us that the next train would be in five hours time. He said "Vill you require accommodations?" - I'm not going to write down exactly what my reply was, but suffice it to say that it involved at least one racial stereotype and a whole lot of sarcasm. Or maybe just sarcasm. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story, right? We ended up staying in the hotel across the road for the few hours until our next train, which was surprisingly cosy for a two star European hotel. The bald man behind the desk looked a lot like Matt Lucas from Little Britain fame, and he happily announced that most of their hotel's business was from Deutschbahn failure.

Most of our bissness is from Deutschbahn failure, yah! Vee luff Deutschbahn!

Never again will I be convinced that the Germans are efficient.

Our next train at 6:30am was without incident and we arrived in Amsterdam in the early afternoon. We checked into our hotel and walked to Dam Square, one of the main public areas in the city centre.
 

It was there that we met up with Batesy, Tim and Michael for a few pints o' Amstel. It was good to swap travel stories with the guys, and drinks turned into Chinese at a restaurant located near the main train station. We ate quickly as we'd signed up to do a Red Light District walking tour later in the evening. The tour was pretty fascinating. Amsterdam is renowned for being a city of vice, and in the Red Light District, girls hire small glass rooms to show off their goods to eager males for a negotiable price.

We'd read earlier that taking pictures of the girls putting themselves on show is extremely taboo, and taking a picture can lead to attacks, both physical and verbal. We abided by this advice (the picture above is not ours and was sourced from Google), however, another girl on our tour decided it'd be a great idea to take pictures of a girl skimpily dressed as a policewoman. I don't know how she avoided attack, but the policewoman wasn't happy. In any case, it was easy to see that the girls were getting a lot of business - many of the glass booths had their curtains drawn, which meant that the girls were with clients. In older times, most of the girls were Dutch, however, as time went on, this became less appealing to Dutch girls and much more appealing to Eastern European girls who were looking to earn some serious coin in a hurry. After walking the streets for a while, the tour group went to the Prostitute Information Centre to have a Q&A with a former prostitute. Really interesting stuff.

I should mention: joining us on the tour were an aging British man, and his considerably younger but still highly unattractive Asian girlfriend. About fifteen seconds into the tour, the girlfriend sprained her ankle on a gutter, rendering them 80% slower than the rest of the group. So, when the time came for us to enter the PIC for the Q&A, the bizarre couple were about fifteen minutes late. The guide made a display of "Ohh, I was looking for you!" while throwing down a Heineken and finishing his cigarette. And the aging British man was very obviously quite irate that the guide had let them slip so far behind the rest of the group (I smell a bad Viator review from him!) He then proceeded to ask the former prostitute such questions as "So how much would I.. er.. somebody pay to visit one of these ladies" and "Is it okay if I.. er.. somebody brings their injured Asian girlfriend" and so on. Alright, he wasn't that specific, but he did inquire as to whether the girls accepted couples (they apparently do, by negotiation) and whether the few transvestite prostitutes only serviced males or females. Suss British men for the win.

Amsterdam's other main vice is cannabis. Now, cannabis isn't strictly speaking legal in the Netherlands, but the law isn't enforced - meaning that, as long as you're smoking your weed in one of the so-named "coffee shops" or not causing a great deal of trouble, the authorities will leave you alone to smoke your cones.

The result is that Amsterdam smells a lot like weed most of the places you go. Shannon and I aren't into drugs in any way, and decided to leave smoking and space cakes to other, braver tourists. Avoiding the shops themselves was not enough, however. The sheer number means that simply walking the streets, leaves one's clothes (and hair, in Shan's case) reeking of marijuana. We look forward to our next contact with airport drug detector dogs.

The next day, we set off for Anne Frank's house. The house is set up as a permanent exhibition for people to see where the Frank family hid during World War II, and documents the tragic end of most of the family members throughout the war. It is a beautiful tribute, and far more interesting than we had imagined. Shan and I both couldn't believe they had been able to hide for so long. Especially given how creaky (and steep!) the stair cases were. I'm sure the workers below probably heard them fall many times. The most touching aspect was an interview with Anne's dad Otto, in which he reflected on the loss of his entire family, and how little he really knew about the depth of Anne's thoughts, even though they were quite close. We spent an hour at the house, before moving on to the Flower Markets.

Here, lots of growers come to sell bulbs for tulips and the flowers themselves. I would have brought some to take home, but you know… customs wouldn't have really liked it. That, plus with our clothes smelling of weed, it probably wasn't the best idea.

After this, we headed towards the Heineken Factory, and then the outside of the Rijksmuseum so we could take some photos with the giant "IAMSTERDAM" letters.

All in all, Amsterdam was a nice place to visit. Or, nicer than we expected it to be!

Next stop, Paris!

Berlin

We left Prague with a sigh, for two reasons. One, we had both really enjoyed being there - the people were nice, the food was cheap, and the sights were beautiful. Two, it was ridiculously early when we got up to catch our train to Berlin. We arrived in Berlin around 1pm, eager to return to Germany after our earlier escapades in Munich. The train trip was without incident, and upon arrival at Berlin Hauptbahnhof, we found an underground metro map in order to find our way to the hotel. Deciding that the S-Bahn was the best way to get there, we walked up to the S-Bahn platform on the top of the station. We were stopped by a German man in a DB (Deutschbahn, the train network) uniform, who kind of looked a little like Joseph Goebells. He said to us, in broken English (which we weren't used to hearing from Germans): "The train… not driving". There was no reason given, and I dared not ask for one in case he was actually Goebells reincarnated. The platform was deserted, and the underground (U-Bahn) platform was just as deserted. We decided to jump in a cab, and this cost just nine euros to take us to our hotel (ten after the required 10% "tip"). Upon arriving at our hotel, we checked the news to discover:

So much for German efficiency.

We also read online (or rather, Shannon read online) that the Pergamon Museum, along with all the other national museums in Berlin, would allow free entry on Thursday nights after six pm. The Pergamon Museum is one of Berlin's most important museums (musea?) and features a Greek marble altar and a gate from the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. We only had a couple of hours to kill before nightfall (thus the good photo taking opportunities become limited), so we decided to head for Museum Island to check out the Pergamon. As we were still before the 6pm "free" cutoff time, we walked around the island for a bit, taking in all the sights and smells, and had a brief stroll on Friedrichstraße, one of the main city streets in Berlin. Hunger then plagued us, so we headed to the nearest fine dining establishment for a good meal. This turned out to be, incidentally, a restaurant named "Corroboree", an Australian restaurant. I had no idea "Australian" was even a food type, so were both interested to see what would be on the menu. There was a "Toowoomba" burger, which looked tempting. They also had only the finest Newcastle beer, along with the obvious Fosters. I decided against drinking Australian beer in Germany, as this is a sin that not even God could forgive.

Leaving the restaurant satisfied, we headed for the Pergamon. We were told upon entering that this free entry after 6pm on Thursdays no longer applies, and is "old informations". Thanks a lot, Shannon! So we bailed, as we didn't feel like paying the exorbitant entry fee to see some old Greek marble (Let's face it, after seeing the Parthenon, no other Greek marble compares anyway) and headed home for an early night's sleep.

The next day, we set out for Zoo Station (on the U2 line, the laughs will never end) for our Berlin Walking Tour. The guide's name was Carlos, authentic German for sure. He was friendly and very knowledgable, and we set off on the now operational S-Bahn for Hackescher Markt. On the way, we went past Bellevue Palace (home of the President of Germany) and we also went past Angela Merkel's Chancellery, which is an ugly building in the shape of a Washing Machine. We also briefly saw the Reichstag (now called Bundestag) and the victory column, which was pretty grand looking.

After getting off the train, Carlos detailed 800 years of Germanic history for us in about ten minutes. Then, it was on to the sightseeing! We saw the museums on Museum Island (this time during the daylight, which was nice) and the guide pointed out to us the museum where the famous bust of Nefertiti is domiciled (Neues Museum). He told us that the Germans refer to this bust as "the most beautiful woman in Berlin". We then went to the Lustgarten (great name, literally translated to pleasure garden) where Hitler would address the troops standing at attention. Lusty!

Then it was on to the National War Memorial, where visiting foreign dignitaries come to lay wreaths for fallen soldiers. The guide told us that the statue inside was sculpted by the mother of a German soldier. This mother was a pacifist and hated the idea of war, however she reluctantly signed the papers saying that her underage son could join the military. Her son was quickly killed, and as a coping mechanism for the anguish she felt, she sculpted the statue of a mother holding her dying son. Underneath, an inscription dedicates the statue to the victims of war. Above the statue, the roof is open, so that the elements can have an impact on the way the statue looks at all different times of the year (when it is dry, or raining as it was today).

We then went to the square where the infamous book burnings took place prior to the outbreak of war. To mark the spot where the fire burned, a quote from Heinrich Heine from 1820 (one hundred years prior to the Nazi book burnings) was inscribed. I forget the exact translation, but it was something like "When you start burning books, you finish by burning people". An eerie prediction.

The brass plate marks the spot where the books were burned

Near this brass plate & quote, the square holds a second monument constructed in a typical German style. The Germans have an interesting way of acknowledging the events of the second world war. Rarely do they provide information regarding what their monuments mean, or why they designed them as they did. They have a very simplistic aesthetic, and then they let you make your own mind up about what meaning to draw from their monument. The second monument was an Empty Library (as seen below) under the floor of the square. Ways that this could be interpreted: as the library cannot be entered, neither can you enter the past - you can only reflect upon it. The library is always lit - the obvious fire reference, but could also signify the light of humanity. The empty shelves - probably the most obvious of all. Or is it? You decide.

After this, we went to the Brandenburg gate, one of the old city gates that overlooks the "Death Strip", the no-mans-land that separated the Soviet controlled East Berlin and the American occupied West Berlin after World War II.

It was named the Death Strip, as any East Berlin citizen attempting to defect into West Berlin would be shot on sight by the Soviets. Also near the Brandenburg Gate was the Hotel Adlon, famed for Michael Jackson hanging his baby outside the balcony some years ago. So, the tour covered pretty much all bases.

Oh, I can't forget to note the guy in the Darth Vader costume posing for photos with tourists near the gate as well.

After a quick stop for a snack, we headed to the Jewish Holocaust Memorial, a stones throw from the Brandenburg gate. It's an interesting memorial with no formal interpretation or meaning noted at the site itself - (as is the German way). It was built on uneven ground, and takes the shape of thousands of concrete pillars of differing heights and angles, in a grid formation. The guide suggested that this may be to symbolise a graveyard. Also, once inside the uneven labyrinth of concrete pillars, one becomes quickly disoriented, an intentional characteristic designed to put you in the shoes of the victims of the Holocaust.

The tour then took us to the site of Hitler's Bunker, the Fuhrerbunker.

Well, on top of it anyway. It wouldn't be a very good bunker if you could see it, would it? This is the bunker where Hitler married his mistress Eva Braun a day before he completed suicide via cyanide tablet. Worst. Honeymoon. Everrr. We couldn't go inside because apparently the Ruskies tore it apart when they occupied this part of town. I believe this to be a conspiracy, and believe that Hitler is still alive in the bunker to this very day.

We then went to the "Topography of Terror", where the former headquarters of the Gestapo and the SS were located in Berlin. A section of Berlin Wall near this location was preserved.

Then it was on to Checkpoint Charlie, the point where foreign diplomats and the like were admitted from East Berlin to West, or vice versa. A few actors at the Checkpoint still dress in US Army uniforms to the delight of tourists willing to shell out their hard earned coin for some satirical photographs. By this point it was snowing heavily, and thus Shannon and I both look like drowned rats.

The tour then finished, and Shan and I decided to go to the East Side Gallery, a section of Berlin Wall preserved with political artwork regarding the separation of Germany, and the terror caused by Communism and Fascism. There was some highly thought provoking art work there, however the snow had yet to let up and thus we now looked like drenched, iced rats.

As it was getting dark, we headed for our hotel, to await our midnight train to Amsterdam.

Praha

After another day in Vienna (Zach decided not to discuss it because he didn't think it particularly interesting), we headed on to Prague. We arrived at 9:18pm, and determined not to waste our cash, voted for the metro instead of a taxi. This did prove slightly problematic, as when we reached the ticket machines, they were only coin operated. The Czech currency is beyond confusing. The have 50 "dollar" (kroner) coins, and most items cost 100s of kroner, which makes you feel both rich, and like you're spending way too much money. After breaking a 100 kroner note and buy a 30 kroner can of soft drink at the ONLY open store, we eventually made it to our hotel. 

The next day, we headed off for an "all inclusive" walking tour of Prague. We began in the Jewish Quarter, where we checked out various synagogues. 

One of them has the names of 80,000 Jews from Prague who died during WWII. There were 120,000 living there before 1938. Around 30,000 managed to flee before the war began. Only 10,000 survived. Our guide, Tomas, told us that today, there are only 1,700 Jewish people living in Prague. Pretty horrific. We also saw a Jewish Cemetery used from the 15th-18th century. Although tiny, it is said to contain the remains of up to 100,000 people. Once buried, the Jewish people believe that their bones must remain until last judgement, so to maximise space, they are buried in layers, with the tombstones moved up to the top level every time. The result is an amazing jumble of tombstones.

Next stop was the Old Town, famed for its 15th century "Astronomical clock". Every hour, the clock is set in motion, as death (the skeleton) beats time on a bell. Three other sculptures representing vanity, greed (a Jew, hello stereotype!) and pleasure/laziness (a Turk - seriously, Prague was a racist city) also do their thing. All twelve apostles pop their heads out of a window, and some dude trumpets and waves. It's a REALLY short performance, but the Czechs (and tourists, of course) can't get enough of it. And neither can the pickpockets. Easy money.

The Old Town Square is incredibly beautiful, and has this amazing looking church - Church of our Lady before Tyn - which seems more medieval castle than Church. It's especially beautiful at night. Zach said that if Batman was a priest, he would preach at this church. 

Lunch was at this random Medieval restaurant, which was half pirate ship, half dungeon, but it was delicious. Goulash here is amazing. Seriously. Amazing.

A quick bus ride took us to the Prague Castle complex - officially the largest in the world - and the magnificent St Vitus Cathedral housed within its walls. 

The castle is a strange looking building, because basically it is a complete mismatch of architectural styles. It seems every king that came along decided he wanted to add something to the castle. Rather surprisingly, it still manages to be quite beautiful. The Cathedral itself took a whopping 600 years to complete. The influence of this is perhaps best encapsulated by the rather obvious presence of two suited architects in amongst the gothic facade. Awesome.

Whilst we were visiting the castle, we also managed a encounter with the Czech president, Vaclav Klaus. As the guards cleared the street, a string of Skoda and police sped into the castle, followed by two Audis. He pretty much just looked like an old guy in an Audi. Tomas informed us that he always travels like this, untinted windows, second car in the procession, always an Audi. So, you know, security is tight. We weren't especially impressed, until Tom told us a little more about Klaus. Klaus is literally the coolest president ever. He is known as the "Margaret Thatcher of Central Europe", compares environmentalism to communism and once stole a pen during a diplomatic visit to Chile. Seriously, google it. Completely obvious, completely hilarious.  

At the castle, Tomas filled in some time by telling us about Czech Christmas traditions. I should firstly note that 70% of Czech citizens are either Atheist or Agnostic. I should then note that all Czech citizens possess at least one nativity, or "little bethlehem". Makes no sense. Not only this, but they have a nativity museum, most famous for the carp nativity (complete with Jesus as a fish egg). We're not sure why, but the Czech idea of a traditional Christmas meal is carp. They openly admit that it is awful (though apparently soaking it in milk for multiple days can remove the taste of mud) and eat it anyway. I don't get it. The Czechs also don't believe in Santa Claus (Tomas referred to him as the Coke bottle man). Rather, they believe that "invisible baby Jesus" brings them their gifts. I remind you, 70% of these people don't believe in God, but a gift giving, invisible infant Jesus sounds legit. The night of the 5th of November is also important here. On this night, St Nicholas (Mikulas), dressed as a Bishop, visits the houses of children with a party of angels and devils. If the children have been deemed as "bad", the devils scare the children and (sometimes) throw them in sacks so they can "take them to hell", while St Nicholas tries to judge if they are worthy of redemption. He then reads a letter of "misdeeds" (carefully crafted by the parents of course), makes them sing carols/read poems and, finally, deems them worthy of gifts from the angels. If you watch youtube videos of this event, you can imagine that this is probably horrifically damaging to said child. It is also hilarious. The fear in their eyes is genuine. Tomas said that this year he actually had a small girl get down on her knees and beg for "one last chance". Ever entrepreneurial, Zach sees the potential of this as a behavioural control, and intends to introduce it in Australia. Look out Theo!

From the castle, it was down through the "New" (1348 AD) Town to see the infant Jesus of Prague. The story behind it is far too long to tell, but it is by far Zach and my favourite thing. It is this tiny wax doll, enshrined in the wall of a church, full of gold and gem stones. 

Carmelite nuns change its outfit every day (it has hundreds of elaborate robes) and people pray at its altar. It is revered, and people will travel the world to ask its blessing.

…. We don't get it, but we love it anyway. 

We walked past the "Lennon Wall", a symbol of the people's intense dissatisfaction with the former communist regime. While the communists were in power, people would write messages on the wall; messages of love, happiness, joy and freedom. The Commies promptly painted over the wall in boring colours - however, the next day, the people would be back out there, writing their messages of love for all to see. A subtle and defiant means of getting their view across. As John Lennon was effectively a martyr for this cause, the Lennon Wall has taken its name from him, and many of the messages have famous Beatles lyrics.

We then ventured to the old Charles Bridge, which is apparently the world's largest collection of outdoor statues. People will walk to the bridge to rub the brass on two panels in the middle statue, for luck/children/marriage. It seems that wherever people wish for luck in Europe, they go rub some brass. 

The day ended with a boat cruise. It was relatively boring, but they served me free gingerbread, so I was happy!

The next day, we went skulking for souvenirs from around the Old Town area. Our guide warned us a day earlier that Matryoshka Dolls (Babushka) are not strictly "local legit" - they're effectively just Russian, and the Czechs hate the Russians due to that whole Iron Curtain thing. Still, they sell them on most streets around Old Town. I desperately wanted to buy one. After looking through maybe ten stores (you wouldn't believe how many different types of Matryoshka there are), we entered a very nice looking store on the main strip. Inside, we split - I looked at Matryoshkas while Zach checked out a few more manly things. After about 5 minutes, I was approached by a greying old man who asked if I needed help. I politely replied that I was just having a look, but the man didn't leave my side. Now these stores don't display prices openly, and we quickly learned to check under the ass of the biggest doll for the price. Seeing a rather gorgeous set, I picked one up, and the assistant looked at me and said (again) "can I help you?". At this stage, I was beginning to think he was mildly retarded, but replied with a firmer no. Unfortunately, this led to a lecture in which I was told that if he cannot help me, I cannot touch the "gifts" because touching them was not nice, and I was very rude. Indignant, I hightailed it out of the store, calling Zach on the way. The next place we walked in to got my hard earned kroner, so he can suck it. 

We then ventured up the Astronomical Clock (at an astronomical price of 4 euro; actually it wasn't that bad a price, I just wanted to use the astronomical pun) and got a nice view of around the Old Town area. Before climbing, Zach announced that the weather looked nice and thus it would be a perfect time to climb the tower. This was true, the sky had blued and there were no clouds in sight. 

Guess what happened after we ascended the tower! 

That's right, blue turned to grey faster than Usain Bolt drinks a cappuccino. Still, the view from the top was nice. 

We then descended the tower, and walked across the Charles Bridge for a second time. 

That night, we returned to the Christmas Markets in Old Town Square, and I ate some delicious Langose (which is like fried dough with ketchup and cheese). Zach ate some awful ham that he had to pay for by the 100 gram, and it was only after it was cut that they announced the minimum was 200 grams. Sneaky Czech bastards. You gotta Czech these things out before you commit to purchasing. 

On to Berlin!

Weiners and Salzburgers

Saturday morning, we awoke in Munich to the graceful elegance and Disney magic of snow falling outside our window. It had obviously been snowing for a few hours as it had collected on the cars and the footpath on the street below. Even at this early hour, the filthy Turkish district glistened like a freshly laundered, crisp white towel. We ate breakfast, checked out, and headed for the train station bound for Salzburg. Shannon was most displeased that the snowing had ceased by the time we had left the hotel, as she had wanted to frolic in said snow. I advised that the snow stopping was probably the best thing that could have happened as, although snow is beautiful, it collects more than the Pope on a Sunday, and we had a big day planned that did not include any time for costume changes due to drenching.

The train to Salzburg took only a couple of hours, though there was a German couple opposite us in the carriage that couldn't keep their hands off one another. I gave Shannon the laptop so she could watch a girly movie, so all I had to distract myself was iChess (an App on the iPhone), and I suck at iChess. So the few hours seemed to go for quite a while.

Now, we'd only planned from 10am - 5pm (one day) for Salzburg, because our pre-research and popular opinion had advised us that this is a town that doesn't require too much of your time. They weren't wrong. Though you could spend a few days in Salzburg, I wouldn't advise it. Sure, like most medium sized European cities, Salzburg has museums, art galleries, concert halls, and the odd schloss (castle/palace), but Salzburg's are mostly crammed into the same area of town and can be walked around in a couple of hours. Visiting the inside of each of these would take you a few days, but they are EXPENSIVE! Most places command at least an €8 entry fee, and as two poor and weary travelers, this is an expense that we do not like to expend. Still, we think we covered most of the main stuff.

We started off at Mirabell Gardens, made famous by the cult cinematic classic "The Sound of Music" which some of you may have heard of.

The Mirabell Gardens and attached Palace are the backdrop in the "Do-Re-Mi" song scene when the kids are running rampant through town, jumping on stairs, and skipping through the vine tunnel. It looked exactly how it does in the film, except for the lack of intoxicated children, no Julie Andrews, grey skies in the place of glorious blue skies, and the fact that the garden was frozen solid.

From there, we walked past Mozart's house, and then walked up and down the Griesgasse (the main shopping street in Salzburg).

We looked at many souvenirs, including the hilarious "No Kangaroos in Austria" fridge magnet, and then moved on to the Rathaus (City Hall) and Residenzplatz. They had many Christmas markets set up, which we perused, and then we went in search of the Nonnberg Abbey, where the nuns in "The Sound of Music" lived.
 

Now, I don't want to talk in specifics here, and I don't want to confirm or deny anything. But it might have occurred that on the way to the nunnery, nature called (VERY loudly) for at least one of the two of us. Salzburg does not have many public WCs, and the ones they have are relatively expensive to use. Thus, and I cannot stress this enough, absolutely no nunneries were harmed due to the actions of either of us. However, a stray side street and disused gate, far away from the stair case leading up to the nunnery, and definitely not a part of the holy site in any way, shape or form, may have been tarnished by one of the members of our travel party. Possibly. We checked out the still-untainted Nunnery, and took some pictures in the main entryway.

After this, we walked around the corner to the Hohensalzburg Castle, which gave us some great views over the city.

We then walked back down the mountain, and headed back to the train station for our 5:30pm train to Vienna. The train took less than three hours, and when we arrived, we indulged in the local cuisine at Weiner World & Schnitzel Land. The German name for Vienna is "Wien" (pronounced "Veen"), however, it was impossible to not make "Weener" jokes whenever we saw the name written down (the locals are referred to as "Wieners"). Our hotel was really close to the train station, and so it didn't take long for us to find it.

During our time in Vienna, we visited all the main sights, including Schloss Schonbrunn and Schloss Belvedere (Pictured)

Heldenplatz (Heroes' Square), Hofburg Palace (home of the rulers from the former Hapsburg Dynasty), the Rathaus (Pictured)

The Opera House (Kunsthaus), and Stephansplatz, the place where Austria's main cathedral (the Stephansdom) is located. From visiting all these sites, we learned that Vienna is a beautiful place - but there's not a great deal to do here. The architecture in Vienna, thanks to an intelligent man named Otto Wagner, is greatly influenced by the Art Nouveau style. However, one of the cooler things that I saw in Vienna was the Opera Toilet; a public toilet that plays Opera music 24/7.

Legendary.

They're big on Mozart, here.

That night, we dined at an Indian restaurant near our hotel. Upon arrival, I enquired as to whether or not they can make butter chicken - to which the angry restauranteur claimed that "No, you cannot have this here - we are Indian restaurant". You were right, Shweta!