Monday, September 20, 2010

Goodbye, Vienna

It's Monday and my plane doesn't leave until very damned early Wednesday, but this is my last real day of running around in Vienna. Tomorrow it's packing, a few errands for the house, then to B's parents house to spend the night...they live close to the airport, and Heinrich drive me to the airport at 5:30 AM (gulp!)

B left for France this morning, early. Work. So we said our goodbyes at the house. I'm very happy we had nine good weeks, the most time we've been able to spend with each other during our more than seven years together. She drove to the subway station, and I drove her car back. A first for me----driving in Vienna. Even though it was less than a kilometer.

About 11 I took a bus to nearby Grinzing, once a village but now part of greater Vienna. I was just following my nose, with nothing definite in mind. The day was sunny, blue skies, no clouds, no wind, but it was only about 70 F. Still, it reminded me of one of those perfect days you sometimes get in San Francisco. Everywhere I looked people were sitting outside----though the cafes on the shady side of the street weren't doing a lot of outdoor business.

I had lunch on a patio somewhere----a burrito, of all things. First a clear noodle soup, though---more traditionally Austrian. The burrito was good but let me make a deal with Vienna: you stay away from Mexican food, and we'll stay away from strudels and schnitzels, OK?

I walked on. The first tram stop I came to, I took it. At the end stop I got out and started walking. I was in the 18th district, a rich area, with lots of big houses. But I stayed on the main streets, away from the mansions, and when I spotted a flight of stairs leading to what I thought was a park, I climbed them. On the way, I met a friendly cat. I stopped, took pictures, petted him. He followed me up the stairs eventually and when I sat down on a bench across from a very beautiful and quiet cemetery, he joined me. I petted him until he got bored and sauntered off into the cemetery.
My new friend on the stairs to the cemetery.
He told me: Look me up next time you're in Vienna.

I left the cat and strolled through the quiet 18th district. I came to another streetcar, the 9, so I took it to the end station at Westbahnhof. There's a cafe near there called Cafe Westend, and I thought I'd sit on the sidewalk, drink a coffee, and catch some sun. But the sidewalk tables were shaded with a tarp, so I caught the subway, rode it a few stops, and walked to Cafe Weimar. Sat outside, the sun at my back, sipping a small beer and writing. 

Walked around some more, caught another tram to its end stop, and then while walking around I came upon a real bargain: a bookstore with discount bins on the sidewalk, where I found a 10-CD collection of Charlie Parker tunes, and another 10-CD collection of Miles Davis tunes, for just €9.99 each (about $13.) Bought 'em, and I'm listening to Miles Davis right now while drinking a glass of wine. Not. Too. Shabby.

Took the D tram home. This is it, Vienna, I thought. See you next time. I'll be here another day but it'll be a sad one; I never like leaving but that's how it's been for us: I leave Vienna, B leaves OKC. Maybe someday that'll stop and neither of us will have to leave...

But for now, here in Vienna, the sun is going down earlier and earlier and it hasn't really been warm, not Oklahoma-in-Autumn warm. Summer came and went too quickly in Vienna this year; everyone feels kind of cheated. Not me. I've got another summer waiting for me in Oklahoma.

Got home, called B in France, then made myself a rice / sautéed veggie dish. And a homemade sauce: Sambal Oelek, soy sauce, honey, and a bit of lemon juice. Pour that over the rice / veggie mixutre and enjoy.

A door leading to a door. Not sure where the second door leads. 
Maybe back to Oklahoma. Such are the mysteries of our universe.