Okay, maybe this one’s not going to get us through to Upper Austria, but it should cover a good bit of Dad and Judy’s visit. Maybe five or six days. A bit of Vienna, possibly followed by some “meet the relatives”. Maybe a bit more Vienna after that. Have to see how the word count is looking…
When we last left our party of intrepid wanderers, they had just returned to Vienna after a lost weekend of schnapps, schnitzel and Sound of Music tours in Salzburg. We pick up the action in a little apartment in the city’s 13th district (cue lights, theme music and fade in…)
We open on a (relatively) young man (okay, maybe not young, per se, but go with me), sitting alone at his back room work area, typing away in hurried fashion. He wants to finish up with his work early, so that he too might be allowed out into the fresh air, and see the precious sunlight. But no, this is not for him. For him there is only toil. Saddened, heartbroken, this young (yeah, I’m sticking with it) man turns away from the open window (technically a door with glass, but who’s technical) and the false hope that it brings. More work.
Maybe it wasn’t quite so bad, but that’s a lot of what I have to provide for perspective on our Vienna days. I was working. Trying to not only catch up from our days in Salzburg, but get ahead for the next trip. The rest of the crew did some sightseeing both close by (the park, the café), far (the Prater) and in-between (Schonbrunn palace). Not much I can tell you about those trips, except it looks like they had fun. And I’m pretty sure that no one is interested in a recap of which sports teasers I wrote on those days, so I should maybe stick to the outings that I was a part of (and yes, there were a couple mixed in there amongst my toil and drudgery).
We went out to a Heuriger (local Viennese wine producer/restaurant), where we ate well (and paid top dollar for the privilege), drank some (the house wines weren’t bad, but nothing to write home about either) and were serenaded by the nicest couple of guys (violin and accordion players) whom I have ever had the misfortune of witnessing flirt with my dad. All in all, a win. I also met up with the gang for a little stroll through the first district, highlighted by an ascent up St. Stephen’s Cathedral tower, from which one can get a very nice view out over part of Vienna (if you want to see it all, you’ll have to go up the other tower as well, as the church itself blocks out quite a bit of the view from either position). We enjoyed the various street performers even as my dad bemoaned his lack of foresight (“You should have told me to bring my mandolin. We could have paid for the trip!”) Lukas and Liam were treated to some balloon animals, which lasted the usual duration of about eight seconds, and we naturally paused at one of Vienna’s many beautiful and varied cafes (though to get the specifics, one would have to question my wife – they all kind of blend together for me)…
In addition to these family-driven outings, I got my dad out for a few trips to the pub. First off was one of my Wednesday evening sojourns to Pointers for their weekly pub quiz, wherein he and our since-departed teammate Nayeli put on a show of amazing coincidence that bordered on the psychic (second question: Who wrote “A Short History of Nearly Everything” – answer: Bill Bryson. My dad’s answer, which then led him to talk about all of the Bryson books that he likes, particularly Travels in Small Town America. During this exchange Nayeli, who was often our best contemporary literature team member, was conspicuously silent. Later in the evening, my eyes chanced upon part of a paperback novel sticking out of her bag. I couldn’t make out the title, but saw an upside-down “ll Bryson”. As soon as the quiz was finished, I pulled the book out of her bag. It was the aforementioned “Travels in Small Town America”, which she sheepishly explained she had never read, but had brought along that evening to give to me as she was clearing out her collection prior to moving to the UK. The next time I see her, I will spend less time thinking about books and more time thinking about a cashier’s check for $100,000.) The rest of the quiz was fun, but not quite so eventful. Ian and my dad got along (opinionated Northern Irishman and laid back Midwesterner. Would find it strange, but I get along with Ian myself, so…) and we won the nightly prize, which basically paid for our evening out!
Our other outing had a tag-along named Lukas. In my never-ending quest to hook the boy on sports in general, and American sports specifically, I wanted to have him join us for the NFL kickoff event at Shebeens (another Irish pub. Vienna’s littered with ‘em, as is most of Europe). It was a fun night. Shebeens is one of the very few places in Austria that knows what to do with red meat, and just about the only one who performs this task for a reasonable price (7 Euro for a fat, juicy burger – 13 for a nice sized ribeye steak and sides. Just can’t be beat in this neck of the woods!). So, we all ordered off the menu, then settled in for happy hour (which they run from 7-9 on Sundays – perfect for those of us interested in the American football offerings.) The game itself was nothing special. New York Giants over the Carolina Panthers. Lukas was a hoot, though. He decided early on to support NY, something I can rarely bring myself to do in any sporting endeavor (the boy absolutely must have a rooting interest from the outset of any viewed competition, and then he’ll stick with them). I think it was the blue uniforms that sold him. Anyway, with dad and Chris (Wells – my buddy whom I hit the concert circuit with and whom we all vacationed in Italy with) egging him on, Lukas was all over the place, whooping it up for the Giants, testing out new catchphrases such as “in your face” and generally being an amusing nuisance. Lots of fun!
All right. I’ve just made an executive decision not to overreach on this blog. Instead of running through our upper Austria visit, I’ll end it here and pick up there in the next installment. Happy Trails…
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