'We walked in the cold air, freezing breath on the window pane, lying & waiting.... yadda yadda yadda..... Ahhh Vienna'. Oh well, it will make sense to 80's music junkies like me. Yep, I'm in Vienna, Austria.
I'm having a bit of reverse culture shock. Going from 26 degrees in Cairo to sub-zero temperatures, snow and no sun all day. And it's soooo expensive, I could live for weeks in the middle east for what it costs per day here. Suddenly it's Christmas big bigtime, cant escape the carols & decorations & festivities. Crowds of people gather at stalls at night to drink hot punch (alcoholic of course) and large open areas are set aside for night markets full of stalls selling all kinds of xmas goodies. Like at the royal easter show, but xmassy. The crowds are thick & enthusiastic and it smells strongly of chocolate, cinnamon, punch, and fairy floss. In fact it seems like a town full of fashionably dressed ski bunnies at an enormous funfair. The whole town is lit up like one big Christmas tree too.
Did I mention it's snowing? It is quite possible that I may have been walking around with an idiotic grin on my face, kicking away at little snowdrifts and watching the streets and monuments slowly turn white.
I walked through some arch (which may have been part of a palace), and suddenly I'm in this medieval world of beautiful old buildings and parks of leafless trees lightly dusted with fresh snow. Fairy tale stuff.
The food is also rather good, and I'm catching up on all the hot chocolates I've missed for the last few months. The sachaTorte is also verrry good. Along with all the food I've been scoffing since I last left London, I'm sure I've packed on some extra weight to take home. You may laugh (and probably will), but there you have it. The huge amount of fat that turned into muscle in Nepal may be reversing that trend in the land of chocolate & cream. and cake. and beer. and more chocolate.
Vienna may be a tad chilly & wallet hungry, but certainly has it's compensations. When in Bohemia, do as the bohemians do, that's what I say. Well perhaps not consuming absinthe, but hot apfelpunsch & saschertorte are certainly doing the trick for me. Indulging both in a cafe (yet again) accompanied by the soothing sounds of a string quartet, I idly wondered which of Vienna's multitude of master musicians had composed this piece. Strauss perhaps? It seemed so familiar. Hang on, it's... Enter Sandman by Metallica?? Who says traditions can't evolve!
I really like this place, but I sure can't afford to stay here for long! I got a few photo's from Egypt developed, and nearly died when I got the bill (should have asked first!), but they came out like postcards, some really good pics in there. I may even scan some in if you are lucky.
Well, it's cold, it's dark, and it's snowing. I'm off to explore & wander the streets some more...
ps: For 80's music tragics, see Ultravox's Vienna video clip here!
