Allison's Travels: First Impressions

Well last night after I unpacked I went out in search of dinner. This was a bit difficult as I had no map of Baden, but luckily I have a pretty good sense of direction (not in the North/South way, but in finding my way through towns). It was also raining pretty hard, and incredibly windy, so it was hard to see much of anything or get a sense of the town. After wandering for about a half hour I managed to find a small BIPA (grocery store chain) where I bought a sandwich and some stuff for breakfast this morning. Then I came home, frozen and totally soaked, but with food! I watched some TV (Sex and the City in German, it was funny), and then slept for 12 hours! Needless to say, my bed is comfortable and warm.

A flower bed in the Kurpark

This morning I took my time eating breakfast and getting ready since it was grey and windy again. I decided to go have a look around town, and buy more groceries. I didn't take as many pictures as I normally would have, I felt a bit self-conscious at first (as there aren't many tourists here), and then with the wind and clouds it wasn't a very nice day for photos. I was looking for the tourist information place (as they're incredibly helpful here in Austria), but I forgot my guidebook, with map at my apartment, so I was going by memory, and then I got distracted. I found a permanent outdoor market with little buildings and a roof over the walkway, only a few stands were open today, but they were selling local brews, fruits, flowers and veg. Then I wandered up a street and found the Casino, it's HUGE and gorgeous, and the park (Kurpark) next to it is another great place that I accidentally wandered through. There are a ton of paths through the park, with many benches, flowers and different plantings. I went up to two different look out spots to get some pictures of town, but there's a lot of paths yet to wander! I finally found the Tourist office, which is next to one of the Spas in town, so the air around that block smells of sulfur. There I got some maps of town (although after my wanderings today I know where the shops are) I also got some maps of hiking trails around here, there are a lot of them since I'm on the egde of the Wienerwald (where the royals went hunting). The woman at the office was very helpful, she marked on my map where I can find grocery stores, bakers, and cheep but good restaurants. I did some grocery shopping, but there's a few things I wanted to pick up for my apartment, that you can't get at grocery stores, so I may go out again later and look for those.
In my wanderings yesterday and today I remembered some things about Austria/Austrians that I'd forgotten.

People here don't smile or greet each other on the street/path.
Workers in the grocery store aren't friendly (especially when you forget how buying produce here works)
Buy bread at a baker, not the grocery store. (I guess I didn't really forget that one, since I was looking forward to that today & was not disappointed!)

Anyway, it was a good morning, and before I go out again I think I'll have a glass of wine and read a bit as it's raining again. Tomorrow should be sunny and warm, so I'll do more wandering and take more pictures then. Here are some pictures of my apartment, for further pictures from today check out my smugmug site (link at the top right).