Getting to Wien

I got here pretty uneventfully after a seven hour train ride. It was very comfortable though. I found my hotel, Hotel Stadhalle, (conveniently located three blocks from the train station). It is a nice little hotel with a beautiful courtyard (see below) and wireless Internet access (hence this post).


I got settled around 6pm and decided to head downtown to look around and eat dinner (by 3-day metro ticket museum reduction package) and when I got there it started raining. OK, I will duck under the ubiquitous huge umbrellas that cafe's put out and have dinner. Well, rain tuned to thunder, and a then a downpour, and then hail! Interesting at first but, as in increased, each patron gradually moved inside as the awnings strained under the pressure. Waiting it out my be an excuse for me to have a beer perhaps.

The upside is that, in the hustle, I got to talking with a nice young couple who have immigrated to Austria from the Philippines. Very fun discussion - they where proud of the current California governor (an Austrian you see) and asked me who I supported in the election. I steered away from politics, especially when they asked how Bush ever got elected. Finally the rain stopped an I returned to the hotel. Big day planned for tomorrow.