Austria

Drew resolved to write more frequently; I’d like to do so also even if it’s brief and not that heavy. Some quick thoughts about Austria:

• Wow do Austrians smoke a lot. Londoners smoke a lot too. And according to Wikipedia South Korea consumes more cigarettes per capita. But it felt worse to me in Austria than anywhere else I’ve been. And I hate smoke, so it was off-putting.
• Not a friendly people, either, outside the tour guides and hotel staff. Even our Sound of Music tour guide, I would describe her as sarcastic and jaded.
• The country is incredibly clean, save for one huge exception – lots of graffiti everywhere. Kind of a weird juxtaposition.
• Reminded me a lot of Paris (partly because of the graffiti). Same old buildings, same cafe culture, same cultural emphasis on art, except Paris is more about visual arts and Vienna about music.
• In both places we stayed, the master bed had separate comforters. So a queen size bed, but 2 twin comforters on top. Odd. Makes cuddling more difficult.