Stop Crying, Vienna, Please

As I type this, I am sitting in the most amazing little hostel in Vienna, Austria.  It is adorable.  I was a little worried at first when I could not find the place.  I walked around for 30 minutes with a huge backpack in the rain trying to remain calm.  Finally I found it.  The apartment building is a little sketch but when I finally got inside, I sighed a huge sigh of relief.  Adorable.  Home.  Clean.  Smile.  It has everything you could ever want and more.  Computers with internet.  Olive oil and other condiments.  Breakfast included.  Sheets.  Television.  Books.  Information about Vienna.  Even toothpaste, shower gel, shampoo, Q-tips.  For crying out loud! 
I love the hostel in Vienna but I have yet to fall in love with the city.  The main reason being the weather.  It is rainy, cold, windy.  Not ideal weather for walking around Vienna or touring huge gardens or palaces.  And definitely not ideal for taking pictures.  However, I did hit the jackpot when I met Jake, a student from Atlanta who is studying abroad at Oxford for a semester.  He knew exactly what he wanted to see, where it was at (he was equipt with a GPS!), and he had a guidebook.  We had a fun time seeing Vienna despite the rain.
First thing we did was go see these 'steps' that are supposed to be some of the prettiest steps in all of Europe.  They were... pretty... but again, it was rainy and therefore not as magical as I had hoped these 'steps' would be.  Then we went to one of the main squares in Vienna where there is this huge fountain and also this is where many concerts are held when the weather is nice.  We went to three palaces today.  The first being the Belvedere Palace, the summer home of the Hapsburgs.  Fantastic.  Even in the rain it was gorgeous.  Second palace was the Imperial Palace in the middle of Vienna close to the Museum Quarter where I will be going tomorrow.  We also walked by the Opera House but were not able to go in because it was Sunday (again, tomorrow).  We walked through Stephansdom cathedral - enormous!  Not as cool as the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.  Nothing will ever beat that cathedral.  Close to Stephansdom is St. Peters church with a huge dome on top.  That was kinda neat although they were doing restorations... always a bummer, especially for photos.  Next we went to the Schonbrunn Palace and actually took a tour!  How interesting!  Of course, it looked as you would expect a palace to look.  High ceilings, beautiful ornate furniture, way to many rooms, gold-decorated everything!  Schonbrunn means 'beautiful spring' which was appropriate because there are so many fountains and the gardens are fantastic!  There is so much land and lush green vegetation... it is crazy!  Even in the rain and wind, we walked up this hill to get a look at the entire thing.  The view was incredible.  The history is incredible as well.  Maria Theresia of Austria, when she was crowned, had an architect re-vamp it.  It is currently this beautiful yellow color.  Emperor Franz Josef of Austria lived and died there.  Also interesting note:  Marie Antoinette is the daughter of Maria Theresa... can't wait til I go see Versailles in Paris!!  At first, I was on the fence about going because it is a whole day afair and costs a bit of money and I thought it would just be another palace but what the heck?!?! Why not.  The history behind all these monuments and palaces is amazing!  Speaking of history, we walked by the Imperial Hotel in Vienna, which is where Hitler had his headquarters in Vienna during WWII.  Crazy, right?  WWII is going to hit me like a brick when I get to Berlin!
Anyways I am hoping it will be nicer tomorrow so I can take more pictures and enjoy myself a little more.  I need to stop by the train station and get my Eurail validated and get all set up to leave Tuesday for Prague.  Tonight, after such a cold and rainy day, I am going to stay in my cozy hostel and read my book.  I'm on vacation.  It's nice.  Although I won't lie, I will definitely be ready to come home-home.  I love traveling but its exhausting.  I think things will go uphill in Prague where I'll have Carly, Berlin with Katie, Munich with Jared and Paris... well its Paris and my last stop!  I will continue to update you all as best as I can.  Hopefully I'll have luck with the other hostels being this nice as well.
Dos besos
Sarah
PS It's still tough being gone from Spain too.  Today, I ate my last tortilla espanola sandwich that Feli packed for me and almost began to cry again.  Ugh. 
PPS I dont know how I could have forgotten to mention this seeing as I love coffee a lot!  Vienna is known for its coffee and particularly coffee houses.  So this afternoon, seeking shelter, we went to one of the famous coffee houses called Central Cafe or something like that... close to the Imperial Palace.  It was absolutely beautiful inside but the coffee was honestly a let down.  Spanish coffee in Feli's little Italian coffee maker is so much better.  :)