Vienna.! what a randomly amazing weekend =)

Just got back to London..and can't believe I was in Austria for so long..and can't believe it went by so incredibly fast. Not ready to come back at all O_o. Also, I could go on and on and on about Wien (Vienna), and then my week in Petronell..so I'll hafta cut both down by quite a bit. First off, I'm impressed that I found the restaurant that Billy told me to meet him at with no trouble at all. We had tested our cell phones beforehand, and for whatever reason my london phone doesn't like Austria so I couldn't call or text anyone. I just got on a train to central Vienna, hopped on the autobahn accidentally not paying, and happened upon the restaurant in Burgasse. I walked around a grocery store for awhile to waste time and explore..found some interesting things..Finally I couldn't wait anymore, and just went back to Kai's to wait for Billy to get there. I'm sure the waitresses thought I got stood up because I sat there for forever pretending to study the Asian in German menu and checking the window over and over. Finally I looked up & there he was.! He jingled in, dredlocked & wearing lederhosen and a tyrolean hat :) We emphatically hugged at least three times. I'd missed him SOOoo much and was just so incredibly happy all weekend. It was such an unbelievably amazing, random, fun time of adventuring and we both kept saying it didn't seem real. We had to verbalize that we were IN AUSTRIA.!! We tried to find a Goya dance place that I swear didn't exist..We ended up going to a trance club. Apparently that's the in thing to do..I can't say that it was either of our "scenes"..but it was an experience..hah. Billy's friend Magdalena let us stay at her place, which was super awesome of her. It was a really cool place too, in the Arsenal, which used to be part of a military complex during the war. Saturday we walked around the palace gardens and explored a bit. We went to the World War Fountain & the way that the light was hitting it, you could constantly see a rainbow..so as you walked around, it followed you. We went to Karlskirche, which is a big beautiful church. There were people hanging out outside and two guys playing the accordion on opposite sides of the area- we said they were dueling. I was telling Billy how I didn't want to get desensitized from seeing all these amazing, beautiful sights, but I wanted to take everything in and appreciate it all fully. Billy stopped me, and put his stuff down & we waltzed to the accordion with the most beautiful view of the church spinning by- it was a wonderful, spontaneous, lovely moment in time :) We looked around Museum's Quartier..one of the buildings is made up of gray blocks that each sound a different note when you hit them- so that was fun.! We went to a free art exhibit and I got to see one of the gold shields that a man near Billy's village in Wietra guilds. It was truly one of the most amazing things that I've ever seen. The way it's built promotes optical illusions and appears to be constantly moving and swirling and 3D even though it's completely flat. Pictures really don't do it any justice. We bought a huge loaf of bread and an indian sandwich to share and ate outside by Parliament. I learned to whistle a little bit. We walked through the Prater carnival for a long time- went on this awesome roller coaster where you climb up a ladder and grab metal handles, you're shut in and tip forward so you're lying horizontally with your arms outstretched. Didn't feel safe but it was so much fun!! It spiraled up with wheels not attached to the track and was twirling and twisting upside down and so great.! Billy's favorite ride is the swings, and Prater just so happens to have the highest swings in the world, so of course we had to ride those too! We were 117 m up, and as we rose the star wars song started playing..we kept going up and up and up and stayed at the top for a long time. It was so high up and windy and chilly and a gorgeous view of everything-soo great.!! Billy was worried about losing his shoes the entire time hah. Going back down, the swings went into hyper spin speed. So worth the money. Pictures are never as amazingly beautifully wonderful intricate as nature or really anything perceived..We walked around the carnival some more and then got dinner at a traditional Austrian restaurant. I got a vegetable strudel with potatoes and Billy got Mohnmudeln and we shared and had some "wintertime" tea too. Fun fact- Austrians aren't vegetarians. They basically eat a lot of meat..and lots of cheese and bread too. I can't complain too much because I loved everything I did have to eat..but if I hadn't already been a vegetarian for 15 months..I'd've definitely tried some different dishes..We bought a bottle of wine for under 3 euros, and then (FINALLY.!!!) watched the movie The Room together. It was even more ridiculous and awesome and awful than I thought possibly- I almost couldn't handle it. "YOU'RE TEARING ME APART!!!!" Soo many great lines, so awkward, I don't even know. Sunday morning we had fresh bread, butter, cheese & Magdalena's homemade pesto (basil-less but with mushrooms) for breakfast. Soooo good! We walked around the Belvedere and went to the Hundertwasser house & Museum. It's beautiful, amazing, bright, colorful architecture that literally has trees growing out the windows- fantastical looking and unbelievable. Taking pictures of it I felt like I wanted the trees out of the way, but that's the whole point and why it's so innovative and great. They're apartment buildings with different colored pillars and tiles used in a funky, artsy way. "Straight lines are Godless" I loved it. Sadly, fall as we know it doesn't exist in Austria. Rather than turning gorgeous deep, rich colors, the trees are mainly solid green- the ones that aren't just have dead leaves. There's no beautiful in-between stage. Instead, lots of houses have vines on them that turn dark red..which is nice too. For lunch, Billy and I shared a loaf of nut bread and an Austrian apple strudel outside the hundertwasser house watching guys skating, showing off and doing tricks off of the fountain in front of us. We started walking back and jumped on a train on a whim ready to go wherever it wanted to take us. At the very next stop, everyone got off besides us..we sat there a few minutes before we realized it was the end of the line. Weiner Prater is a gigantic, beautiful, neverending park..we walked and walked and walked through it and it just kept going and going and going..all in the middle of Wien. Billy climbed a tree to dislodge a tennis ball for a lady's dog. She gave him his business card- turns out she gives barefoot people shoes.? (He ended up visiting her at work and walked out in free new shoes) I didn't mind Billy talking to everyone in German- it was pretty helpful and impressive. I felt kind of rude not being able to talk with people too though. After happening across a deserted condo/shopping center type place that looked like a scene for a zombie takeover- spooky and empty- we finally made it to an autobahn station. We saw St. Stephan's Church, the Rathaus, and walked around Stephansplatz a bit more. Chilled at Magdalena's for a bit, and then she came back so I got to meet her really quickly. She was super sweet & hugged me right away, just so friendly & adorable. 15 minutes later or so I had to leave because the McGirr's were picking me up for the rest of the week. Billy walked me out and we said bye.