Going downhill #1

On the bus on the way to work the other day, I was sat in front of a couple of young professionals (yp).

Not that I was ear-wigging or anything... but, they were graduates recently moved here who were musing about acceptable areas to live in.

YP #1 was saying: "Apparently, Jesmond used to be really quite a smart area. You can understand why the people who have bought houses here are irritated by the increase in student accommodation"

YP #2 agreed "Yes, I think if I was looking to buy somewhere I certainly wouldn't want to live in Jesmond".

Einfach Raus!

This is the name of the ticket we have just discovered on the ÖBB (Austrian Railways).

This is a special ticket that is valid on all Austrian trains except the big fast inter-city trains. It is valid for between 2 - 5 people and costs 28Euro for a whole day's travel for all the people in the group.

We decided to investigate the possibilities over the weekend, starting on Saturday with a trip to Eisenstadt (the regional capital of Burgenland). Saturday was a really warm day and the town centre was uphill from the station (oh my aching shins and blistered feet) so we were a bit tuckered out by the time we arrived to saunter through the, rather deserted, town centre (anyone would think it was a bank holiday or something!).

We had a bit of lunch (Würstel with freshly grated horseradish all round) and made our way idly (we had to run at full pelt) back to the station to catch the next train to Neusiedel Am See, which we sort of missed as we got off at the wrong station. We could see the lake twinkling the distance but had just missed the train (well, we had got off it actually) into town, so we got on a different train and came back a different route into Vienna.

We arrived back in Vienna earlier than we originally expected, and decided to tootle off on another train/adventure to Mödling, an outlying small spa town, just because we could. The town centre was uphill, again, and looked really unpromising from the main road. We almost turned around and came back home but didn't, for some reason I can't remember, and ended up somewhere that was so dinky it looked like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang could have been filmed there (was it? I don't know, but if you do, then please tell me).

Then we headed home, via a Turkish-shop stop to pick up some provisions (delicious pistachio nuts,
aubergine dip and (a tin of!) humous).

Easter Sunday, and a new Einfach Raus ticket beckons, but not before finding the rather brilliant journey planner on the ÖBB website called Scotty, which allows us to plan our journey to the minute before we have actually left the house (I think Austrian public transport efficiency is second only that of Germany).

Today we're going to Melk.

Melk lies on a bend in the Danube, about 100km from Vienna. It's a pretty little town (this time downhill from the station!) which boasts the most jaw-dropping baroque "pile" (atop the hill in the town centre) that I have ever seen. It completely dominates the town.

This pile is a still functioning monastery, with a museum, and gallery, and fountains, and gardens, and church, and cherubs, and frescoes, and relics (!!!), and gold-leaf, and general pomp, and, in fact, so much visual pastel confection that at times, you may feel like you're having a sugar-rush.

Easter Monday we set forth again, this time with Payerbach-Riechenau as our destination of choice.

We were thwarted early on in the journey today however, as both of us were daydreaming and missed our first change (Ottakring). We eventually got back to Wien Meidling (our main departure station) and decided to head towards Wiener Neustadt (which is on the way to Payerbach-Riechenau) and review the situation later in the morning.

Wiener Neustadt (New City) is actually medieval, and not an overflow council estate (like Wythenshawe is to Manchester) as I had previously thought and in itself looked picturesque and probably held enough to keep us entertained for the afternoon, had it not been a Bank Holiday and had everything not been shut. So, after a cursory circuit of the old town we headed back to the station to venture forth, to our original destination.

We arrived in Payerbach-Riechenau and "siezed the day" yet again by jumping onto yet another train which was already in the station when we arrived which took us up the snow covered mountain to Semmering.

It snowed when we arrived and was really beautiful.

Snow pix to follow soon, when I have sorted them out!

Einfach Raus? Well, it gets you out of the house doesn't it?

The wind will change...

We've all heard the saying/idle threat directed at young (and not so young) 'uns whilst pulling a face, "the wind will change and you'll stay like that". Well, today (last Friday) it did.

Since we arrived, whatever wind has been blowing, has been blowing from the west. Today it decided to come in from the north, bringing with it clouds that made the view across the lake this morning look more like Morecambe bay than lake Michigan.
The main thrust of our plan today was to visit the Art Institute of Chicago. Before setting off, we had flirted with the idea of taking public transport. I had found out that day passes only cost $5, though, to be honest, after trekking around yesterday, monetary reasons weren't the only reason to take the bus. My feet were still killing me, and public transport seemed like a sensible option.

We started off with very good intentions... We left the hotel before 9am and went for breakfast at the Water Tower Place (Mall) just down Michigan from the hotel. During breakfast I was flicking through the floor plan leaflet we had been given earlier in the week and realised that on Friday, the gallery didn't actually open until 10.30am!

As in London, most of the high street shops don't open until 10am the malls are open but the shops aren't), so we didn't even have the option of an hour's intensive shopping before jumping on the bus to whisk us to Millennium Park for a bit o' culture.

So, we lingered over breakfast, and when we set off, we decided to walk down to the institute, dodging into open malls as (below) freezing temperatures necessitated and arrived joining the end of the queue just as the doors were opened.

A walk in the park

On Tuesday we went for a walk...

We walked down Michigan to the river,
Through Millennium Park,
past the Anish Kapor sculpture,
down to the lake,
along to the Museum Campus,
back into town to a fantastic acrhitecture/design bookshop called Prairie Avenue Books,
past the elevated train tracks,
through the square which houses the Mies van der Rohe federal buildings and a huge Calder sculpture
and along to the Rookery (I stood on the stairs and got told off by the security guard)
How our feet ached!

There's a hole in my jacket, dear Liesel, dear Liesel!

I realised last week with a not significant amount of shock and horror that I had a big hole under the right arm of my coat. This may explain why I have been getting odd looks on the bus/underground recently. When I've been standing up holding on to the ceiling straps I've obviously been flashing my wooly pully to all and sundry!

I haven't had the chance to look around for a replacement yet apart from a lack-lustre wander around Zara on the Kärntnerstraße on Saturday evening, where everything looked either "too young", "too shiny" (and not in a good way) or just odd. I quite like Tracht coats, they are very smart (as well as being ridiculously expensive) but anywhere outside of Austria would also look odd in their own way (though in a smart, expensive kind of way) too.

I am planning a trip to Peek & Cloppenberg on the Mariahilferstraße on Thursday to see if I can fulfill this new (and rather pressing need should the weather stay this cold for much longer) need. Brrrrr!

Servus!

Well, we're here!

Vienna looked very gloomy and monochrome as we landed and the landscapes from the airport looked cold and grey through the window of the new high speed train (the CAT) which has cut the journey time into the city to 16 minutes.

It's not as cold as I expected it to be, but I am glad I invested in long johns, as I'm sure they'll be very welcome quite soon!

The flat is lovely! It is small, but very smart and lots of mod-cons we don't have at home, like a Dampfdusche (steam shower cabinet) which naturally we can't get to work and a whirlpool bath! It's in an Altbau on Oberkirchergasse in Ober Doebling, which has curved stairwells with ornate wrought iron, erm, ironwork on the outside windows, and worked plaster in the walls. I will take some photos soon.

In the immediate vicinity are fruit and veg shops, a fishmongers, butcher and a bio-laden selling all kinds of organic lovely stuff and ecover. i think we're in bio-heaven.

More soon. Auf wiedershauen lieblings!