Karlsruhe, Germany, 21st September 2011

LONG BUS RIDE: VIENNA - KARLSRUHE I've just arrived at Karlsruhe and now waiting for Ömer at the hauptbahnhof. He's supposed to arrive at 11.53am and I was supposed to have arrived here at 10.30am. I am close to one hour late. Actually it was the coach that's a bit late. Anyway, as long as I can catch my plane, it's fine. I was quite worried just now as I wasn't sure where I was most of the time. I have to bear this in mind. Wherever I go on my own especially, a map and a dictionary should be a must. Researching on the destination can help enhance the experience as it can add meaning to what I see. Otherwise everything is just wow and nice. Well, I'm just here for a break. The bus ride just now was really long. It's a long 12 hours. For the last 3 or 4 hours, I had two seats to myself as the bus was more empty. I wanted to read or write on my ipad but with the bad lighting, it was better not to or I'll just end up getting sick. The view fortunately was nice. There were industrial areas which I didn't quite like but there were also the greens and the nice towns that we went through. No exotic looking buildings. Just simple buildings. This is where pragmatism prevails over aesthetics. Nevertheless, it had the nice small town feel. NICE YELLOW TRAIN The yellow train just left. It's a change from the red trains that is so common in Germany. The inside of the yellow train is also not as spacious. Anyway, just something different worth noting. METRO RIDE IN VIENNA Yesterday, in the afternoon, after waiting too long for the rain to stop (it didn't stop), I decided to go out anyway. To venture the Metro/subway... Whatever they call it. Ok, I'd call it U cause that's the symbol they use for the station. The ride brought me to parts of Vienna that looked more normal. Normally designed residences, landed ones, although the houses seemed small compared to the yard that each house has. I wanted to walk around the neighbourhood but it was cold and raining, not the best kind of weather for a walk. So I just enjoyed the view from the metro. Then it went underground so, there's nothing to view. So, I had to stop at every stop and go up to see what's above ground. Same old nice buildings as I've seen the day before. Then I arrived at this station with the word museum in it's name. I went up, still the same type of buildings but the whole place had a slightly different feel to it, like more plastic than usual. There was also a modern-looking building which turned out to be a museum. And I decided to explore. The building turned out to be a museum surrounded by shops. One of them was a bookshop and I went in to look at the books they have. Quite a lot of books on the arts and humanities. Design, fashion, architecture, photography, philosophy, culture. After the bookstore, I went on to explore some. The whole area turned out to be full of museum. Even the design of the surroundings was like out of a museum exhibit. The architecture of the building, the cobbled walkway, the sidewalk cafes... Mozart seems to be a great influence and the theatres and orchestra is a big thing in Vienna. So engrossed was I, I kept on walking until I realized I lost my way. So, more walking to find the U station.