VIENNA

April 17 Tuesday

VIENNA

Arrived right on schedule.

Made our way to Westbanhof (Main Train Station) Travel Information booth. I began our conversation with the local greeting "Gruss Gott", and added in the best German I could muster, that we were traveling on a Eurail Pass and wished to go to Salzburg on Friday.

He said, in English, "You need a schedule." And gave me one, without further comment. He then sent us to the Tourist info booth to help us select the train we needed.

The girl at the info booth, in perfect English, helped us interpret the schedule and select a train. Then we had to go around the corner to the ticket and reservation booth to make the reservation. Cost of reservation - 7 euro.

We took a taxi to our Pension (the common name for a small hotel or B & B). Poor guy got lost, had to stop and consult his map using both his glasses and a magnifying glass because the print is so tiny on the city maps. He still had a problem getting us there because Skodagasse is a short, one-way, street.

He had stopped the meter at 7.50 Euro, when he had to consult his map, but we gave him 10 Euro anyway.




Checked in to the Baltic Pension at Skodagasse 15. The Manager was familiar with Thompson, MB, somehow.

Showed us to our room, 182, on the fourth floor. An old-fashioned lift took us to the 3rd floor, then a flight of stairs to the 4th.

Room is ok, considering it was the last one left in Vienna because of a world-wide conference. Shower in the room, but a common bathroom (WC) in the hallway.






We walked two blocks to the Sahiba Indisches Restaurant - Florianigasse 46. SE had Tandoori Chicken, I had Chicken Masala. Each a beer, and finished with Chai Tea. 37.50 Euro, plus 5 Euro tip.

Walked back to pension, made journal entries, and packed it in at 11:00 pm.