Thursday, July 14, 2011

Bopping Around

Cloudy this morning and then----RAIN!

After a month of hotter-than-the-surface-of-the-sun days in Oklahoma, my mind was confused at first. "What is water...falling...from sky? Why is...air pleasant...and refreshing?"

I walked down to the Trafik to buy public transportation tickets, my umbrella held at a jaunty angle. After about ten minutes the rain, she stopped. The umbrella went back into the bag and didn't come out again, but even after the sun emerged and the water evaporated, a nice breeze remained and it felt like Spring. I'd guess it was about 80 degrees F.

I got on a streetcar, rode a few stops, then got off and walked around. I was trying to get some street photos and that's what I concentrated on today, trying to sneak pictures of people being themselves. You gotta be kind of sneaky.

I hopped on and off several streetcars looking for pictures. Must have walked a couple of miles.

As always, click on any pic to bigify / enlargenate.

Cubes of painted concrete. If you have to stop truck bombs, at least make the barriers purty.
I like these kind of buildings, but not the streetcar wires that ruin the photo.
Here's something you almost never see [cough, cough]:
a woman unleashing a tsunami of jibber-jabber, 
the man wishing he could pour 80 pounds of instant-dry cement into his ears.

Something else you almost never see:
a woman wondering if her man will at least look at her.
Stenciled graffiti. Anyone know who this is?

This sort of sight is getting rare. Most people buy from supermarkets.
Summertime sidewalk cafe girl talk.

I'd estimate these roofs are at least 5 years old, if not older.
Even here you don't see many of these.
It's basically an enclosed trike with a tiny engine, steered by handlebars.
I wouldn't mind having one. I bet it gets 73,912 miles per gallon.

B comes home tonight from several days of work in Brussels. We look forward to seeing each other again after four months apart.

Back Again #16

Arrived on time at 8:15 local time. Sunny skies, but already warm that early.

It ain't Oklahoma-hot, but it later got to about 90 or so. No air conditioning here, so there's that.

I was groggy. No sleep on the flight from DC to Vienna, thanks to a contingent of screaming (not just crying, but fucking screaming) babies in our section of the plane, who took turns keeping all the adults---not just their parents!---from getting a night of semi-restful airplane sleep.

Well, hell. At least at the end of it, I found myself in Vienna. I could have been flying to Bovina, Texas.

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B's dad picked me up at the airport and drove me to his place. B's mom surprised and delighted me, having prepared a care package of 1) the great local bread 2) fresh apricots 3) homemade potato salad, and 4) her world-class schnitzel.

They drove me to B's place. And where, you ask, was B? In Brussels working, but she'll be home today and we'll have a nice reunion. Four months apart this time...

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It kind of shocks me that this place seems so familiar, but by my count this is my 16th visit here, the last two being of five weeks, then nine weeks, duration. This will be an 11-weeker, so I guess it's no surprise Vienna is feeling like home...

I was too wasted to do anything but spend my first day here sleeping, watching TV, eating, drinking, and sleeping again.

But I did stumble upon this crazy Austrian. And I thought all the eccentrics live in America.