Mittwoch

Yes, I think today is Wednesday.  My days are a little mixed up with the Saturday that quickly turned into Sunday and I only had a few hours of sleep.  Luckily my body clock seems to have adjusted to UTC+2 time very well (note: home is UTC-5) - just in time to switch back.

Today started off much the same.  Amazing breakfast at the hotel and then a short drive in the Austrian countryside to the facility. The route was different this time though.

As my faithful blog followers may recall the 2.0m wide opening between a home and a rock wall, today this was blocked.  By a delivery vehicle off loading patio bricks.  Good thing I had a GPS and knew there would be a way around this by going through Bad Erlach.  (look at me, I sound like a local...).

So I turned around and went that direction.  The GPS quickly adjusted my route.  After crossing the tracks, I made a right as I did yesterday on my walk.  Well, that is a walking/biking path - not for cars.  I realized this about 100m down the path when I looked at the GPS which said I was supposed to turn left (the GPS was clearly smarter than me).

Another turn around and then I was on my way.  The new route didn't add much time to get to work - maybe 5 mins (would have been 4 if I didn't have to turn around).

My favourite castle (until I find another one)

I'm hoping this video works - no music in the background

Work went well today.  Testing was accomplished (successfully).  That was all we did today.  It was productive.

I also learned a few things:

1. Lunch isn't free for all employees but you can buy into it for a nominal 3.50 euros.
2. Housing in Austria is expensive.  One of the ladies said that she and her boyfriend are looking to build their own house because buying is too expensive.  Building is approximately 500,000 euros (times 1.5 = 750,000 CAD).  Renting a "flat" (aka - apartment) is about 100 euros a month per 10 square meters.  So, a 90 sq m flat would be 900 euros.  Our house is pretty much 100 sq m.
3. People are surprised that we own a house inside the city and are even more surprised about the cost.

We finished everything at around 4:30 (after a 4pm cappuccino with the test operators).  I had decided on my way to work that I was going to go for a drive on the way home.  As I left the facility, it was starting to rain so this was a perfect way to see more of the country side instead of a walk/hike.

As I was making my way to where I wanted to explore, I got a call from our car salesman (following up on Lola's chrome issue and seeing if I had made any decisions about my TDI).  When I told him where I was, he gasped and said "are you really a spy?"  I laughed, really hard, because I had noticed today that my visitor badge that I have had all week was "007":

I continued on my drive, going on many twisting, turning roads up the side of the mountain:

At this point, I wanted to get a cool picture of the valley that I was in between the two mountains.  I spotted a small field with a short gravel path that would be an excellent view,.  And it was:

I didn't want to back down the path I took because I would back right onto a blind corner - not something I wanted to do in the rain in a rental car on a mountain in Austria.  So I decided to turn around.  And wouldn't you know it, I almost got stuck.  Grass is slippery when wet (maybe we should test that for slip resistance tomorrow) so when I pulled forward and turned to back up I couldn't get much traction in reverse.  I went forward a little more (ie. more on the grass) which had the same result (I guess that makes me insane, right?).  After some critical thinking, assessing the physics at play, restarting the car 3 times because it stalled when the traction control started to kick in (remember - manual transmission) I made it out by giving it more gas and spinning a bit.  

Once back on the road and my blood pressure started to drop, I found the traction control button.  Good to know... now...

I continued on my drive, passing through small villages of 10 houses tucked into the hillside.  

I stopped in one of the villages which had a pretty good view.  I think I parked in an area designated for parking.  That or I pulled onto a very large sidewalk...

This old church was directly behind me.  Note the "parking pad" at the base of the picture

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the many hairpin turns I had to make - I didn't think it was a good idea to stop on the road at a hairpin turn...  And, the drive required two hands so I couldn't get a video.  I thought about propping my phone up with the GPS but it would have likely toppled over with the turns and up-and-downs.  So, instead, I was going to post some some shots stolen taken from Google Street View but these don't exist because Google hasn't driven on these roads.  Not sure what is wrong with them - there are some pretty spectacular views, especially when there are low level clouds in the hills.

All-in-all, it took me an additional 40 mins to get back to the hotel but definitely worth it. 

At the hotel, I went to the pool for a swim and then a shower and a short rest before I talked with Lola.  Then, it was time for dinner at the hotel restaurant.  I had the "salmon" which wasn't salmon - it tasted more like pickerel (and was definitely a white fresh water fish).

After dinner, it was time to get some work done (only an hour and a half tonight) and then time to blog.  Next I should pack as I'm changing hotels tomorrow - moving to one near the airport so it will be easier for my 10:50am Friday morning flight.  Who knows what traffic would be like going to Vienna in the morning...

Tomorrow should be less busy at work - answering questions and discussing procedures.  I might even have time to do (other) work during the day!  I was invited to dinner tomorrow with the team I have been visiting this week.  

I also was told that there is a "special event" tomorrow which might make its way onto the blog (haha, a cliffhanger... ;) ).