"Call it VIENNA or Call it WIEN, Its like a Dream!" Vienna by Pakistaniguy

Second Trip: May 2005
First Trip: April 2005

29.04.05: Fri: Zürich (overnight train) to Vienna

Train rides excite me especially overnight trains where you get a lot of time for yourself to get the feeling and taste of your journey. You see farms and field pass by, meeting other travellers and indulge yourself in interesting conversations. My train journey from Zürich to Vienna wasn't of this kind but it was ok.

I bought my train ticket from Zürich to Vienna for 45 CHF on Swiss Railways website's special last minute train offers for Austria(http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/reiselust/europareisen/clickraileurope.htm) You can book & buy tickets only 7 days in advance. So, i bought it & printed it carefully because if there is a slight bit of error in printing Swiss rail guard might not accept the ticket. So, please follow the printing instructions and do not ignore them :-)

I arrived at the train station 20 minutes early because my ticket had no seat reservation included in it so my task was to find not only one comfortable second class seat for myself but to find TWO of these seats infront of each other. You know why ? because so that at night i can flatten up them and make a little bed for myself to sleep ;-)

The train was pretty full but i managed to find the two seats free infront of each other in 'Smoking Compartment' (It was my second time when i was able to find such seats in smoking compartment) My train departed from Zürich Hauptbahnhof (Main Railway station) exactly at the given time (around 22.30 hrs). It reminded me once again how about Swiss perfection :-) hehe...

The train arrived at the Swiss border in about 2 hrs times. By that time 3 people from my 6 persons compartment had already left and now there was only one more person other than me. I had just fell asleep while reading under reading lights of the train compartment that suddenly i was beign awake by a heavy voice of the Passport officer. I got up - half asleep - showed him my passport, thank God he didn't ask any question because i was awake but my brain was asleep ;-) I don't even remember if he was a Swiss of Austrian officer but he just took 2-3 mins and returned the passport back to me and i fell asleep again.

During the night i woke up 2 more times because i was feeling a bit chilly. I pulled my jacket hanging near by and slept again. The train was going on its full pace and the lights of various small or big station continued to passby until the morning when i finally woke up 30-40 mins before arriving at Vienna's Westbahnhof. I do not know if u would like me to call Vienna by its original name is German which is 'Wien' or by its English name 'Vienna' but i think we should call the countries and cities like the way the locals of that city or country would like to be called so i'll stick to 'Wien' instead of 'Vienna' :-)

My train arrived just 5 minutes late on Wien Westbahnhof. I got out. It was cloudy but no raining - thank God. I was happy and a bit excited in my heart as i have heard so much about Wien and its beauty i couldn't wait to explore it. But the task at hand was to find my hosts whom i have never met in real but contact through HC - Hospitality Club (www.hospitalityclub.org) I looked around here and there and couldn't find them on the plateform. Then i thought may be the are in the main hall so i went there and stood at the 'Meeting' place. While i was calling them, they found me and said 'Hello'. With this one 'Hello, my trip to Wien begun :-)

It was 8 am, the morning was breaking. The sky was still overcast but the clouds were getting cleared slowly slowly. I kept my fingers crossed that we get a sunny day it is my first and last day on this leg of my journey to Vienna and i dunno whether on the way back from Eastern Europe i'll be having much time to spend in Vienna.

My hosts, an Austrain-Guatemalan couple (Peter & Ana) were really kind to me. After picking me up from the train station in their car, they showed me around the city a bit to give me the 1st impression of what i should expect to see here in this Lovers city. But actually they lived not so far from the train station. The journey to their appartment was mere 5-7 mins drive from Wien Westbahnhof train station.

After arriving at their well decorated apparment full of artifacts from all over the world (btw, they are great travellers!!!) They cooked a complete breakfast for me. Ahhh i was starving so this was certainly a good news :-) During breakfast we made program to go sight seeing. They told me that i am lucky to have come here on the best day possible as it is 'City Festival' today here in Wien! Wow! I couldn't believe that my random selection of this day could end up being the best possible day to explore Wien!!!

Wherever we went for sightseeing in Vienna, i made lots of photos :-) These photos i've uploaded for you to get the first impression of this lovely city in the travelogues below. I hope you'll visit Vienna and enjoy it like the way i did or may be even more ;-)

01.05.05:Sun: Vienna (by Train) to Budapest

I woke up around 8 am in my cozy and warm sofa bed. Looked outside the window through the curtain from my bed, the sun was already out and the morning rays were piercing the curtains and striking the decor inside the room. I got up and got ready for another exciting day. Peter & Ana got up and started preparing breakfast for me. But suddenly i remembered my last night's promise to cook them Pakistani food. So, i told them about my plans to cook before i leave and they gave me space in their little kitchen. As usual a made a bit of a mess while cooking but it turned out to be really tasty food. I cooked two dishes for them. The 1st one was 'Yellow Lentils' with Pakistani spices and flovour & the 2nd dish was 'Chicken Curry', which was under preparation when i had to leave for the train station for my 10 am train to Budapest, Hungary. We 3, me, Peter & Ana enjoyed the Pakistani Lentils as breakfast with European bread and butter :-) then we looked at the clock at it was already 09.40 am so me & Peter picked up my stuff and rushed downstairs to the car for going to the Wien Westbahnhof. Thank God we arrived in time for my train. I ran to the plateform where my train to Hungary was waiting for its last passengers before departure. I was a bit sad leaving Wien so soon. I wanted to stay longer but being a traveller, i must continue my journey.

While i was looking for a window seat for myself in the 2nd class compartment, something came in my mind which i forgot to check before - my Austrian train ticket which i booked & printed from the internet and it wasn't printed exactly like the way it looked over the computer because the background monogram of OEBB (Austrian Railways) was missing and i was a bit concerned if the Austrian conductor will accept it or not. I had checked on phone from the online sales counter if its fine or not but because they spoke only in German with me so i wasn't 100% sure if i've understood everything correctly or not ;-) Anyways, i found a seat with the window, just infront of two ladies - a bit mature & a young one. They were enjoying their Austrian pasteries when i said 'hello' to them and asked them if they've seen the rail conductor.