Since the first day I had set foot overseas on my first travel excursion, I knew that Vienna would be my kind of place, and it had been quickly built up as a dream destination in my mind. My first big backpacking adventures had taken me across Western Europe, meeting tons of cool people, and seeing more incredible things than I can possibly describe.
Eventually, the draws of home and the dwindling amounts of money had broken up my group of friends, and I was the last one standing in Europe, on my own for the first time. I had made my way back from Turkey to the more traditional parts of Western Europe, making my way through Italy again, and up through Switzerland, before eventually ending up in Austria, in the place that I had always wanted to be.
Vienna was everything I could have imagined it to be, and probably more. It has become a spot that I will go back to time and again, whenever I am close. Even if it is not on my itinerary, I will try and stop off there because I love the city so much. The hostel in Vienna also provided me a unique opportunity: for the first time, I was meeting people who were at the beginning of their journeys, as the summer travel season had begun, and they were making their ways south, to the places I had just come from.
After spending months being a sponge and absorbing as much information as I possibly could from more seasoned travelers regarding the places I was on my way to visit, suddenly, I had become that person. I had people asking me questions about Italy, Greece, and Turkey. About the magical Greek islands, and prices, and how to find places, etc. Seemingly overnight, I had become the seasoned traveler for all of these clean-looking people, fresh off places from wherever they had started out.
It felt really good, that I could share the knowledge I had acquired over the past months. The city itself was magical to me. Beautiful architecture, incredible museums, amazing castles and palaces.
