Piano Man

“Sing us a song you’re the piano man, sing us a song tonight!” exclaimed the 45 or so random travelers that found themselves at the bar of hostel Ruthenstein. Of course, I was right in the middle of the shenanigans holding my mug of beer and shouting at the top my lungs. The great part about a song like “Piano Man” is that almost every person, no matter where they are from, knows the song and is willing to face some minor embarrassment for the sake of creating some brief moment of cohesiveness among the fragmented group of strangers. It made for a great moment and for those 4 minutes and 37 seconds we all seemed to know each other, but the truth being, that we of course, did not know each others names and would most certainly not remember them the next morning. Last night was a solid night, capped with an excellent hotdog from an Austrian street vendor at 2 in the morning.

During the day yesterday, we decided to bring our sightseeing to a more efficient level; my legs could not handle another day of continuous walking through parks and churches. Rather than wasting our energy, we decided to rent some bikes. This was a little bit of a risk. I tend to focus on other things while riding, and as a result almost got hit by a train and several cars. Jonathan saved my life several times and for that I am forever grateful. Despite my bike riding issues, we did some work! We booked it around the city and saw pretty much every touristy site imaginable; eventually we ran into a beer garden and had lunch, which was phenomenal. From there we rode through a massive park and made fun of the roller-bladers as they blew past us. The Europeans may be about 15 years behind the U.S. when it comes to recreational activities; the roller-blading fad has just hit, they are everywhere.

After a nap and some pizza, we chilled-out in the hostel and met 2 Americans, 2 Englishmen, and an Australian. This meeting would eventually lead to Billy Joel. This morning, Jonathan and I went to the grocery store and bought bread, Swiss cheese, and turkey. Sandwiches were then made. The reason I am even mentioning this is because that was the first time in 24 days that we did not go to a restaurant or street vendor. This was a big step and I felt like I had accomplished something.

From there we headed to Schonbrunn Palace, which is an insanely huge, yes you guessed it, Palace with some rather large gardens and Labyrinths. The last thing I wanted to do this morning was to pay someone for the pleasure of being lost in a maze of bushes. I think that the creator of this place had to have some sort of inferiority complex; this place was entirely too large for one family or even the population of Montana. The palace was nice to see, but one can only look at so many statues, fountains, and gardens.

We are about to jump on the train to Prague and will have 4 hours of rest before our night in the Czech Republic.

-Brendan