Wandering Around

An overcast day, which put us in a relaxed, kind of dopey mood. So we didn't leave the house until after noon.

Took public transportation back down the the Danube Canal, to try the restaurant aboard the Badeschiff-Wien called Holy-Moly. B had a coconut milk-tomato soup and I had a vegetable curry soup with rice. Both excellent, and we enjoyed a nice talk with our waiter, a young guy from Italy who is recently back from 9 months in Australia. He's going for his PhD in the history of economics (I think he said). And I thought: If I ever move to Vienna, I'll be waiting tables for guys like him...

Walked around the 1st District a bit. B found a gourmet ice-cream shop she'd heard about. I'm not much of a dessert or sweets guy but I enjoyed my strawberry cone very much, while B had a cup with a small scoop each of banana, lemon, and sheep cheese (!) ice cream. All of it top-quality and very tasty.

St. Stephen's Cathedral, which is under constant renovation

I saw this bright green thing on a motorscooter. I thought it was a toy

the guy had glued on there for a joke, until it started moving it's antenna.

We came upon the Capuchin Crypt. A very interesting place, and not as creepy as you'd think. 

From the link: "The Imperial Crypt (German: Kaisergruft, but usually called Kapuzinergruft, "Capuchins' Crypt") in Vienna, Austria lies below the Capuchin Church and monastery founded in 1618 and dedicated in 1632. It is on the Neuer Markt square of the Innere Stadt, near the imperial Hofburg Palace. Since 1633 it has been the principal place of entombment for members of the Habsburg dynasty.

The bodies of 145 Habsburg royalty, plus urns containing the hearts or cremated remains of four others, are deposited here, including 12 emperors and 18 empresses. The most recent entombment was in 2011. There is room for only one more entombment. The visible 107 metal sarcophagi and 5 heart urns range in style from puritan plain to exuberant rococo. The Imperial Crypt is one of the top tourist attractions in Vienna.

To this day, some of the dozen resident Capuchin friars continue their customary role as the guardians and caretakers of the crypt along with their other pastoral work in Vienna."

It costs 5 Euro to get in. You go down into the basement, and there are all the caskets, which I think are made of bronze-like alloy. Many are very elaborate:

Down there, of course, is the very latest crypt, added just this past weekend, that of Otto Habsburg. You should have seen all the stunning floral arrangements scattered everywhere, from all over Europe. The florists of Vienna probably made 50% of their income in the days leading up to Otto's funeral...

I don't know what to think of all this. To me it's just another kind of celebrity worship---if it ain't movie or sports stars, it's royalty. True, the people buried here influenced history, or would have influenced history if they'd reigned longer. But indulgences shown to the rich (usually by the rich) just kind of turns me off.

We walked to the Naschmarkt, Vienna's big outdoor food market. Bought some excellent cheeses from our favorite cheese store, Kaseland, and then some great cured meat from a nearby meat market.

Got hunger? A fishmonger in the Naschmarkt.

B and I split up then. She went home and I went off in search of the bookbinder who'd made my blank book for me on my last visit. But I couldn't remember exactly where his shop was, or exactly what subway stop to use, so I wandered around quite a while not finding him. I'll try another day.

I'm not the only Okie in these here parts. Come see Wanda Jackson on Halloween.

A woman and her book-end dogs in the Stadtpark.

Speaking of dogs, I bought a hotdog from this woman moments before

the Polizei showed up demanding their monthly shakedown.

God said: "Let there be Neo-Conservatives on all the sidewalks of the land." 

And Neo-Cons sprang forth.

Swimming / Supper / Soccer

The Austrians feel they're being cheated out of their summer this year; it's been cooler than usual. Therefore there's been less swimming (almost none by B and her family, for whom swimming means summer.)

Sunday, though, it was warm enough and everyone met at the family swimming hole.

For me it wasn't hot enough to want to cool off in the water, so no swimming for me. I studied my German and talked with the parents, and kind of dozed off for a little while...

Below, some pics from the Badegrund.

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I made an unusual supper:

You can buy a thin dough used for making croissants. It comes rolled up in a sheet, maybe 18 inches by 10 inches. I laid this out on a cookie sheet. Then I sauteed some squash, onion, and garlic in olive oil and spread the mixture over half of the dough, leaving about an inch border at the end and sides.

To this I added thin-sliced ham, some salami, and some crumbled blue cheese.

Then I folded the sheet of dough over on itself and pinched the edges off to seal it together. It looked like a small pillow, which then got brushed with olive oil.

Bake in the oven until the exterior is brown and flaky, like a biscuit. Pretty good! I'm sure there's a name for this kind of dish but it escapes me.
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We watched the women's final soccer match between the US and Japan.

It looked like the US would stomp the Japanese at first, but they couldn't find the goal. And many of the misses weren't by a few inches or a few feet---some were way high, like they were trying to kick a field goal in American football.

The match was finally decided in a penalty kickoff and the Japanese women won.

After all the trophies were handed out, the Japanese team walked around with a banner that said:

"To our friends around the world: Thank you for your support."

A true demonstration of class and humility in victory.