Vienna ... I'd heard so many things about it before I went there. I heard it was the City of romance, the City of elegance, art, sophistication ... something I wasn't told was how boring it would be! Truth be told, visiting Vienna probably came at the wrong time of my trip. I am now one month into my travels and for that entire time I've pretty much jumped from mainland European City to mainland European City and after a while they all end up merging into one and trying to distinguish between them can be very tricky. Don't get me wrong, each City has it's own nuances and each is unique in it's own way but all of the places I've been to so far have an Old Town that was bombed in the war and then reconstructed in one way or another, tall buildings and lots of history that dates back hundreds of years. Finding out about the history of a place is fascinating but when its your eleventh City without a break, it gets a bit tiresome. Had Vienna come at the start of my trip, I probably would have loved it and thought it was great but it came just after I'd been to two excellent cities in Prague and Budapest. The latter being the place of the trip so far. There are a number of reasons for this, some of which I will come onto later. One thing that Vienna did allow me to do was it showed me that I am bored of mainland European cities, I need a change and that change has started with my trip to Salzburg, where I am now. Instead of there being high rise buildings all around me, there are mountains and trees and grass. I've been here for two days now and I haven't once felt the need to go into the City centre aka the Old Town. It is far more fun to climb the hills and enjoy the views over the top of the City.
As I said, my trip to Vienna came just after I'd been to Prague which is very picturesque and beautiful, although it claims to have a Castle that isn't a Castle...its more a cathedral surrounded by lots of building. It's very nice to visit and to look at but it isn't a Castle from what I could see. I'd also just been to Budapest which for me is a stunning City, nice surroundings, nice people and a very good atmosphere although the latter might have been the people I was with, something else I've found out is a place is made by the people you're with. Also in Budapest I found a hidden gem of a place called Cafe Jubilee. It is a Pub/Restaurant just down the road from Budapest Nygati Train Station and is part of a chain that can also be found in Malta. I spent most of my time in Cafe Jubilee with the friends I met on the train from Prague to Budapest and we had a great time. The place is run by Aldo Mercieca, an enterprising man who currently oversees the running of 8 Pubs, a newly renovated Holiday home in Gozo and is planning to have 5 properties under his belt over the next two years. Aldo and his staff worked around the clock to ensure all of the guests to their establishment were treated like royalty as they were served some of the best food and drinks I've ever had. On one of the nights there I was even invited to join the staff for their midsummer party which was a fantastic experience and one I would hope to have again. I would recomend Cafe Jubilee to anyone and if ever you're in Budapest then I suggest you seek it out because you won't be disappointed.
Great customer service isn't something I've been treated to everywhere though, there was one awkward incident when I stayed in Krakow that left a lot to be desired in terms of quality. I arrived at my hostel and checked in, the receptionist at the time didn't seem to know what she was doing but she just about bumbled through and showed me to my room. Anna was already in the room and she had just been checked in by the same receptionist and we agreed she had no idea. Anyway, we had both booked to stay three nights in this hostel, whereas most of the other people in the room were leaving after two nights. After the second night most of the beds were empty once again because everyone else had checked out and Anna and I decided to head into the centre of Krakow to explore the city. We were out of the hostel for a good few hours and returned some time in the afternoon. What greeted us was a bit of a shock, we went into our room and noticed that all of our stuff had gone. There wasn't a trace of anything, no bags, no bed linen, no towels, everything that we had in the room had been taken. We instantly went up to the reception and demanded an explanation as to where our stuff was; we were told we were supposed to check out earlier in the day. We argued that we had booked for three nights and when they re-checked the system, they realised they had made a mistake and tried to cover it by saying we just needed to change rooms. Something they said we should have been told at check in. Whether it was the truth or not, we weren't told and we were still in a position of having no stuff. We were assured that all of our stuff was safe and waiting in the staff area but when asked the question how they knew what was and wasn't our stuff, they went a bit sheepish. Their only attempt at compensation was to offer us a 6 Person dorm instead of an 8 Person dorm, a difference of about two pound fifty. Hardly compensation, especially when the day after this incident my backpack broke and I had to buy a new one. I'm not saying the staff at the hostel did anything to damage my bag but it is a bit of a coincidence that a day after my bag is moved without my permission, it breaks. I can only hope that for the rest of my trip I'm treated to the type of customer service I received at Cafe Jubilee in Budapest and less like the customer service at the hostel in Krakow. Unfortunately I have a feeling the Cafe Jubilee and it's customer service skills might be a rarity, one thing I've found on my trip so far is that travellers are treated with a similar disdain at times to that of students...the only difference being, you don't get any discounts for being a traveller!
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