John X's Solo Abenteuer (Solo Adventure)

We went out last night.

This morning B. had to go to the dentist and could not find her car keys. They'd vanished. She ended up rescheduling her appointment for next month...

My plan was to roam around by myself today. They have different public transportation passes here. Today I used the "24 Hour Card." It costs 5.70 Euro, as opposed to 1.80 Euro if you buy one ticket at a time. The way this card works is, it's good for unlimited bus, streetcar, and subway rides for 24 hours from the time you first use it. (You validate the card when you get on the first vehicle.)

I used this thing to drive all over the fucking place today. I started by going to the other end of town, to B.'s parents' place, to pick up the spare car key her dad had. They were surprised to see me. Me, on the other hand, I was happy to have remembered how to get to their place using public transportation.

Visited with the parents in the back yard, and scored three fresh apples, three hot peppers, and a raspberry (one, singular) from the garden.

Then I took the subway and a couple of trams all over the place. But mostly I walked, snapping pics along the way. Had my backpack with me, and two full containers of water, so I spent almost nothing while roaming around---2 Euro for a slice of pizza and a can of Lipton Ice Tea, and another Euro I threw into a sax player's hat. He was playing jazz under a bridge along the Danube Canal (pic below.)

I left about noon, got home about 6:45. I must have logged 6-10 miles of walking. Got back to find out B. had finally found her car key after hours of searching---she'd worn two different pairs of pants yesterday but forgot about the second pair, the one with the keys still in the pocket from last night's outing. But she was happy I'd schlepped my helpless American ass all the way to Simmering to fetch the spare key. I was the Big Hero.

Walked down to the Mayer heurige to turn in the old wine bottles and buy another couple of bottles of their excellent white. B. made an excellent appetizer for supper, and I made the main course (pics at the end.)

So: here are a few things little Johnny X saw on this warm summer day in Vienna.

Click on any pic to enlargify.

 You're invited to taste their meat.

The Gasometer complex. Now converted to apartments and shopping.

If your kung-fu cannot be strong, your tung-fu should be.

Graffiti on the Danube Canal: "And then Mother Earth will eat us all."

For my paisano John M.---a joint along the Danube Canal.

Tragically hip and relaxed along the Danube Canal.

Uh, not really. But I'll do further research.

Not really sure what she was looking for.

But I was sure she didn't want my help finding it.

Jesus' mommy in a gas mask. Not something you see everyday.

A neat old iron (or steel?) bridge over the Danube Canal.

I saw a guy painting grafitti. He stepped aside for a moment so I could shoot this.

I heard this guy before I saw him. He was playing Brubeck's "Take Five."

I threw a Euro into his hat. He stopped playing a moment to say "Danke."

The acoustics under the bridge were really good. Not to mention the shade.

Zen Man playing his flute on a foot\bike bridge, crossing the Danube Canal.

See Spot. See Spot's asshole.

Lots of dogs and their, uh, you know along the Danube Canal.

The Viennese are very active outdoors.

They enjoy activities such as this...

...and this. I turned these people in to the Polizei for illegal kissing.

Their fine was 500 Euro. 

No, not really. It was only 400.

Believe it or not, this plant designed by famous Austrian artist

Hundertwasser is used to convert burned trash into heat. Enlarge

the pic and check out the cool tower!

When you get home after a long day of hiking and voyeurism, you want something like this waiting for you. B made this excellent appetizer out of fresh tomatoes, basil, and buffalo mozzarella.
I need to make some of this for one of my famous bi-weekly dinner parties.

And this pasta dish is what I made for us tonight.

A Visit To Hainburg

The hot and sticky trend ended last night with enough rain and wind to stop the outdoor opening festivities of the Life Ball, which we were watching on TV at home by that time. Bill Clinton sat there looking interested, or perhaps wondering where he misplaced his cigar, and Whoopi Goldberg did a pretty good job all costumed up in a scene from Wagner's Siegfried. She spoke her part rather than sing it, but no disrespect---she did all right.

Today we decided to visit the easternmost town in Austria, Hainburg an der Donau (Hainburg on the Danube.) It's a town of about 5000 people, known for having one of the most intact fortifications in Europe, with 3 gates, 15 towers, and 2.5 miles of high rock walls. There's also the ruins of an old castle high atop a hill on the outskirts of town, overlooking the Danube. Great views from up there---see the pics below.

It was cooler today than the past few days, with very overcast skies and moderate wind. Had to wear a jacket during much of our hike, especially when we got to the top of the castle where the wind was Oklahoma-strong outside the walls. Inside, not so bad.

Click on the pics if you want to enlarge them.

Enlarge this pic and you'll see a tunnel in the distance, part of a walking path to some old ruins.

 A house in Hainburg, the sign on which (roughly translated) says:

"This house is mine, yet not mine. The one before me thought it was his but then I got it.

After my death it will be like that again."

See the castle on the hill? We drove up as close as we could get, then hiked the rest.

Hainburg as seen from the castle. Invisible in the distance: Vienna.

Inside the castle courtyard. Outside these walls and to the left, we could see Bratislava, Slovakia.

Another view inside the walls. Through the door, Hainburg.

Cruising along on the way home, we came upon this very old church and its graveyard.

#1 coolest grave in the cemetery? The Fux family plot. Insert your own joke here.

Life Ball

There's a big party called the Life Ball. It's an AIDS awareness thing. They've been holding it here in Vienna since 1993. This year Bill Clinton showed up. 

The ball is a formal event. Tuxes and evening dresses. But there's also a fun freakazoid element of costumed folks who strut around and enjoy posing for the camera. This year's theme was Seeds Of Solidarity so all folks were wearing nature-centric stuff.

In a day or two if you do a search of Vimeo or YouTube you'll probably see some great footage of the thing. I'll share some shots with you, below. Click on any pic to enlarge it. But before we get to the costumed folks, here's something we saw on our way through the Volksgarten:

Tangled up in blue. A couple at the Volksgarten.

A woman in the Volksgarten learning about Vienna.

Ketchup and mustard.

Goldfinger? Gold everything!

I like this old Citroen truck.

Write your own caption.

A merry man from Sherwood Forest.

Meat watching meat. Caption written by B.

Before...

...after.

Your assignment: write a short story based on the people in this pic.