I just recently got back from a week-long trip in Austria with my wife and some friends. Three of us currently live in Philadelphia and the fourth in Washington DC. The following are some quick tips/notes that may help others traveling there.

For anyone who has been to Austria, please feel free to add to the following.

1.) The Y and Z keys on the keyboard are switched
This is of course comparing their keyboard to the standard American version. Not sure if this is how it is throughout the European Union, but was frustrating.

Also, you'll find new places for symbols such as @, :, ', and other commonly used items. This was less annoying the the Y and Z keys, because most countries I have traveled will have different spots for symbols.

2.) Internet is expensive
Every computer I found in hostels and Internet cafes had a coin machine attached to it. It costs a minimum of one Euro to operate the thing (at the time of this writing, that comes about $1.30 in US dollars). Spots in Vienna had the cheapest prices at one Euro for 30 minutes. In other places like Hallstatt, there was a hotel charging five Euro for a half hour.

With prices like that, email can wait.

3.) Traveling in Vienna is easy and affordable
The subways, buses, and trams are all part of the same transportation system in Vienna. A 3-day pass cost only 12 Euros. You only need to verify the pass once and you're able to move freely throughout with no hassle.

We used the system extensively to get to all the museums and historic sites. Everything was accessible and we barely got lost with our little knowledge of German.

4.) Photos in Museums are a hit and miss
It's hard to tell when and where you can take photos in the various museums. Some museums strictly forbid any at all and clearly indicated so with a picture of a camera crossed out. Some allowed photos, but no flashes. Others allowed photos for a nominal fee of something like 1.50 Euros.

In other museums, we had no clue if photos were allowed. My wife took a picture of "The Kiss" by Klimt. She was quickly confronted and told to delete the photo. Stinking hall monitors.

5.) Portable devices are big
I have never once seen a restaurant in America where the waiters were equipped with PDA's to take orders. I saw at least six restaurants across the country utilizing these devices.

The long-distance trains also equip their conductors with devices that can print tickets on the spot. Again, I have yet to see this in America.

And let's not forget my favorite device - The Digital Audio Guide.

6.) Digital Audio Guides will revive dead museums
Possibly the coolest thing I experienced in the museums was the digital audio guides. These typically were free with admission. The usability of the guides varied.

The cooler versions had the ability to punch in a unique number for each exhibit and then hear details about it. Most of these things allowed you to pause, rewind, and fast-forward. One museum even allowed you to bookmark paintings so that you could then take those bookmarks and make small printings of the paintings for a fee.



The worst version was found in the Shonnbrun Palace. Even though it was digital, it was worse than a tape player. You could play and pause, but you could not fast forward. The thing moved from room to room telling you about the emperors who lived there. After each room, it stopped and you had to hit play again. When you got the emperor's bathroom, you were forced to listen to it in order to get to the sound bite of the next room.

Overall, the devices that gave me the most control equated to the best experience. I'm guestimating that I spent 1-2 hours more in each museum looking at the exhibits, because of these audio guides. Looking at a painting of a dead guy is cool, but learning why the painting was done is even cooler.

The museums in Philadelphia and other places could learn something from this.

Nice wrap-up.

Very good. Now, have the cats forgiven you for being gone so long?

Here's my contribution

7. There's no such thing as "service" in restaurants

One of the most exasperating things about the trip was the inability to get anything remotely resembling good table service over there. It didn't matter if we were in Germany in the airport or in Austria, or where in Austria.

For example, yesterday, I went to lunch with a friend. We were seated when we walked in, ordered in less than three minutes, ate, got free refills on our drinks without asking, had the check dropped off and paid within half an hour.

In Austria, you seat yourself. The restaurants allow smoking, and I believe there is a rule that no matter where you sit, someone will smoke behind you. The waitress will show up sometime in the first fifteen minutes and take your drink orders. You get one drink. If you want a refill, you have to flag her down and you have to ask for it, and you get charged for another drink. When you're done eating, they will bus the table, but after that, unless you flag them down, you will never see the waitress again. And when you ask for the check, they bring it to you, and you're expected to pay right then and then leave. If you don't leave after you pay, the waitress will fidget around you until you get up.

For those of us who are impatient in restaurants, namely Scott, this is intolerable.

8. They have never heard of mustard or artificial sweetners, and ketchup costs .20 euro

If you like having a condiment on your sandwich, it had better be either mayo or butter. You won't find mustard in any of the fast food places except McDonalds. Even there, if you want ketchup, expect to pay for it. The only place it was free was in the airport in Frankfurt, and even then you only got one packet for free with your fries. Like Splenda or Sweet and Low? Bring it with you. You won't see a packet of anything but sugar anywhere.

9. Don't suggest that someone has cheated at cards in an airport

This may result in a temper tantrum, especially if everyone is tired and annoyed at having to be anal examed fifteen times before getting on their flight.

10. In a country known for its dogs, make sure you watch where you step

I've never seen as many dogs inside places as we saw in Vienna and elsewhere in Austria. This led to a number of interesting scenarios involving shit on feet. Beware.

11. You're in a country with no access to an ocean...do you really trust the sushi?

After a significant amount of freaking out, we were able to convince Scott that getting sushi was probably not a good idea. I think he's still pissed at us though.

12. Scott + Hairdryer at 5 AM = win

I had never seen someone who is still asleep try and smack the hairdryer out of someone's hand for using it too early in the morning. Now I have. And it was glorious.

No, it's not. There exist small numbers of localized keyboards in some of the EU countries (not here, thankfully), but I've never seen them in widespread use anywhere.



That is soon to be gone in all of Europe, I'm afraid.

Apart from the smoking -- which is as of now only forbidden in public restaurants in some parts of Europe (including Latvia, unfortunately) -- you seem to just have hit a string of crappy restaurants. It certainly isn't a European standard, heh.

No artificial sweeteners, though. Not sure why people care in the first place, but I guess Americans do.

The sushi and hairdryer bits were funny.

When I went to Europe the resturant service was great. I never had the problems you guys had.

I did experience the issue with condiments. Although I'm not sure this is a bad thing. We are so used to covering up the taste of the meal with ketchup, mustard, etc that we don't experience the true flavor that the chef/cook intended.

Where did you go exactly? Maybe it's just an Austrian thing.

Yeah, I'm going to have to disagree. Maybe it was where you were eating, but my service in Italy was great. Always pushed Ariel's chair in for her. They normally were always refilling our wine for us. We had a few instances of Sub-par service compared to the rest of Italy, but when compared to American service it was average. Overall, I rated our service as excellent for the entire trip. Not to say you didn't, but we also ate at above average restaurants and avoided the obvious tourist trap restaurants.

There was smoking in most restaurants in Italy, but that doesn't bother me too much. People should be allowed to smoke if they want.

Went to Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Holland