Day 16 – Vienna


09:00

I woke up at 8:30 and went for breakfast, which was in the hotel next to mine. It was the best breakfast apart from couchsurfing that I had in this trip.

 Against the initial plans, I will have to take a plane. I fly to Vienna with Wizzair. I fear discussion about my backpack size. There was also a problem with the booking and was done twice, for the same flight, with the same name, which I need to resolve once home. More and more I’m allergic to airports.

There are two buses from the centre of Yeveran to the airport. The 201 bus with timetable and possibility to follow real-time on the phone, and since last year the 100 bus, that leaves “every 45 minutes”. It happened to take the latter one. I asked the driver for the timetable and he confirmed “every 45 minutes”.

14:00 (17:00 Armenian time)

I landed in Vienna. The flight was quiet. I almost took off with the laptop open, they did not check my row. No problem with the backpack. Now I’ve to make time until the evening. I take a train to the centre, to the Kunsthalle in the MuseumQuartier. There is an exhibition about Skopje and with Macedonian artists. It is a bit like a come back to my first days of the trip.

For dinner I see the bad power of Google Maps. When one searches for a schnitzel restaurant, it proposes first a certain one. Arrive there and a huge queue at the door. I go back to a brassiere I saw before. It is huge and many people arriving at same time. I manage still to get a table before it is full. In less than 3 minutes is my wiener schnitzel on the table with a big beer. I finish with an äpfel strudel and go to the train station.

21:20

My cabin is closed. I go to the conductor, who assigns me to another one (already with a paper prepared for my bed number). It is a double docker train, with cabins three stairs up and others three stairs down. I’m alone in a two-bed cabin. There is a lavabo inside and toilets in the corridor. I was expecting a better wagon, with shower. I see my wagon was not the one expected. I wonder if it would be better normally.

I brush my teeth and go to bed, breakfast will be served at 7:00. I’ll be at home at 09:30.