Wien, Vienna.

On the 17th April 2009, we departed from Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam by SkyEurope a low cost carrier towards Wien ( or known by most as Vienna). The plane was supposed to take off at 9.10 am, but it arrived late and thus it departed only after about twenty minutes delay. So even a low cost carrier in Europe can be late, I said to myself, no wonder back home Air Asia doesn't bother too much when it's late for the take off.

It was a one and half hour flight, and as we were about to land, the captain decided to go up again, perhaps on instructions from the control tower. On landing, the plane parked very far from the terminal and we had to be transported by bus for disembarkation and the ride took about ten minutes. Well you cannot complain much when you go low-cost carrier. Being at Vienna Airport for the first time it took sometime to get our orientation as where to look for the taxi. Fortunately I had written the information about airport taxi services from the guidebook to Austria, where the advice is to take a taxi that offers fixed fare.

The taxi took about 45 minutes to reach the "pension"( another term for a hotel with private toilet) which had been booked much earlier, as it's the most affordable alternative to a hostel where facilities like toilets had to be shared or the expensive hotel. The entrance to the pension looked somewhat "antiquated" and on approaching the lift, again surprise as it reminded me of the "lift" in pre-war period where the "carriage" is made of solid timber and has a sliding door as well as the steel framed outer cage. The keys to our room is pasted on the door entrance contained in an enveloped and when I rang the bell, there was no answer. It seemed that anyone who had confirmed reservation should just use the key to enter the pension and to our room.

What irked me most upon entering the room is that there were only two single beds placed close to each other and movement is limited. Except for the bathroom, it was hardly suitable for three people. I joked that this is somewhat like a cheap lodging house in Kuala Lumpur's Chow Kit Road. But of course not the bathroom. Later on we discovered that the person who took down the reservation made a mistake and the person who dealt with us profusely apologised and reduced the rate accordingly, after putting an extra bed in an already cramped room. Since we only wanted a clean room and a private toilet, this seemed a bargain in an expensive city. So that's how the stay in Vienna started off.