Monday: Last Day In Vienna

I fly home tomorrow morning.

If things go well, about 18 hours after I get on the plane in Vienna, I'll be in my living room in Oklahoma, wondering what the hell happened and what strange land I've stumbled upon...where did the weeks go, and how come nobody here speaks German, and why is everybody so fucking fat?!?

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B has to work today and tomorrow and had a lot of studying to do prior to the gig, so yesterday was a quiet Sunday. We did venture out once, driving the car up into the vineyards for a glass of Sturm at the little Heuriger we like so much. And was the hilltop crowded! It was a perfect day, mid-70s, very pleasant out.

Our last full day together for a couple of months.

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This morning we were up early, had breakfast, then a mad dash. B had to meet her colleagues in town, then after a bit of work they were off on a bus to Lower Austria on an agricultural tour she's helping to interpret.

The bus ride and subway ride was kind of subdued, but that's how it always is on our last few hours together. We must have done this hello-goodbye thing 35 or more times by now and it never gets any easier. Somehow luck has been with us for more than eight years and we always see each other again, thanks to all that petroleum they keep sucking out of the ground and turning into jet fuel.

A kiss goodbye on the sidewalk in front of the hotel / meeting place, then she was off to work and I was wandering back to the subway and home to pack my bags.

With luck, the next time I come here it'll be to live, for good.

And if that turns out to be the case, this will be the last-ever entry in the Bicontinental Bastard blog.

Thanks for following along.

Saturday: Long Night Of The Museums

Every year Austria has "The Long Night of the Museums."

For one low price (13 Euro) you can enter any of the museums from 6PM - 1AM. There are special busses and trams that can take you to the outlying museums.

What kind of museums, you ask? Download the PDF booklet in English if you want (scroll down to the bottom of the page and there it is), but aside from world-class art and history museums, you can also visit:

The architecture museum, the schnapps museum, the chocolate museum, a museum of Vienna funeral services, a circus and clown museum, a museum where you can experience what it's like to be blind (you're led along by blind guides through total darkness and get to feel the exhibits), a museum of endoscopic instruments (!), a museum featuring globes made before 1850, a museum devoted to the nursing profession, a motorcycle museum, a museum of contraception and abortion...and many more. 113 museums in Vienna, about 600 total in all of Austria.

As I said, this is an Austria-wide event. In Vienna, over 200,000 people took part. It was unseasonably warm---I didn't really need my jacket until late in the evening----and the streets were jam-packed.

We visited 1) the ORF radio facilities and took a brief tour of the O1 studios 2) Urania, where amateur astronomers had several telescopes set up on the roof for your viewing pleasure 3) the Hungarian Institute, where we saw a great exhibit of the photos of Robert Capa 4) the Butterfly House, which was packed with people but not so many butterflies 5) a gigantic display of ancient musical instruments 6) a huge display of arms and armor.

In the musical instruments museum there were groups who played 16th Century songs on replica instruments, and in the arms and armor museum there were guys dressed like knights who explained the use of ancient weaponry like crossbows, etc.

In the famous film The Third Man there's a chase scene through the sewers of Vienna. You can take a tour of these very same sewers and we wanted to go, but even at 6 PM there were a couple of hundred people lined up---and they only take 20 people at a time for each tour, so we knew it was a lost cause. We'll go next time, when the crowds are more reasonable....

All in all, a great night with lots of walking and interesting things to see, and it shows me I have to visit the museums one at a time when I have most of a day to devote to each, because there's way too much to see in one night.

You knew there had to be a picture of some food here somewhere.
We stopped by Orlando di Castello for a late lunch.

This was an excellent burger, organic meat. Cost: 7.50 Euro.

A rare treat for your tightwad correspondent.

A night boat tour on the Danube Canal.

Butterflies in the Butterfly House.

Exterior of the Butterfly House.

Thursday: Last Day In France

It was our last morning in Strasbourg, but there was time for one final adventure.

We checked out of the hotel and walked to Parliment. B had to work for a few hours, but her colleague / our friend N was free, so we met N in front of Parliment. She and I caught a bus into the center of town where we boarded one of the tour boats that provides hour-long cruises along the canal.

Some of the very old buildings along the canal in Strasbourg.

This area of Strasbourg is called Petite France.

A look back on what we passed...

It was good to spend some time with N. I'd met her on a previous trip to Vienna, when B asked me to accompany her to the interpreter's school to play the role of someone giving a speech. N, then a student, interpreted the speech into German as B listened and later offered pointers.

Then on this visit I met N's parents and her brother and have really come to enjoy the company of my new friends. It was a good way to spend my final few hours in Strasbourg, cruising along the canal for a last glimpse of this charming town.

People enjoy walking along the canal.

This man and his dog had different ideas about which direction to go.

The boat takes you past the European Parliment buildings.

One of several churches you see along the canal.

This is one of my favorite buildings in Strasbourg.
Notice the Weeping Willow tree on the left---

Here's another view with the tree in closeup, some students enjoying the sunny morning.
Notice the student in the striped shirt laying in the fold of the tree where it's horizontal.

I bet hundreds of people have done this over the life of the tree.

After our cruise N and I stopped into a sandwich place, then caught the bus back to Parliment. We visited while she waited for the bus to the train station, and I waited for B to emerge.

There was some concern on B's part that she might have to stay later than she should, which would have made our return trip kind of sketchy...but she emerged on time. We caught a cab to the train station, took the train to Stuttgart, and there B did some shopping while I sat in a Starbucks answering email and sipping a green iced tea, watching the shoppers of Stuttgart stroll by with their bags of merchandise.

We took the train to the airport. The flight left on time and arrived early and we were back at our place in Vienna by 9 PM, me wondering if the time in France wasn't just a dream. But I think that about almost everything I experience.

The Strasbourg central train station, where we always begin and end our visits.

Wednesday: Colmar and Riquewihr

I took the train from Strasbourg to Colmar, hung around a few hours, then travelled by bus to Riquewihr. Hung around a few hours there, taking pics, then travelling by bus back to Colmar, and from there by train back to Strasbourg.

The weather has been beautiful---sunny and warm, no harsh wind, no clouds...perfect.

I don't travel by train much, and have only done it twice by myself. There are little tricks to it, like buying flexible tickets intead of tickets good only for specific times and dates, figuring out which car you're supposed to be on if you have reserved seats (there's a chart by the tracks showing the composition of the train----so if you're in car 17, seat 20, you look at the chart and it shows 1) your train 2) which car is #17 [they are not in numerical order], and where approximately you should stand on the platform to be by that car when the train stops), not using the restroom when the train is at the station, etc.

The trip took about 30 minutes. In Colmar, I started looking around / asking around to see which bus would get me to Riquewihr. This took about fifteen minutes. Finally I got the info from----where else?---the information counter. The schedule showed I had a couple of hours to wait before the bus arrived, so I decided to walk to the center of town, maybe a mile or so from the station.

One of the picturesque streets in the old part of Colmar.

I stumbled upon this wonderful indoor farmer's market.
Bought some fruit and a small baguette to have for lunch later.
I'm kicking myself because I didn't buy cheese...

A real man would gladly eat any of these quiches.

Buildings along Colmar's canal.

These musicians were part of a group of about 50 people
who were occupying (?) the stairs of an old building.
They sang spirited songs with lots of energy.
Later I learned they were protesting genetically modified grapes:
this is a wine-producing region and they don't want that shit here.

This is a restored carousel from 1900!

Outside they have a few old carousel pieces.

Flowers in the park by the carousel.

One of the newer old buildings in Colmar.
Wait---newer old buildings?

There's a certain charm to these French towns. Sure, the city centers are often touristy and dolled up, but if you find yourself in such a place, watch the locals----grandmothers with their grandkids, old people riding their bicycles, clerks dealing with customers in the store...everyday life. Try to take side streets where the tourists aren't present. Ask a local where the locals like to eat, and avoid the tourist restaurants.

Before walking back to the train station to catch my bus (?) I came to a tiny shop where a guy had all kinds of hard sausages on display. They looked like hard salami. The signs on each basket of sausages were printed in French and German, this region having formerly been part of Germany. That helped me pick the sausage I wanted: spicy. But they also had garlic, sausage with herbs, with cheese, etc. A sausage about 8 inches long and about 1.5 inches in diameter cost 5.50 Euro. And that's all I'm going to say about my hard, delicious sausage.

Back at the train station, a fun conversation with the friendly bus driver. I got on the bus and said "Riquewihr?" while miming a steering wheel being turned. "Oui, oui, Riquewihr!" the driver said. There were about ten other people on the bus, mostly tourists. I pulled out my money. The guy asked in French: "There and back?" but I didn't understand so I stared at him looking stupid. He said in English: "Ah! You will go there, then come back to Colmar, monsieur?" 

"Yes, please." He took out a piece of paper and filled in the blank with the amount (5.60 Euro)---my ticket---and made change, digging the coins out of his ultra-well organized plastic money box. While all this was going on he engaged me in conversation: "You are English?" "I am American." "Ah! Barack Obama--yes, we can!" I caught the other tourists smiling at this exchange. I almost said "Barack Obama, maybe he can but instead he lets the Republicans beat the shit out of him," then I said fuck it---I'm on vacation. Bus driver: "You are from Ohio? Alabama?" 

"Oklahoma." The guy looked at me like I mentioned an unknown crater on Pluto. I stuck one hand out and pointed at it. "Texas." Then I stuck my other hand on top of the Texas hand. "Oklahoma." He smiled sympathetically.

The trip through the wine country took about 30 minutes. Along the way the bus stopped to pick people up, mostly locals. I loved watching the scenery outside the huge bus windows.

In Riquewihr a few of us tumbled out of the bus to the friendly "Au revoir!" of the charming bus driver. I walked a few hundred meters and I was in the center of a beautiful old village...

I got to Riquewihr before all the other tourists,
and so was able to shoot this nice little restaurant devoid of people.

Another of the many dining establishments in Riquewihr.

Le dog bad-ass.

One of the streets before it got too full of touristas.

This third floor window echoed the decor of all the other windows in the building.

This guy put a Dayglo orange crate in front of his house
so nobody would park there.

One of the tiny houses of Riquewihr.

I like shutters with little hearts.

This is for B.
There's a story attached to this store I shan't repeat here...

Fuckin' FRANCE, y'all!

Tuesday In Strasbourg

We ate breakfast in the room, then were out the door about 8:30.

B had to work. My mission: get info regarding a day trip to nearby Colmar tomorrow.

I walked along the canal then branched off when I saw the tall spire of the cathedral; B told me the tourist information office was near the cathedral.  Sure enough. I went inside and got info on how to get to Colmar---by train, as no bus serves it from Strasbourg---and bought a pack of 10 tickets for the Strasbourg city bus and tram system. I won't use all of these but B will use them up in subsequent visits...

Public transportation works differently in different cities. In Strasbourg, tickets are good for an hour after they're punched. You get on the tram or bus, punch your ticket, and you can get on and off, transfer to other lines, etc. but if you're still riding around after an hour you need a new ticket. In Vienna, a ticket is good for a direction of uninterrupted travel only, assuming reasonable transfer times. For example, you can get on the bus, transfer to the subway, then transfer to a tram, then another bus, IF it's in the same direction of travel and IF your non-travelling time is reasonable waiting time for the next connection....you can't, for instance, take the bus, jump off and eat lunch and go shopping, then continue on your way using the same ticket.

A building along the canal.

You got your soul meat, and your soul-less meat.
Sign in front of a steakhouse, Strasbourg.

Another view along the canal.

People have pedalled past these buildings since bicycles were invented.

Or maybe I should say velocopedes.

One of the entrances to the Strasbourg Cathedral.

So, with my new tickets I jumped on the 10 bus and took it to the main train station to find out about a train to Colmar. They have machines you can buy tickets from. I punched all the info in and the machine told me it'd be 22 Euro round trip. So then I found the ticket office and asked an actual human being what the trip would cost----sometimes it's less if you buy from the machine or online, or more if you want to leave on any train and come back on any train, instead of leaving and returning on trains that depart and return at specific times.

But, it was 22 Euro from the ticket agent, too, and he said the tickets are usuable from today for a period of two months, and I can take any departing train and come back on any returning train. I like the flexibility of traveling that way...

I got on the 10 and went the opposite direction,  getting off at the Cafe Brant. Standing at the bus stop afterwards studying the map and schedule, a woman walked over and started doing the same. Then she asked me a question in French.

"Sorry, do you speak English?" I asked her.

She did, and I noticed she spoke English with what sounded like a German accent. So in German I asked her if she was from Germany. "No, Austria," she answered back in German.

This began a very pleasant little conversation entirely in German. Maybe she was just friendly and maybe she warmed up to me because I could speak her native language a little bit, or because she was a kind person and could see I was trying my best despite my linguistic limitations.  I managed to ask her where she was from, how she was enjoying Strasbourg, etc. and tell her I am married to an Austrian woman who works as an interpreter, and I'm trying to immigrate to Austria, that I'm from Oklahoma which is north of Texas and something of a Third-World land, and I had to take a language proficiency test as one of the immigration requirements. It kind of startled me that I was able to hold a conversation with the lady for about ten minutes entirely in German.

You have to have little victories every day.

I walked back to the Orangerie park, took a lot of pictures, then met B and her colleague Angela for lunch at a nice restaurant in the park.

A boat passing beneath one of the bridges along the canal.

Uh..building. Canal. Strasbourg.
I think you're starting to get the idea.

These swans were dunking their heads under water, but coming up empty.

Angela is British, and has been living in Strasbourg for years. She spent part of her early years in Baghdad, where her father was an English teacher and she attended French schools. It's startling to remember that Saddam wasn't always in charge of Iraq, and in fact it was a fairly liberal, open, international city back in the day. "Imagine: I attended a school run by French nuns in the middle of Baghdad," Angela said.

 Imagine, indeed.

No stand-up comedian would walk this street on a dark, rainy night.

Official buildingry in Strasbourg.

Stork's nest on a chimney.

Catching some late September morning sun in the park.

One of the tree-lined lanes in the park.

French is hard to figure out. Any ideas from you French majors out there?

A restaurant in the park.
The building dates from 1607.

Catching up on her reading as a swan swims by.
French literature, no doubt.

We're meeting B's colleague N for supper later; N is the young interpreter B has been mentoring for a few years. I last saw her at lunch in Vienna some weeks ago, so it'll be good to catch up with her tonight.

It's been perfect weather here----sunny and warm. I watch the French riding their bikes, or strolling by with their kids, or sitting in the park, and it has a real charm to it, this place.

Monday In Strasbourg

We're in Strasbourg, France through Thursday afternoon. B's working, I'm spending my last week with her until we meet again in December.

B's job is tough enough to do, but the commute is another thing altogether. A morning flight from Vienna to Stuttgart, then the train from the airport to the main train station, then the TGV to Strasbourg, arriving about 2 PM.Then a cab to the hotel. Then she went to work, finishing about 7 PM.

The international symbol for "Watch Your Ass"

We walked through the wonderful Orangerie, a park near the European Parliment. The only thing we don't like about this park is that it contains a small zoo, mostly with birds like storks. I hate seeing animals caged up, and while these birds seem well cared for, still....but the park is beautiful, with a pond where people were rowing boats, lots of swans and ducks, pavillions and a restaurant and plenty of benches where people can sit around being French.

Caught in the act of being French.

B went to work and I walked a kilometer or so to the Cafe Brant, a venerable old watering hole across the street from the university. The patio has about thirty tables and all of them were full except for two, one of which I quickly snagged. I ordered a large beer and sat in the sun answering email and looking around.

The French seem very relaxed. They can't be as relaxed as they seem, but who knows? Maybe they've figured out how to live in modern society without going insane and now can get on with the business of enjoying life. There were all kinds of people sitting on the patio----students, old people, the artist types...but sorry, no berets. I've seen more berets at the Red Cup in OKC in a given month than I've ever seen in Strasbourg, which is too bad, because berets are cool hats. But back to the laid-backedness of the French---to see them sitting around the cafe, with their easy laugh and casual conversations and nice clothes and magnificent health care system, you'd think they hadn't a care in the world.

A word now about French women. As a group, I think they're the most attractive in Europe...but not because they're more physically beautiful than anyone else. There's just something about them---that upright posture when they ride their bikes, or their polite demeanor, their touch of class, the fact that you rarely see one who looks as if she grew up eating Happy Meals, or whatever it may be. 

The Italian men are the handsomest in Europe, so I think if the French women mated with the Italian men, the result would be a race of super-models who could speak two musical-sounding languages and cook really well.

There's more to say about Strasbourg and the Alsace region, but as you can see I'm too loopy after a long day to make much sense of anything...