When travelling from place to place, as I do, I have to decide all the time whether to stay in one location or move on. Moving on requires more effort than staying put. I have to consider how to get to my next destination, how to get to the station/airport, and where to stay. Just doing this once for a holiday can be taxing. When moving regularly it can get stressful. That’s before taking into account the cost of transport and accommodation.
I make it harder than it needs to be because I don’t like to plan too far ahead. I like to keep my options open. Spontaneity is part of the fun. This lack of planning can mean that whatever I choose could coincide with a major event or national holiday, which pushes prices up.
For Hong Kong, I’d booked for several days initially. When I went to extend my stay, Labour Week was about to start, attracting a million tourists from China. Accommodation prices shot up to £300 per night!
What I end up doing depends on a few things. Sometimes, it’s simply whether I’m still enjoying the place I’m at; or it could be energy levels; or whether I’ve mapped out an itinerary that I feel I want to stick to because I want to see a particular place.
It doesn’t necessarily get easier the more you do it. But my solo travel has always been this way ever since I first went abroad many years ago. It’s a consolation that arranging travel — booking trains, flights, hotels, and taxis — is easier than it’s ever been. And, of course, travelling is a luxury, which I try to remember when I’m getting stressed and be grateful I can do it.
This morning, I decided to stay in Vienna longer. I was enjoying this city of culture and fine architecture. I also thought it would be interesting to be in the city during the Eurovision Song Contest final.
My current accommodation was booked. Therefore I had to find another place. Since the Eurovision Song Contest final was being held this weekend, accommodation was scarce and prices were going up. I spent some of the morning looking for accommodation.
It took me longer than expected to find a place. Now, however, I was going to be late for a tour of the Austrian Parliament building.
I quickly showered, had breakfast, and walked fast to the tram stop to get my usual tram to the centre. There was a longer wait than usual for the 71 tram. Of course!
The tour reservation, which was free, said attendees must be there five minutes before the start of the tour. Otherwise, the reservation would be given to someone else. Attendees were also told to arrive at least 20 minutes early for the airport style security checks.
My luck was against me today. The tram terminated three stops before the Parliament building! There were some issues that I couldn’t quite understand. I waited for the next tram. My predicted arrival time was two minutes before the start of the tour! The next tram arrived.
When the tram pulled up outside of the Parliament building, I ran to the entrance. There was no one else queueing. I showed my passport, put my bag and other stuff in the scanner tray and breezed through security. They took my water bottle but gave me a ticket to pick it up when I left. It was very efficient.
I flew to the Information Desk and the woman checked I was on the list. She gave me a lanyard with ticket and directed me to pick up headphones. I was a couple of minutes late but the English language tour guide was a bit later than me.
The guide, an architect with impeccable English, was very cheerful. We started on the ground floor and made our way up via the stairs. On the first floor was a grand hall. He likened it to a town square in Ancient Greece, where people met to discuss ideas. The columns, which were impressive, were each carved out of a single piece of marble and transported individually. An old photo showed horses and carts transporting them to Vienna, each column encased in bark.
Austria’s parliament has two chambers: the National Council (the lower house) and the Federal Council (the upper house). The National Council is elected by voters every five years and passes most legislation. The Federal Council members are chosen indirectly by the state legislators. It represents Austria’s nine federal states. Like the House of Lords in the UK, the Federal Council can review legislation and delay or object to bills. In most cases, however, the National Council can override its objections.
We saw the chambers for both bodies. Unusually in Europe, the legal age for voting is sixteen. There has been an initiative over the past few years to educate young people in how Austrian democracy works and the role they will play when they can vote. I admired the openness and the access to the building.
After the tour, I popped into the small library.
Having gone to sleep late, I went to another bookshop cafe, Vox Libri Cafe. It was rush hour and, even though I got on at the first stop, the tram was packed for the whole journey.
The cafe was delightful and relaxing. The staff were friendly. I ended up doing a cryptic crossword on my phone whilst having my coffee.
Before getting the tram back, I popped into a large supermarket, interspar, to pick up some food.