Once again, work has me travelling almost halfway around the world - this time to witness some tests at a company about an hour outside of Vienna.
My journey started Saturday at 9:45 when Lola dropped me off at the airport. I had a short flight to Toronto where I would have to kill 3 hrs until my flight to Vienna. While making the transfer between terminals in Toronto, my carry on roller bag decided to have a tantrum - the rubber on one of the wheels came loose and jammed the wheel. Because of the friction either from the rubber causing the wheel to turn slowly or from being jammed, the bearing is toast - literally. As I attempted to fix the wheel, I practically burned my finger tips - at one point I thought I was going to have blisters.
Oh well, Lola has already ordered a new one (The Bay has a sale on luggage right now). I will just turn the bag around so the other two wheels will do all the work, and carry my laptop bag. I will likely check my bag on the flight home so that I do not have to deal with it. Plus, if my luggage is lost, I'm at home.
The 8 hrs flight to Vienna was routine. I got some sleep (maybe 2 hrs in two bursts), ate some food, watched some movies and generally relaxed.
I arrived in Vienna at 8:00 local time (7 hrs ahead of home). After a quick change into shorts in the washroom I made my way to get my rental car:
BMW 1126
After spending 5 mins trying to figure out how to start the car, I was ready to go. It is a push button start so naturally I tried to start the car multiple times the way we start the Q5 - press in the brake and push the button. No luck. I started to think maybe the car was a hybrid so put the car into first gear and let out the clutch. Nope that didn't do it... but wait - you need to press in the clutch to start the car normally.
Yep - that was it. Clutch AND brake in and press the button to start the car.
I spent about an hour just driving around trying to find some parks or historic monuments but didn't have much luck. On my way to one park (which I did find but the entrance seemed to not be made for cars), I saw a shopping center with lots of people. On my way back, I stopped in mostly to get a coffee. I then learned that all stores are closed on Sundays (restaurants are open) so I could still get my coffee. And then I wandered around the parking lot which was filled with cars and motorcycles as the reason everyone was there was for an impromptu car show.
Cougar
Opel GT
Some Ferrari's
I then pulled out the map I got at the rental counter and had another realization - "Vienna" in German is "Wien" - that's what was all over the signs as I was driving. No wonder I couldn't find "Vienna" on the signs...
On the map was an exploded view of some historic buildings and a garden - perfect way to kill time and check out the sites in Vienna. I punched the garden into the GPS and made my way to what I will call historic downtown Vienna.
On the way, I saw many cars which I wish could be in Canada:
Passat Wagon
TDI A3
The sites did not disappoint - huge old stone buildings, many statues and tons of people milling around with the same mission as me.
A statue across from the University of Vienna
National Library
A statue outside the National Library
Outside the gates to the National Library
Natural History Museum
The other Natural History Museum (or perhaps an art museum) - opposite the one above
Inside the "Museum Quarter) - about 15 different museums in one location
Rathaus
Parlament (yes, that's how it is spelled)
Still at Parlament
Looking at Volks Garten and the National Library
Outside Rathaus
Burgtheater
Inside Volks Garten
Once fed, it was time to make my way to my hotel, Linsberg Asia, located in a small town 1 hrs outside of Vienna in Bad Erlach.
The drive was peaceful. There was traffic but was calm. You were on a two-lane highway which passed through small towns and cities of varying sizes.
For Lola
It was very interesting seeing the mix of homes, apartments, industrial, commercial and agricultural land. Towns are often 2 kms apart and people can easily walk or bike between them. I saw many people doing so on the highways while driving 70 km/h.
I'm starting to get the hang of the signage here. For example, this sign had me confused for a bit (except it had a 70 inside the circle):
However, thanks to the GPS, I realized that this meant that the previous speed limit is no longer in effect which then means that the speed defaults to 100 km/h.
The hotel is more of a resort than a hotel. There is a large onsite spa which I have access to if I wish. I might go for a massage later this week, we will see how things go and if my hunch comes true that we will be done Wednesday.
My room
The grounds
After a 2 hrs nap and then talking to Lola and Ernie (and by talking, it was more AA listening and waking up), I decided it was time to try to get something to eat. I first went to the front desk to get an iron and ironing board to iron some of my clothes that were crammed a little too tight in my carry-on. Then, I went for dinner to one of the two onsite restaurants. I ordered a pork stir-fry - rice and vegetables were what I felt I could stomach.
And I was right - the food was delicious:
I was curious what the cost of my meal was going to be. You essentially got a 4 course dinner - pick one of the five entrees and then help yourself to a salad bar, appetizer buffet, cheeses and desserts. I wasn't worries about the beer, the price was probably going to be the same as a bottle of water as I learned at lunch. Well, it didn't break the bank at 22 euro which was less than I thought it was going to be.
After supper, I went for a quick swim as the pool closed at 9pm. The pool is approximately 30*C, no joke. It was like swimming in a bath tub and was very relaxing.
Well I should wrap this blog up and try to get to sleep - luckily I do feel tired but we will see what time I fall asleep...
Hopefully Grandma Phyll has mastered her new iPhone so she can show Gramps the blog to help pass some time - thinking of you both.
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