I've always enjoyed collecting things. At the moment I'm particularly enjoying collecting stamps in my passport. When we discovered that Bratislava was only 60km (an hour train ride) away from Vienna, we decided that a day trip was in order. It was a chance to see a new city, visit a new country and most importantly get a new stamp in my passport. And it's a stamp with a little train on it. It is too cute!

Our train ride to Vienna was rather early in the morning. While we breakfasted on our journey, we were missing one essential ingredient. Coffee! (We are all slaves to caffeine.) On our arrival in Vienna we put our heads together and agreed on a draft itinerary. Items on our agenda included: browse Christmas markets, devour a wiener schnitzel, and taste Sacher Torte at the Hotel Sacher. Of course, we all concurred on priority number 1, find coffee.

Andrew, who had been to Vienna before, was Tour Guide Barbie for the day. He compared the layout of downtown Vienna to a big clock. At the centre of the clock is a "big-ass" cathedral, St Stephen's Cathedral (we affectionately nicknamed it, St Big-Ass). The Ring Boulevard (Ringstraße) skirts the clock and two tourist trams run along this boulevard. One tram runs in a clockwise direction and the other in an anti-clockwise direction. The Ring Boulevard actually follows the path of the old city wall. Vienna's tourist sites are dotted at different "hours" on the clock face. I think we'll change Andrew's title to Tour Guide GI Joe.

Our first undertaking on our morning in Vienna was to hop on the clockwise tourist tram. Our plan was to travel the ring boulevard for an overview of Vienna. However, this plan was quickly thrown out the window when we spotted the elusive green sign of Starbucks. All sight-seeing plans were put on hold while we ingested our much needed dose of caffeine.

Thirty minutes later, four functioning human beings set out from Starbucks, ready to execute Operation View Vienna.

• St Stephen's Cathedral -- we headed into the city centre to visit St Big Ass. St Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom) is an enormous, Romanesque and gothic church originally built in 1147. It is apparently a much-recognised symbol of Vienna (although, I'd never heard of / seen it before). The cathedral has an impressive roof which is covered in coloured tiles. The roof is so steep that it is never covered in snow. It was scene of both Mozart's Wedding and Funeral. We had planned to go inside the Cathedral but there was a large crowd of people awaiting entrance outside.
  
  
• Hofburg Imperial Palace -- an enormous (everything is enormous in Vienna) palace, a former imperial Winter residence and now the official residence of the President of Austria (nice house mate!) We didn't venture inside. I think Palaces are always more impressive from the outside anyway.
  
  
• The Austrian Parliament Building -- built in 1883 it is an example of the "Greek Revival" architectural style. In other words, the building looks like it's been transplanted directly from Athens to Vienna. White marble, columns and a statue of Athena dominate. I thought the building was incongruous in Vienna.
  
  

Next stop were the Christmas Markets. We explored the markets in two locations, the markets at the Justiz-palast (Law Courts) and then those at the RatHaus (Town Hall). It was a lovely experience. Impressions:

• Most of the stalls were selling Christmas ornaments, presents or food treats of some kind. My favourites ornaments were the decorative glass baubles. I was tempted to buy one or two but doubted that they would survive the trip back to London (and definitely not the trip home to Australia!). I did buy a cute little "Santa putting presents under Christmas tree" ornament to hang on our Christmas Tree in SheBu (now we just have to get a Christmas tree *G*).
  
  
• I did say "most" stalls were Christmas themed. There were a couple of stalls selling boomerangs and didgeridoos. Andrew and I were highly amused by this and the stall owners were highly confused by our amusement.
  
  
• We decided we had to try some of the food treats for an authentic Christmas Markets experience. We sampled a delicious potato pancake smothered in a garlic sauce. We sipped Christmas punch while browsing the Rat Haus markets. My punch was Red Bull flavoured (highly authentic!) and Andrew's apple (he declared it too appley). We tried Roast Chestnuts for the first time. A bready texture with a nutty flavour. The perfect treat for a cold Winter's day.
  
  
• It was a very strange experience to be browsing Christmas markets, listening (and singing along to) Christmas carols, dressed in an overcoat, scarf, gloves and beanie because the temperature is below 10 degrees. My hands were numb and my cheeks rosy. And yet, somehow, it feels right. I guess all those Christmas carols about snow and frost and cold have had a subliminal effect.
  
  

Item 1 was checked off our to-do list; next stop, Wiener schnitzel. The closest restaurant our guidebook recommended was Einstein Café. We decided to make this our next destination. The service was typically Germanic; efficiency over courtesy. (I do not know how the Americans survive in these countries.) We consumed 4 Wiener Schnitzels, 2 Topvars (a Slovakian beer) and 2 Radlers (the German word for Shandy). It wasn't the best schnitzel I've eaten (a title currently held by the Rathauskeller in Munich) but at least I could tick "eat Wiener Schnitzel in Wien" off my list of life-goals.

One of the benefits of travelling with Frisbee types is that they don't groan when you suggest having a throw of the disc. Tossing the Frisbee is the perfect after-lunch exercise and has proven benefits for digestion. (I'm sure I read that somewhere *G*) After lunch, we threw the Frisbee for a while, dressed in overcoats, scarves, gloves and beanies / tuques. We must have looked slightly silly. Of course, it became very silly when the boys began to set themselves challenges..."Through this copse of trees and round that massive bush!"

After we'd prised the disc from the boys' hands we headed back to St Big-Ass to see if the crowd had abated. This time we managed to make it inside for a glimpse of the impressive interior. It really is an impressive and beautiful church. A group decision was then made to climb the spire over a tour of the catacombs. Big mistake! HUGE!

I've already documented my phobia of heights (my experiences with Vor Freslers in Copenhagen). However, when I handed over my 3 euros for a ticket, I honestly did not think I would have a problem with the climb. Although the spire is 136 metres tall, the staircase is entirely indoors with little or no view to the outside world. We started the ascent as a group, but I quickly fell behind Andrew, John and Leah. (They've been playing ultimate regularly, while I've been nursing my injured ankle). After 10 minutes of going up and up and up while going round and round and round, I started to feel a little bit dizzy. I made three rest stops where I then forced myself to continue on. Finally, I could push myself no higher. My head was spinning and the dizziness was making it difficult to move. I leant back against the stairwell wall and it felt like the tower was swaying precariously. (Andrew assures me it did not move.) Finally I gave into my body's weakness and hurried back down and out in to the fresh air.

Apparently the view was not much to talk about. The spire is undergoing restoration and scaffolding obstructs most of the scenery. However, you'll have to ask Andrew if you want an honest opinion. My mind / body can be very frustrating sometimes! The current score: Jess 1 - Spires of the World 1.

Andrew, John and Leah deserved some afternoon tea after their strenuous climb and I was in serious need of some comfort food so we headed to the Sacher Hotel (pronounced saa-cer) to check number three off our Vienna agenda. The Sacher Hotel serves the "real" Sacher Torte, a dense chocolate cake with a thin layer of Apricot Jam in the middle. This original recipe is a well-kept secret and the trademark for the "Original Sachertorte" is owned by the hotel. I know of Sachertorte as we used to serve a variation of it in the café I worked in the QVB. (However, John and Leah had never heard of it.) We dined in the very posh hotel café on Sachertorte, Viennese Apple Strudel and Viennese hot chocolate. It was very decadent.

Our time in Vienna had come to an end; it was time to return to Bratislava. I feel it was a very successful day-trip! I was a bit sad as I didn't get a stamp in my passport on the return journey. Apparently they're only concerned on inspecting people going to Austria.

Back in Bratislava, we revisited the all-night Pizza joint for our evening meal. This time John decided we needed to be more adventurous with our order. We decided to try to decode the Slovak pizza menu. It was actually quite easy to do as we knew what to expect on certain pizzas. We identified tomato paste and cheese as they appeared on all the pizzas. We were able to establish the Slovak words for ham and pineapple from the Hawaiian pizza. We used the pictures on the menu to figure out capsicum, corn and broccoli (on a pizza!). When we quizzed our waiter (who spoke excellent English of course) we discovered that we had deciphered the code. Huzzah!

Our mini-break was the perfect medicine for my serious case of BBD (British Bureaucracy Disorder). We spent a day in Bratislava (Slovakia) and a day in Vienna (Austria). A healthy dose of sight-seeing in beautiful Bratislava and Vienna was just what we needed. Here is a promise to you all that there won't be any entries on Fushmush whinging about London rules and regulations. Well, for the next week or so at least. I guess the mini-break should actually be called a mini "don't stop 'till you drop". Our weekend holiday was jam-packed full of touristy fun. Our itinerary ran like this:

Thursday PM - Leave work - catch train to Standsted Airport - Fly to Bratislava - catch taxi from airport and get ripped off by taxi driver - arrive at hostel - conduct a late night stroll through the old town - eat pizza for dinner - go back to hostel and crash.

Friday AM - Find breakfast and try the reputedly bad Slovak coffee - walk up to Bratislava Castle and admire the view - walk along Bratislava Bridge, catch the lift up to the observation deck and admire the view. PM - Join a walking tour of the old town, learn about every famous composer that ever set foot in Bratislava - enjoy a traditional Slovakian meal for lunch at Prasná Basta - catch a tram to the Samsung Arena - watch a Ice Hockey game, HC Slovan narrowly beat Zilina in overtime 3 goals to 2 - go back to hostel and crash.

Saturday AM - Walk to train station and hop a train to Vienna - catch the tourist tram - must find coffee - ahhhh...Starbucks - walk through the city centre to St Stephen's Cathedral - walk down the main shopping street of Vienna to the Hofburg - browse in the Christmas markets at the Justiz platz - sip Christmas punch while perusing the Christmas markets at the Rathaus. PM - Sample wienerschnitzel at the Einstein Café - back to St Stephen's to climb the spire (or not climb it Jess' case) - search souvenir shops for the perfect stein - afternoon tea at the Sacher Hotel - train back to Bratislava - pizza again for dinner - go back to hostel and crash.

Sunday AM - Catch taxi to airport and this time pay the right fare - fly back to London - catch a bus back to Liverpool St because trains are broken - tube it back home and crash.

A detailed report of the weekend to come...