I like it "Prickelnd"...

Vienna is warm and humid, and it is getting worse. But boy do I love this littl' town.
.
But I'm getting ahead of myself... We need to first look back to Saturday and my bike ride. You have to hear about this:
.
By my estimate, due to the recent rain all through the week, the snow line was probably at about 1900 meters. I searched all different trail maps until I found the perfect trail. It was called "Breiter Kopf", that being the name of the peak I would ride my bike up to. It is found in upper Salzburger land, as the end of a chaian of mountains that overlook Zeller See and seperates Pungau from the Zell am See/Saarfelden area. Breiter Kopf is 1851 meters, I think, which would mean that there would be no snow. Good for hiking or biking.
.
After deciding on Breiter Kopf, I woke up early on Saturday and took the early train to Zell am See. I quickly rented a bike at the local Intersport and jumped back on the train to Gries. It was from here that I began one of the most grueling yet rewarding bike rides I've ever taken (which isn't very significant seeing how my list of grueling bike rides is very short). I started out (at ~700 meters) up a canyon road below Breiter Kopf. This road then began a number of switchbacks up the mountain until it would reach the top. I quickly realized that I wasn't the type to be able to make it the whole distance, so admitedly, much of the first 800 meter ascent involved me pushing, rather than biking. But no matter, I just call it hiking.
.
At 1531 meters I took a quick break at the hütte (family-run inn, they are all over the alps) for a small lunch. This may sound a little gross, but it is a German favorite... two franks, a thin slice of bread, and some spicy mustard. Mmmm. I could already tell at this point that It was to be a fantastic bike ride, as the view was indescribable, and I wasn't even at the top yet.
.
At this point, it got real rough. The map said the train kept going up the mountain, a gain of 300 meters in elevation over a ca. 500 meter distance. It also said that this was a bike trail... That was a lie. The trail nearly disappeared, and all it was was a barely noticable path of matted-down grass goining up the hill side. Much to steep and rocky to ride a bike, and I was so upset and disappointed that I had come so far and not make it to the top, that I decided to lift the bike over my head and carry it the last strech. I know. Pretty manly, huh? I'm so hard-core. Everyone should know. I'm one freakin' hard "a".
.
Bugs kept biting my ankles, and I thought I was going to cry. Fortunately, the bike they gave me was pretty light; had it been one of the Miller bicycles, I wouldn't have even tried. I got to the top at about 12:10, and sure enough, the view was beautiful. Seeing how early it was, and that I didn't have to have the bike back until 5, I decided to take the bike further- up to Hundstein (2100 meters) and down the other side into Saarfelden.
.
Well, a long story short, I got to the base of Hundstein, but there I met a big biking group who said that the snow was getting too deep to make it up to the top on bikes. So, I had to turn around and take it back down into Zell am See to return it, but not before I got some beautiful pictures taken.
.
I got down the mountain in about an hour, if even that. It involved going through your ideal Austrian countryside, with cows, chalets, and all. I reached Zell am See, rode around the lake to the Intersport, dropped off my bike and headed home. Overall, the trip was a success, and it was a relief to actually get high up into the mountains, after such a rainy week.
.
Sunday was the day for train rides and seeing old mission areas. I decided to go to church in Klagenfurt, as it was relatively closer to Bad Gastein than the other two areas I served in (Leoben, Vienna). I arrived in Klagenfurt about 2 1/2 hours before meetings started, so I took a walk around town before anyone was really out on the streets. The city is a lot different during the spring/summer than what I experienced (fall/winter). But nevertheless, it is still small enough to fully experience within a half an hour, so I spent a lot of time just reading down by the canal that leads to Wörthersee.
.
Church began, and I intentionally didn't introduce myself to anyone in the ward as a former missionary of that ward, because I knew full well that no one would ever remember me. I spoke with the previous bishop, the current bishop, and a number of other people who I knew, and it was strange that I actually knew them, but they had no clue who I was. In any case, I still loved that ward, and I especially enjoyed the meetings on Sunday. During sacrament meeting one of the missionaries leaned over to me and asked me how my German was coming along, 3 years after serving. I told him, and this is the truth, that the funny thing is is that I understood Kärntnerisch (the local dialect of Klagenfurt) better than as a returned missionary 3 years later, than as an actual missionary. I can't speak as well as I did then, but strangely enough this is the case, as well as with hearing and understanding correct, high German. I can't explain it either, considering that I haven't worked that hard on my language skills since then, but they seem to be improving. But maybe it just happened to be extra easy by chance last sunday. I can't explain it.
.
Here is a little side note: right now I'm in this internet cafe in Vienna right now, and both the amount of cigarette smokers and lack of air conditioning is making this blog entry quite a painful experience to endure. Oh, and I'm really tired, as if you couldn't tell. But I'm still gonna get this done. I've decided that smoking sucks. get it?
.
nevermind.
.
So, I get to Vienna. The city of my dreams, or at least that is what Jose Carreras says. My hostel is a nice place close to West bahnhof (west train station, for all you non-aryan types). I can't remember what I did last night. I don't think I did anything special. Today I got up early and began a day of visiting both must-see-but-never-did-as-missionary sights and did-as-missionary-but-want-to-do-again-out-of-sentimental-reasons sights. My first stop was one of the prior types- Schloss Schönbrunn. It is a palace, and according to Rick Steves, who I think I'll never respect again, Schönbrunn competes with Versailles in France as the best palace in Europe. I can't compare the two, because I've never been to Versailles, but Schönbrunn was nice. I guess if your are the big palace type, then you'd love it, but you are probably the fanny pack type, so I say, "enjoy the palace, you tourist". Schönbrunn is pretty, but how can you enjoy places like that when you know that it is so superficial and maintained for tourists only? yeah, exactly.
.
Anyway, I checked it off of my list of things I have to see while in Vienna, and then went down the Wienzeile down to Naschmarkt. This was really cool. Naschmarkt is an open-air market area, where you can get anything from exotic spices to fake armani sunglasses. What is also unique is the whole area it is located in. The Wienzeilen are one of my favorite places in Vienna. The buildings all along these streets, and thus along the Naschmarkt, are of the Viennese Baroque type, and some of them are even rather famous and beautiful. Of one note is the Majolikahaus, which is one of Vienna's best examples of modern architecture. I've never been much of a fan of modern architecture, only because I find it too impractical. But the Majolikahaus, and in general the work done by Otto Wagner, is to my taste and I enjoy it thoroghly.
.
Rick Steves did make one suggestion though, and that was to visit the Cafe Sperl, which is close to Naschmarkt and the Wienzeilen. The cafe was built in 1880, and it has maintained the same image as it had then. So the cafe has a really nice old-fashioned look, and it was a great place to get some of that world class Apfel Strudel. Very tasty. No liquor this time.
.
I had to head back to the hostel to get another memory card. Thus far I've taken over 1900 pictures on this trip to Europe. Can you believe that? My roommate is from Denmark, and he seems like a pretty cool guy. He recently worked for 5 months as a bartender at a ski resort in Voralberg, Austria, and he is now just traveling around Europe. He was at the hostel when I came back from Naschmarkt. I guess he is really bored so he wanted to hang out with me. Too bad I'm way too introverted to hang out with a stranger. It is not that I'm shy, I just don't like the effort involved in forcing conversations and a good time with someone I don't know while traveling. If it is someone I already know and enjoy being with, then I'd rather travel with them. But with strangers you meet along the way is a bad idea. Take Michael in Croatia, for example. I told the Dane that I had plans to meet a friend that night, which was true, as I was planning on visitng Dragan, my old croatian investigator. So I left the Dane hanging. I felt bad, but I just didn't want to get into that whole, "so what do you want to do" conversation. I hope you understand what I mean.
.
I knew he wouldn't have wanted to go to the Military history musem, and that is where I went next. This is an interesting exhibit, but the big attraction is the car that Archduke Prince Ferdinand was assasinated. A real treat was the uniform that he was wearing as well. You could see the tears and blood stains in his uniform. Fascinating.
.
I then went to Herb's. It is the best Schnitzel place in Vienna. With Wiener Schnitzel at €5,20, it doesn't get much better than that. It is also one of those sentimental sights that I chose to visit. It was fantastic.
.
I then tried to visit Dragan, but to no avail. He wasn't home, but I was still able to perceive that he still lives at the same place as he did 4 years ago. That is a good sign. I'll try to find to missionaries tomorrow to give them his address, or just leave the info with the mission office in Munich. He should be baptized if he isn't already.
.
Okay, I can't type anymore. It is too much in this room and I'm really tired. GOOD NIGHT!