Vienna 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th Oct.

Our travel day from Lake Bled was long and uneventful, getting the bus to Ljubjana and then the 6 hour train to Vienna and then another bus to Pilgrimgasse where my friend lives! I had a frustrating morning trying to upload my pics to picasa with Leons aid but it wasnt to be. I did go for a wander for an hour and bought some earings and hairclips and bought and sent a postcard to my Dad - which Leon commented I replaced my rejected cards in completely the wrong place. Its funny hes a nice guy but we are so opposite - he is typically classic in the way he views the world and I am typically romantic. I also have no patience like with Picasa I would rather have spent the time uploading to facebook which while not so good at least would definately get some ground covevered rather than spend so much time trying possibly unsuccessfully to solve a problem. Anway.

I was thrilled to see my friend but it was 10.30 by the time we got off the bus so we went back to hers and shared a bottle of wine. Good start I feel..

Money spent: Bread 60 cents, cheese 1.50 euros, cappo 1.10, jewellery 4.9, hair clips 1.95, bus 6.30, 4 euros mcdonalds.

Saturday 17th - Vienna day 1

Well ladies problems kept me awake much of the night but nuff said. Had a lovely breakfast, anne laid on a proper spread and invited her other friend Diela round who also brought goodies. We headed out to find a flea market abut it was finishing by the time we got there so we headed into town, and in one of the main drags there was a full on pumping flea market which would normally fill me with joy but on a backpackers budget its not much good as i cant buy anything, - damn it! - so me and Ro went on ahead and checked out Stehensplatz which situated a rather grand church which we also looked inside. I was feeling quite crap but realised after heading into an information centre that this night is the only time I could get a standing ticket to the state national opera so I cooked a quick pasta meal at Anne's (one Ive been lugging around since Croatia!) and headed straight back out. Oh boy, I'm glad I did it was ABSOLUTELY amazing. I must watch more opera, the passion, the OTT, even the humour was just brilliant and yes it was 3 hours 15 long with two intervals in this time, but even in my suffering state I wouldnt have been anywhere else I shall never forget it. Forutnately there were sub titles which meant i actually understood everything that was going on and some it was extremely funny like when Tosca was saying to her lover to be careful when he is shot he should fall down feigning death but to be careful he doesn't get hurt because he is not an actor... every time I laughed a middle aged couple turned around and looked at me disaprovingly oh some of the snobbishness thats associated with the opera! And they weren't exactly in the expensive seats either! The way the performers sing though is just incredible - with so much power and gusto. If my sister had been there I know she would have got the giggles! And the middle aged couple would definately would not have approved of THAT!

I returned to the house where the girls were totally drunk and giggly and planning on heading out for a spanish night. I had used up all my energy reserves I had for the day and was still in pain so took some pills and collapsed into bed. As Ro had pretty much passed out due to all the red wine she joined me ha ha. (She now tells me she didnt pass out but CHOSE to sleep!!) Ha, yeah right!

Money spent: Gave anne 7.50 euros between us for breakfast and wine, 13.60 72 hour tube ticket, 3 euro opera ticket.

Sunday 18th Vienna day 2

I woke up and was out at a decent hour rather than waiting impatiently for my sis so went to a palace for 9.50 which took me through 22 of its state rooms. I got back to the apartment to find Ro and Anne still in bed! I waited an hour for Ro to be ready then we headed out and went to Leopold Art gallery which contains many expressionist paintings and which I thought was good but not to Ro's taste! In the evening we chilled out at the apartment drinking the supremely cheap wine then headed out to an Irish Pub with Anne. It was a nice evening and just a good chance to catch up properly.

Money spent: Palace 9.50, 6.50 Leopold Art gallery, 1.65 breakfast, coke at mcdonalds 1 euro, 1.10 drink in Irish pub.

Monday 19th Vienna day 3

We shopped around the pricey central area as what I thought was a palace (The Hoffman) turned out to be a boring museum! Met Anne after her class and looked round her Uni which was grand and a bit Harry Potter-ish. There was actually a graduation ceremony going on and we wandered into the hall where it had just taken place it was amazing. We wandered to the Freud Museum but for the price we werent sure if it was worth it as it was more 'this is where he sat', 'this was his room', etc not actually going into much of his psychoanalysis in much depth so we gave it a miss and headed into the centre. I went off and caught a tram around the old town - basically a lazy way of seeing more of the architecture and Rozie did more shopping surprise surprise honestly a students riches ha ha. We went to a free organ recital in an awesome church 'St Peters' which lasted only half an hour but in the absence of affordable evening concerts was our culture for the day! We went and found out about our bus to Bratislava and was pleased to find the effort paid off - at 6 euros is far cheaper than the train and still only takes an hour hurrah.

Went back to the apartment and did nice travelley things ie would not be found in India! - like having a bath and putting on some washing and making some food and updating my blog. oh its nice to stay with a friend in a more personal setting that a hostel! We watched the girly film '27 dresses' on her laptop before bed, always a nice homely thing to do...

Money spent: 1.07 breakfast, 55 cents coke, 2.5 pizza, 85 cents mars bar, shopping 1.30 pasta ready meal, bread, cheese. Gloves 7.90.