The night train from Rome to Innsbruck was fine. I talked to one of the other guys and he was from Sweden. He was backpacking as a vacation. The train left late, probably around 8pm, and I read a little bit before just staring out the window for a while. We went through some beautiful terrain! Shortly after that I fell asleep.

We arrived in Innsbruck around 5:45am, I believe, and caught a 6:05 train to Vienna. It was another 5 or so hours on that second train, but it was pretty cool. It was a high speed train which had a screen displaying info about where we were, the stops coming up and the speed. I saw it top out around 200km/h which is approximately 124mph, so we were booking it! I did attempt to sleep a bit more on the train but it didn’t work so well because the seats were not conducive to anything other than sitting.

We finally arrived and made our way to the Hostel Ruthensteiner where we’re staying. We couldn’t check in immediately, so we walked around, found a Spar grocery store and bought some stuff to make sandwiches.  For the really exciting stuff: we came back and made and then ate the sandwiches! And then we checked in, and came up and made our beds and then showered. It had been a long time since we last showered: a night and an entire day in the 85* heat/humidity of Rome along with a night train. We were really happy to finally have some a chance to bathe.

By that time it was thunderstorming outside, so Chuck and I waited around for  a while. We also talked to some of our roommates. Lucas was from Australia. We have met a lot of Australians over here! Nicole and Jeremy are sister and brother from San Diego. After it stopped raining, Chuck and I decided to head out to see some stuff. We made it a little way toward the downtown when it started raining again. We were able to find a McDonald’s, meaning we came one step closer to our goal of getting a picture of one in every country! We kept going for a while, thinking it would soon stop, but it didn’t. So we finally turned back and by the time we got back we were soaked. Our clothes are now hanging around the room and we’re hoping they will dry quickly.

We ended up falling asleep for a while, which was nice, because we didn’t get great quality sleep on the trains. After that we talked to our roommates some more and Lucas invited us along to a nearby bar called the Travelshack. Nicole, Jeremy, Chuck and I headed over there and met with Lucas and the people he was with. I am not a fan of beer, but they did have decently priced shots. First off I tried a snuffshot, which was a shot combined with some weird wooden contraption. It was pretty fun!

Then Chuck and I ordered some pizza, which was actually pretty good. This was the first time we have gone out to a bar while in Europe, actually. But don’t worry parents, we didn’t overindulge and we were safe! They did have other shots like Rocketfuel, slippery nipple, flaming chambuca. Let me explain the last one a little bit. You put this black licorice flavored liquor in your mouth, tilt your head up and open your mouth. The bar tender lights the stuff in your mouth on fire and them pours cinnamon on the flame which makes this awesome effect before shutting your mouth and having you drink it. It tasted great and you look like a total badass when breathing fire like that!

So we hung out there for the rest of the evening before heading back to our room. That was the half-way point of our trip, actually. It’s all downhill (metaphorically, not physically) from here!

If you’re reading this post, please give me a comment to let me know. You don’t have to comment ever again, or even say anything other than “Reading”. I just want to get a feel for who all I’m reaching with this blog. Hopefully the journey is interesting to read about, but if not, then I need to work on my writing skills! Also, where are you and what are you up to?

Okay, off to take a shower so we can start Day 16!