off to Berlin!

well Vienna has been really great...except for the rain:(
when we got here it rained on and off for the rest of the evening but we were still able to go out and do something anyway...

Vienna is awesome, they have so many art and music events going on all year its amazing! During the summer (when the opera is off--sad face) they have a giant screen set up in front of city hall (which looks like a cathedral its so pretty) and all these chairs and little food shops set up. EVERY night they show a free movie! we went our first night and watched a famous symphony perform Mozart and Strauss in Osaka Japan. I think it was a Vienna symphony visiting Osaka. anyway, it was awesome! and it was quite a walk away so we got to see lots of the city that way too.

Yesterday we went to Belvedere Castle (now turned into a museum). it rained ALL day and all night which was a bummer to get there and home but it was worth it. the collection there was incredible! it took us HOURS to get through because we were enjoying it so much! and of course, my favorite artist Klimt had his own room there with my fav painting The Kiss. it was more amazing than i even thought it would be! all his work was just beautiful. seeing them in person is so much better then just on the computer or a poster. We also really enjoyed one of his peers Schele (sp?) and got to see some really great Renoir among others. SO many amazing pieces...we just loved it!

Today we went to Hapsburg Palace, yes where the Hapsburg dynasty reigned from for 600 years! i knew the basics of their history, but we learned a lot today! The last emperor was a really amazing guy. Its no wonder the country was devastated when he was assassinated. He was really humble and not overly decadent (like the crazy French) and he held public court with all people for hours each day and worked like crazy each day managing all the kingdoms. It was just really interesting. And apparently his wife was some crazy lady and we got to see her exhibit also...she was assassinated too--so sad. but it hasnt rained at all today! yay! that made the day even lovelier.

Now we're just relaxing after such a long day walking, we're waiting until our train leaves this evening. we leave at 6ish and ride two normal trains before taking our 9 hour sleeping car to Berlin. our first stop, we only have 6 minutes to make it to our next train platform! we're nervous obviously! when we arrive in the morning we have to then take public transportation to our hostel...its going to be a rough evening/morning for us!

i cant wait to come back here, theres at least 3 more museums i reallly want to go to and more of the palace i want too see..."next time" ill just keep telling myself...

and now a silly list of things we miss from home:
-NOT paying to use the bathroom
-NOT paying for tap water in the restaurant
-mexican food
-NOT having to live out of a suitcase
-NOT having to walk miles a day because your too cheap/poor to use public transportation
-being able to afford things in general
-being alone sometimes
-NOT having to wear a money belt which is uncomfortable and makes you look fat
-pets and family and friends

but of course, we much prefer all the amazing things we're getting to do here and are perfectly happy enjoying ourselves thank you very much!

all our love!

PS: our list of ailments is gone! yay! except cassies throat is still a little swollen and weve just gotten used to having sore bodies all the time:( owell, its all part of the fun!