The search for Einbahn

Megan and I went to Vienna on Saturday. I was well overdue for a trip out of the country, both morally and legally, but I wanted to do something different than the standard trip to Dresden which is by far the shortest and easiest trip to make. In any case we bought the tickets Friday afternoon and had an early night as the train would be leaving at 6am. We were runninga little late on the way in in the morning, but so was the train so we got on our way a little before 7am. The train ride was mostly uneventful as we were both very tired and slept for the bulk of the trip. Unfortunately the listed time it takes to get to Vienna is incorrect so we got a little concerned as we passed our arrival time while still in the Czech Republic. There was also a brief fright when the Czech border guard stared a little long at my passport, probably wondering why this was my first trip out of the country (Americans are only allowed to stay for 90 days at a stretch). In the long run we finally made it to Vienna at about noon. The map I had downloaded of the internet only included historic Vienna, so we had to find our way from the South Train Station to what is called "the Ring". The Ring is basically a semicircle around Vienna where most of the historic buildings are. The plan was to stroll around this boulevard, ad then cross the center to see St. Stephens Cathedral, then head up to the Danube and maybe get a glimpse of the giant Ferris Wheel. The problem of course is finding the Ring from the Train Station. On the bright side, I picked the right path and it led us into town. Once more or less near the ring it can actually be a little hard to figure out which street it is, until you know. There were lots of signs that said where to go and what to see, so with a little triangulation we managed to find our way onto the ring. This might have gone quicker excpet there was one sign that kept confusing me. it pointed in several different directions and seemed often to conflict with the other signs that were slowly but surely leading us to the Ring. I finally decided to ignore it and find the site on the map later after we were on the ring. Later in the day I compained to Megan that I kept seeing this sign everywhere and wondered what it was. It must clearly be an important site, because there were signs all over the city. She looked at the sign which read "Einbahn". She looked at me and said, "that means 'one way' dear." I laughed. Good for me, at least I didn't try to follow them.
We had lunch at a South American restaurant that was very good, and ten wandered the city for most of the day. We managed to circle the ring and see many of the historic buildings, and also have some time wandering the cobblestone streets in the center around the Cathedral. We took a tour of the catacombs, but though it was very interesting, they were by and large disappointing. By the time we got to the Danube we were pretty beat, and decided that the distance view of the giant Ferris Wheel woudl have to do, as we still had a long walk back to the train station. On the way we stopped at a cafe to have a drink and then, xince we arrived quite early at the station, I sat down for a cup of coffee. Eventually we boarded our train which left at around 6:30, and started the long journey back to Prague. We ate dinner on the train, a first for both of us, and then napped and talked in our compartment until we finally got home around midnight.
All in all Vienna was a spectacular city. The architecture is grand, and elegant, and everything is gilded. The parks were already green, and the trees were budding, and we were blessed with a warm and sunny day. However, it was good to get home to Prague. Pictures.