Vienna, Austria

This is Europe, old Europe, old expensive Europe, get all the bang you can get out of the Euro, cause it isn't much, Europe. The place has clean streets, beautiful and large old and modern architecture, history, a bags and bags of shopping and good coffee. The new Wombats hostel is perhaps the best hostel in the world. My experience there has been better then many of the hotels I have stayed in, it can suck one in. First night was spent at the hostel bar and this is a spring break in the fall scene. Seriously for a Euro you can buy a Wombats condom from the vending machine.

Spent the next day wandering around downtown. The Mumek is apparently one the best modern art museums in the world and I say apparently since only 2 floor of 7 were open since they were putting up exhibits. So I took in the permanent collection which hard artists I appreciated. Yoko Ono's conceptual paintings are amazing, but for me breaking up the biggest band in the world is real art. Still, the whole experience at the museum reminded me of strolling the Menil after throwing a little frisbee, except in Houston I did this for free and didn't have to pay 4.50 Euro for the privilege. And that is the problem with art museums in Europe... I can't afford to look in them.

Went out to a college club later that night. It was a bar full of bad Buddha replicas and bad pop music. And to that the few looks and shoves I got... I have no problem dancing amongst the Aryan Youth, but being the darkest person inside (the African bouncer was outside the door) and not being in the best mood to begin with forced me to take a few lung fulls of quieting air to chill me out. I am too pretty to end up in an Austrian drunk tank.

More mellow and rested, we head to the older Wombats hostel the last night. I take a walk along the Danube admiring the amazing buildings here. After a quick shower we go out to this club where there is some fashion show where my ex-roommate's buddy's girlfriend is a model. Chill place that used to be an pedestrian underpass that has leather furniture, 10 euro Maker Marks, and DJ with stupid haircuts and a bag full of instahit eurohouse records. Not to day I didn't dance and act a fool, but it was one of the places that people get together to look good, smell good and loiter around for something (anything)to happen. And folks here did look good: tall duded, corporate kids, skinny model types, sport coat wearing hipsters and the prerequisite amount of internationals. Tre chic. It made me want to hurry up and pay off my loans go I can go about getting an international MBA. A year at Oxford sounds right proper, ya know?