Last day in Vienna for a while...

It’s my last day in Vienna (five weeks has literally flown by!) before leaving for three weeks back in North America.

Started the day with packing a suitcase of clothes and stuff I’m leaving here with somebody from the office. Dropped that off (interesting, old-style apartment building with tall doors and high ceilings), then went off to meet the landlord for the apartment I’ve rented for my return and final two months here starting in mid-November. It’s half a block from Naschtmarkt, the large outdoor market, and a block from Karlsplatz subway station and a direct line to the office. Time for a new neighbourhood.

Went for a walk after to explore areas I haven’t been in yet. I finally got to Café Hawelka (opened in 1939, and the original owner still is at the door to greet everyone as they enter) for a long café melange and some reading. Quite a famous local place, and definitely NOT for non-smokers! http://www.hawelka.at/ is their web site, and some fabulous pictures from inside are online at http://www.foto-welten.de/wien/3.htm

It’s turned quite cold and overcast. Big departure from the first few weeks. Some of the winter street markets are starting to appear in a few of the squares. At the one in these pictures, you can get deli meats from one stall, fresh cheeses from another, breads from somebody else, and then local wines and mulled wines from another, then sit outside, eat and watch the world go by. Terribly civilized. This one was a bit off the tourist track, and no evidence of camera toting gringos around (except me…).

Off to my favourite local schnitzel place, Zu den zwei Liesln, tonight for a final "fix" before heading out. Have a look at http://www.2lieserln.at/

Prague

So, a couple of days in Prague (Praha), home of Franz Kafka, sounded like a good idea at the time…except that it’s mid-October and it was damn cold!!! Still, it’s an amazing town and I would most definitely go back. Four and a bit hours by train from Vienna.

Given how crowded it was at this time of year, I can’t imagine the sheer lunacy of coming in summer. Cheek to cheek now (crowd picture at the top) on the Charles Bridge (Staré Město) which was completed in 1442. What would August be like?

The old squares are incredible, as are all the Medieval, Baroque and Art Deco touches you find everywhere.

Lots and lots of outdoor cafes, the ubiquitous tacky tourist shops - fake Russian Army fur hats, nesting wooden dolls (Harry Potter, Elvis, George Bush anyone?) and lots of crystal glass.

The tower in the picture is the “Powder Tower” (Don’t ask me why. I’m not the one who left the guide book in the hotel…) and was half a block from our hotel.

Oh, I finally bought a wallet to replace the one that was "liberated" by some miscreant in Vienna. It was time to move past using a paper clip as a substitute. Still, it as a REALLY NICE paper clip....

Prague - part II

The Charles Bridge is lined all long both sides with statues, and large towers spanning either end. The most stopped at statue, mid-span is St John of Nepomuk, the Czech patron saint, who was wrapped in chains and thrown into the Vlatva River below by bad King Wenceslas IV in 1393. Apparently if you rub the brass on the statue it either brings good luck (didn’t work for St. John of Nepomuk) or a return trip to Prague.

The clock with two faces is the famous Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square. The Square goes back to the 12th century. Big crowds gather on the hour to watch the parade of little statues above move about as the clock chimes.

In the picture with me at the start of the Charles Bridge, you can see the castle on top of the hill in the background.

The tower is where Steve and I had diner one night. Restaurant Zvonice http://www.restaurantzvonice.cz/ on the tops three floors of an old converted bell tower. The bell, forged six hundred years ago, hung above the table next to ours. Fabulous local food. Check the web site. It’s quite innovative.

Saturday excursion from Geneva

My hotel was right across from the train station (and well oundproofed. Great, central location, lousy view) and my flight back to Vienna wasn't until late Saturday evening, so off it went down the lake to Lausanne (former winter Olympics host city) for a walk about (damn cold! Incredible biting wind. Hopped back on the next train) and then on to Montreux, home of the annual jazz festival.

France is across the lake, and it's a lovley area. Miles of terraced hills of vineyards, all golden brown fall colours. I can imagine how busy it must be in summer. This time of year, it was just cold. Had a great lunch by the lake, walked around a bit, briefly considered taking a boat across to France, then thought better of it since I'm still trying to get over the cold I caught on my last boat ride outside Salzburg.

One week today and I'm off the US for two weeks of meetings, then home for a week! I see a late Thanksgiving / early Christmas turkey dinner in my future...

Geneva

Geneva, where there only appear to be four kinds of shops: chocolate (yes, I had some...I had to!); watches of all sorts and price ranges, Swiss Army knives (who knew there were so many variations?), and cheesey souveniers (cuckoo clocks and St. Barnard handbag anyone?). It's also the land where everyone seems to smoke (yes, I gave in and made a pilgrimage to the original Zino Davidoff shop and bought a cigar. A rather excellent one I might add).

Things are tidy, orderly, and "just so". While waiting for a Starbucks to open (yes, I finally found a large cup of coffee) I watched a local woman mopping the sidewalk in front of her store. Not hosing it down, not sweeping it, mopping it!

Before leaving Vienna, I checked the online weather for Geneva. Overcast, cool, possible rain. So, I left my sunglasses in the apartment, brought an umbrella, and also left scarf and gloves behind. The actual weather? Brilliant sun each day, incredible wind (white caps on the lake each day) and biting cold.

The central downtown area is quite tiny, easy walking. It's the land of a thousand international NGO's. UN has a large presence here, and it's the international headquarters for the International Committee of the Red Cross (one of my meetings), who even have their own museum.

Had an amazing dinner one night, at a well known restaurant that is busy every night, yet has only one item on the menu - a lovely entrecote steak served in pan of secret recipe herb butter, over a parafin table burner, with bread and endless fries. Oh, there is a salad starter - a token healthy bit. Amazing steak, but now I've had my butter fix for the rest of the month. Have a look online at http://www.cafe-de-paris.ch/

Weekend in Salzburg

I was getting cabin fever in Vienna (surrounded by piles of work reading in the apartment) and it was a long weekend so I took a train (3 hours, fabulous views) west to Salzburg.

Taking a gamble, I booked a hotel online - it was cheap, two blocks from the train station, and walking distance to the Old Quarter. Now, I knew Salzburg was famous largely for two things - Mozart (he was born in Salzburg, died in Vienna - both towns put his picture on everything), and this is where the Sound of Music was filmed.

Little did I know what a big deal the Sound of Music is. My hotel was all Sound of Music, all the time (and right around the corner from a large "erotic" store. Didn't notice any Sound of Music maritial aides, but then, I didn't look too closely). Huge movie posters in the halls (and in my room as you see. Bet you never thought I'd be in a picture with Julie Andrews!) and the movie is on the Movie Channel - continuously. In several languages. Then there are the Sound of Music guided bus and foot tours. And all the tourists posing for pictures at various landmarks that appear in the movie. I know these sites now because other then CNN, what do you think was the only other English language thing on TV?

Salzburg is lovely, but has two weather patterns: either it's about to rain, or it is raining. Sad, as in the postcards it looks lovely with all the mountains around and the castle on the hill.

I had wanted to do a half day tour to Berchtesgaden (Bavaria, southern Germany) and was able to book it at my hotel front desk. Mini bus came to pick me up at the appointed time, and off we went for a four hour tour of the surrounding lake district, small villages and mountains. Berchtesgaden? What Berchtesgaden? Something obviously got lost in translation with the desk clerk. Oh well, it was an interesting afternoon anyway. The photo of the church on the lake is in St. Wolfgang (named for an 11th century Catholic archbishop, not the 18th centure composer). Yes, my non-Berchtesgaden tour included a 45 minute lake cruise. Maybe that helps explain the outragous head cold I have today...

Planning for Christmas here, I was able to book a great little inn right in the Old Quarter for us for three nights. Maybe the sun will come out then...

The office...

It's a long weekend here for the UN (end of Ramadan) so I'm off to Salzburg and Berchtesgaden (Bavaria, south Germany) for the weekend. Salzburg is 3 hours away by train, so it's my first opportunity to see the country side.

These are pictures of the office. The complex is three monstrous inter-connected buildings with a large reflecting pond in the centre, surrounded by member state flags. The inside shot is the central atrium. The office is the one I'm squating in, with the view from my window of the lakes across the street, the subway line below, and the Danube beyond.

If it's Saturday, it's market day...

It's still incredibly warm and sunny here. A great morning for picking up supplies at the market, which is about a 20 minute walk from my apartment.

I especially liked the traditional wooden barrels of pickels and saurkraut (sp?) that the staff just put their bare hands in and come out with a fist full of food.

Notice the political statement on the roof of the apartment building.

The locals...

Well, I’ve killed more than my fair share of trees in the past few weeks with this project. I think the tally is now about 4,000 pages of documents printed off for reading, review, analysis and some form of integration into the manual I am working on. This doesn’t include the books I’ve collected on the subject. And this is only the start…Field interviews and partner meetings have yet to begin.

So, the locals. When downtown, you see three basic types of people: tourists (map or guidebook in hand, perplexed expression on face, camera around neck, and some form of day pack/bag with bottle of water protruding), East Europeans looking for a better life (typically wearing older or slightly shabby clothes), and the locals. The locals are the only ones well dressed. Very well dressed. Until that is, you go to the Prater (the huge ferris wheel and amusement park on the Danube). It’s like getting off the Skytrain in Whalley, except there are no auto wrecking yards. Drunks laying about, garbage on the ground, and graffiti on the walls. Quite surprising as the locals are by and large very neat, orderly, and law abiding.

I haven’t had it happen yet, but have been assured it will…being publicly berated by a local (usually older) for crossing the street without waiting for the light to change. This flagrant flaunting of the law apparently drives many locals nuts, who then feel quite right in yelling, finger pointing, and lecturing. I have also been told that if I want to have real fun, I should turn around and yell: “You haven’t seen anything! Yesterday in Stephanplatz I dropped a gum wrapper on the ground, and last week I walked my dog off-leash!” That, apparently, will drive many locals into attempting to make a citizens arrest on the spot. Anarchy!