Monday, December 28 in Pictures

Took public transport into the center of town today to run some errands, then visit friends.

Interesting day, weather-wise: the skies were dark but the sun was poking through a hole in the clouds, lighting the taller buildings. A nice contrast against the dark skies. Did I get pics? No.

Into the 1st District, where I observed this clear sign of the coming End Times:

click to enlarge, and you'll notice the prices of these cell phones, one of which runs 10,000 Euro (about $14,300). What's worse: people who would make phones this expensive, rich pricks who would buy them, or people who would photograph them and then comment on the absurdity of it?

We passed the famous Spanish Riding School where the Lipizzan horses are trained. There's an open courtyard and each horse has an open window through which he can look out onto the courtyard, and the gawking Jethros who take photos like this. These two seemed to like each other quite a bit.

 

I found this building architecturally interesting.

Passed the famous Trzesniewski sandwich shop and stopped in for a bite. They serve tiny little sandwiches covered with delicious homemade spreads; they offer about 21 varieties. You can buy the spreads separately if you want. Every time I've been there, the place has been packed. The sandwiches are about 3 inches square and cost about $1.40 each, but they're meant for a treat, not a full meal. Visit their website and click around, check out what they have!

Statues of women with bare breastesess. Strictly verboten in Oklahoma!

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Went to visit our friends. E is a colleague and friend of B's; her husband is the retired head of the Austrian air force, a pilot with 40 years experience, including as a test pilot...in fact, he told me he's been elected as the vice-president of a test-pilot society. Unfortunately, due to a severe illness, he's now confined to a wheelchair.

At my urging, he talked a lot about flying, both rotorcraft and fixed-wing aircraft. He showed me a model of a German WWI plane that he built, and explained to me differences in tactics used in the aircraft of different generations.

I've met the old general once before and the conversation always gets around to flying (again, at my urging) because, as I told him, "Every boy wants to fly, but very few boys get to fly." He said, without a hint of self-pity: "Well, I had forty good years in the cockpit. My situation now is not so good (he motioned to his useless legs) but still...forty good years in the cockpit."

His wife, E, ever the gracious hostess, served us delicious fruit salad, cookies, and tea. A very nice visit.

Now home, and supper, and a night of writing and reading and TV.