Kali Bliss Travel

Month: October 2016

  • Vienna Airport Advice

    I landed in Vienna to an overcast sky, a freezing cold terminal, and a squeaky clean airport. No joke, the Vienna airport, or from what I saw of it, looked beautiful and super high tech and clean. There was a classy white bar in the middle, where ladies were drinking champagne and there were some awesome neon green and blue lights decorating the tables around it.

    Beware there are some very nice shops in the Vienna airport, available for you right off the plane. I’m not going to lie, after landing and feeling the chilled Vienna air and seeing the rainy forecast, I did take some time to look at warmer jackets in the terminal ha.

    After I got my bag I made my way out of baggage claim into a busy area with more shops and lots of signs. Immediately I got the impression that Austrian people are not that friendly. I asked two people for directions to the metro and help. The first said hold on and walked away and came back and ignored me. The other person pointed to a sign and said ‘go there’. I finally found the information booth and asked for help there. He handed me a sign and said ‘go down’. I knew I needed to catch an airport tram from the airport to the city center and metro center. I will warn you, the Vienna airport is not very tourist friendly. It was quite daunting not knowing what any of the signs meant and not being able to understand anything! Even the people I asked for help barley understood or spoke english.

    So, once I’m down under at the train area, I couldn’t figure out how to work the machines. Note: When you land in Vienna, be sure to buy a ticket for the CAT Train. It’s a blue/green ticket machine and it goes directly, nonstop, to Vienna’s center, where you can then change trains and get to where you need to be. It’s about 15 minutes direct. It does cost about 12 euros. It’s well worth it though! Personally, I could not figure out the other metro train lines and could not decipher which was where and which. It’s not your normal metro! I was bewildered and walked around in circles trying to find my way. There is no help down there, so it’s up to you to know where to go and get there!!

    I advise, when you come to Vienna, to know where your destination is. Ask your hotel or hostal how to get to the location best. Hopefully, they can tell you to take the CAT train, then which metro lines to connect to next. You will want to know your way because many people, I found, in Austria don’t understand English. In the airport, you may be out of luck!

    I arrived in Vienna, panicked about the weather, annoyed with the lack of service, and quite astonished at how nothing was in English. For me, it was like a whole new world, and now I really had no idea where I was or how to communicate. I was at ease once I made it to my hotel destination and was able to put my bags down and check out the Vienna map to see what was next!

  • San Sebastian

    Ah! I arrived to San Sebastian, the infamous beach town of Spain, after a 5 hour train ride from Barcelona. I was surprised that the 5+ train ride from Barcelona went by very very fast! I got up before sunrise, saw Barcelona with bare streets, and made it to the Metro to the train station easily. The train had no outlets on board, a bit of a bummer foimg_5290r me, who planned to be on the computer writing the whole way. I enjoyed reading, relaxing, listening to music, and watching the sun rise.

    Unfortunately, upon my arrival the San Sebastian skies were grey, and the sky looked like it was ready to dump a lot of water. People were wearing jackets and dressed as if it may snow. Okay, no really, but kinda. They were bundled up! I made it to my hotel and quickly changed and got my bathing suit on. I wasn’t thinking, just eager to get to the beach, and left my hotel with a dress, suit on, and towel. Needless to say it was quite funny watching all the stares from the locals who were layered in clothes. On the bus a man looked me up and down multiple times as if I was crazy. Well I was. This Cali girl had sanda
    ls, shoulders bare, hair up, ready to jump into the sea (even though it was cold out). Ha.

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    I made it to the sea! Ecstatic, a bit cold, and excited, I walked the beach. La Concha has a locker room where you can rent a locker for 1,50 Euro and have warm showers and a place to change. I wish I knew that, as I would have brought a change of clothes. Luckily, the guy working was really nice and lent me his googles. Despite the shitty weather, I had a wonderful dip in the sea!

    The Sea was a decent temperature. It really was the air that made it cold. It had interesting purple sea weed like balls floating everywhere though. I tried to pick one up and it crumpled in my hand. It was like the red sea effect in San Diego. I could not complain though, the water felt great and the sand was perfectly golden! I enjoyed some yoga and meditation on the empty beach too.

     

    After my quick time in the water, I toweled off and was ready to track back to the hotel to get warm and shower. First though, I could not resist a local gelato, despite that I was cold, sleeveless, with wet hair, and in a wet bathing suit. To be honest, I really just wanted this picture!

     

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