Saturday, August 14th -- Vienna, Austria
I'm in the Post Hotel in the center of old Vienna. It's my third day here and I'm taking the night train to Munich tonight. The train ride to Vienna from Budapest was pretty boring. I sat between two couples that weren't very interested in making conversation. I booked a room in this hotel from the train station. It cost me $48, but I figured I deserved a break from the hostel lifestyle. My room is nice, if small, and the hotel is really well located. I'm only about a five minute walk from Stephansplatz, where St. Stephen's cathedral, the most famous building in Vienna, is. About five minutes from there is the imperial palace and a bit farther from there is the Rathaus. 
The Hofburg (imperial palace).
I didn't do much my first day here. I went to Stadtpark and walked around
a bit. I bought groceries and had a feast in my room. I wandered around
Stephansplatz, the palace, and the Rathaus. The Roncalli circus was in
town and was set up in front of the Rathaus.
The next day, I had breakfast in the hotel and went to the Rathaus to try to get a ticket for Don Giovanni. It was being performed that evening in the Romaniche Ruin at Schonnbrun Palace (the summer residence of the Habsburgs). It turned out that I couldn't get tickets there, but the woman offered to sell me a ticket to an orchestra concert that evening in the Rathaus courtyard. I still had my heart set on Don Giovanni, so I continued searching for a place that sold tickets. I finally found it just around the corner from my hotel, but all they had left were the most expensive seats. They were too expensive for my budget, especially considering that I don't even like opera that much. So, I went back to the Rathaus and bought a ticket for the orchestra concert. I also decided that I was going to go see the circus, so I bought the cheapest ticket I could.
I went to the Kunsthistorishe Museum (the museum of fine arts) and saw lots 'o paintings. It wasn't terribly interesting. Mostly the same old stuff I've seen time and time again. They had some nice Bruegles, though. I went to the Staatsoper and toured the famous opera house. The opera isn't in session during the summer, so I couldn't see a performance, but the building itself was very impressive.
Afterward, I went to the circus! It was a blast!! My seat was in the back,
bu that wasn't a big deal as the tent wasn't that large. They had clowns,
tightrope acts, swinging from ropes, juggling, horse riding, you name it.
I may have missed some of the clowns humor as everything was in German,
but I think most of it was pretty self-explanatory. 
The horse trainer/rider was a stunningly beautiful woman. I found myself
wanting to run away and join the circus, but I couldn't think of any service
I could possibly perform.
That evening, I went to the concert at the Rathaus. I was a little disappointed at first when I discovered that they were a youth orchestra, but that quickly faded when I found out how good they were. Great music in a great setting. I finished out the evening by going to a downtown wine cellar. They serve wine in mugs like beer and have outdoor seating areas much like German beer gardens. I tried some of the local white wine and quite liked it.
Saturday, August 14th -- Vienna, Austria
I'm
at the train station waiting for the train to Munich. I had a pretty boring
day today. I went to the museum of applied art and found it less that riveting.
It was mostly historical furniture and bizarre art nouveau stuff. I wanted
to see some paintings by Klimt, so I asked the woman at the reception desk
where I should go. She told me that I should go to the Kunthistorishe Museum,
but I'd already been there and hadn't seen anything by Klimt. Oh well.
I tried to find Sigmund Freud's house, but failed. I did, however, find
Sigmund Freud park.
I went to Schonnbrun, the palace where the Habsburgs spent the summer.
It reminded me a lot of Versailles. Very pretty gardens. Afterward I went
to to a park on the bank of the Danube. It was a hot, sunny Saturday so
the place was packed with sunbathers in various states of undress. I went
to the Volksgarten and crashed in the grass for a few hours. I watched
street performers for a while in Stephensplatz, including the required
Peruvians. I've seen so many of them in Europe so far that I could probably
join in on their songs by now. I went back to my hotel where I had a beer,
packed my bags, and left for the station.
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