Sunday 9 May to Monday 10 May 2004

09 May 2004 Venice/Vienna After Mass this morning I returned to my room to finalize the packing and organizing to leave Venice and Italy. Around 1:30PM we departed Santa Lucia Station on the eight hour journey to Vienna, Austria. It turned out to be a better day for traveling than for walking city streets. It rained a good part of the way. Which reminds me, after I posted Saturday evening I stopped at a shop to buy some food. While there thunder cracked overhead, and I assumed we were in for rain. After paying I made a bee-line, mostly running, back to my room, about a quarter of a mile. As soon as I closed the door behind me, not   only did it pour down rain, but we had a hail storm! The hail stones were not   large, but it continued for quite sometime.

Let's get back to the Sunday train trip to Vienna. Nearing the northern border of Italy we wound our way throught the Dolomites, a portion of the Alps. Once again the view was gorgeous and continued for hours into Austria. This is a beautiful country. At times there are lofty mountains and other times broad lush fields. All of it is picture perfect.

From Venice to Vienna a young Argentinian, studying in Switzerland, and I shared the same compartment. We had some good discussions. About two hours outside Vienna a woman joined us in the compartment. Our three-way conversation resulted in her offer to help me find my hotel for that night. Her husband met us at the train station (Sudbahnhof). They then decided to give me an early evening tour of Vienna. Not only is the city beautiful, but this couple could not have been more gracious and hospitable. After an hour they deposited me at the front door of the hotel. I shall always remember their kindness. Soon after that I caught a bite to eat and went to bed. It was a visually exciting day, capped off by strangers who went out of their way to make me feel welcome.

10 May 2004 Vienna/Bratislava Having awakened early I made my way straight to the city center. I caught the subway at the nearby station. On the way to Stephanplatz we crossed the Danube. No one else in the car seemed excited, but I surely was. Shortly after that I arrived at Stephansplatz, the site of the historic St. Stephan Church. It was another old church and quite beautiful. After tht short visit I wandered around and found the Hapsburg Palace, the Lippizaner Museum (you know, those high-stepping gray-white horses), the main museums of Vienna, and a few other historic churches. Vienna is a beautiful city, very clean, great buildings and generally friendly people.

Being so near to Slovakia (it used to be the latter half of Czechoslovakia until the split about 12 years ago) I thought it might be nice to notch this country in my traveling belt. I returned to the train station and bought a round trip ticket. I just wanted to go, say I was in Slovakia, and return. The city I visited briefly was Bratislava; it´s only an hour away. It would be less time if they wouldn´t spend so much time checking passports, but I guess they have a job to do. As soon as we enetered Slovakia I knew it. It was raggedy, run down buildings, grey everwhere. It seems to be pay-off for having been a communist-held country for fifty years. I arrived in Bratislava, took a few pictures, walked around a bit, and returned to Vienna. Shortly after the train pulled out of the train station, though another young man across from me, asked where I was from in perfect American English. His name is Aaron from some town in Wisconsin. He just graduated from college and is in Europe for two months of travel, as I have been. We swapped traveling stories and advice. He´s going to the countries that I have just visited, and I am going to the ones he just visited. We had a great time, perhaps a bit too loud for the quiet natives on board. An hour later we pulled into the Vienna train station. A young Slovakian woman approached us and said she loves Americans. She thanked us for laughing and talking and making her happy. She was smiling from ear to ear.

Aaron and I parted company and wished each other good luck on the remaining days of our journeys. It was good to have an American to converse with for about an hour. I went to the train ticket window to purchase my ticket for Prague, where I am headed tomorrow. For now, it's back to my room, catch a bite to eat, and go to sleep early. The train ride to Prague will be about five hours and with brand new scenery and action to catch.

I´ll be reporting from Prague, Czech Republic, tomorrow!