Daylight Saving ended today so Cate told me yesterday that I had to put the clocks forward one hour. This didn’t sound quite right so I checked the International Herald Tribune – my only reliable source of knowledge apart from Cate’s assistant – and then put the clocks back an hour. This ensured that she caught the plane to Germany on time – but of course it was late so she made the flight to Korea with only 2 minutes to spare.
It was apparently Austrian National Day today but we went to the Museum and on our way didn’t see any sign of excitement or festivities - although the #1 Tram had flowers on it – but it might have been its birthday. There is no mention of the occasion on the online Austrian newspapers. These Austrians are pretty laid back and it may be that they don’t celebrate in public.
There are some strange stores in Landstrasser-Hauptstrasse (and I guess in other places) called Eduscho and Tchibo that sell clothing and coffee. You can go and have coffee, buy coffee and also buy clothing. It doesn’t make any sense to me – and haven’t seen that anywhere else but I am sure someone will explain it to me sooner or later. It is probably no stranger than the Hoodland Video and Tanning store we saw in Oregon a year or so ago.
There is also a very strange little store in Landstrasser-Hauptstrasse called Minerva and sells mainly light globes. It is ancient – and is no more than 3 metres wide and five metres deep. It is run by a woman who sits in the back and reads newspapers and probably has a really nice time. She seems to have no customers at all – apart from me. I ask her for bits and pieces that she doesn’t have on the basis that I will do anything I can to avoid going to Bauhaus. She always looks for me ( I need bits and pieces for down lights in the kitchen) but has not so far produced anything I can use.
We did go to a Herren Mode store to buy some gloves for me. They didn’t have gloves but we did buy a coat and pullover as it is starting to get cool. We encountered the least interested sales assistant I have found so far (and there have been a lot) who really didn’t care whether or not we bought anything – or indeed self-combusted on the floor of the store. But we are accustomed to this and took it in our stride. We have become very self reliant and know that if we want something we need to find it, try it on and then force the sales person to take our money and give us a bag.
Cate has decided that it is time that the cats slept anywhere apart from our bedroom. In Sydney they usually slept in the lounge room or studies – because we locked them out of the bedroom at night. There are many reasons for this – mostly too disgusting to canvass publicly – but Bill and Muffin have been getting very restless and roaming around at night. They make a lot of noise and prowl up and down the bed. They also get up very early and decide that they are starving to death and need to be fed immediately.
But Bill tipped Cate over the edge when he got under the bedclothes and licked her bare back. My ears are still ringing.
I will wait until Cate gets back from Korea – I don’t want her to miss the fun – because when we lock them out they put on quite a performance. It includes scratching at the door, yowling incessantly – and in Bill’s case – hurling himself at the door to try to break it down. Can’t wait.
But it’s worth it because bed at night without cats is absolute bliss.
Cate is away for a few days and I have been tasked to attacked the 52 cartons of books in the store room to see what should be brought up to the apartment. We have great difficulty throwing books away so our collection continues to grow.
A removalist in Sydney asked me if we read any of them again ‘ yes we do ‘ I said.
‘Do any of the words change?’ He asked (flippantly I assume).
‘Well only occasionally I said’ – ‘but the meaning changes because each time you read a book you discover more about it – or the writer – or indeed yourself’.
He seem unconvinced – but was Samoan and probably only read books once like other normal people.
It was apparently Austrian National Day today but we went to the Museum and on our way didn’t see any sign of excitement or festivities - although the #1 Tram had flowers on it – but it might have been its birthday. There is no mention of the occasion on the online Austrian newspapers. These Austrians are pretty laid back and it may be that they don’t celebrate in public.
There are some strange stores in Landstrasser-Hauptstrasse (and I guess in other places) called Eduscho and Tchibo that sell clothing and coffee. You can go and have coffee, buy coffee and also buy clothing. It doesn’t make any sense to me – and haven’t seen that anywhere else but I am sure someone will explain it to me sooner or later. It is probably no stranger than the Hoodland Video and Tanning store we saw in Oregon a year or so ago.
There is also a very strange little store in Landstrasser-Hauptstrasse called Minerva and sells mainly light globes. It is ancient – and is no more than 3 metres wide and five metres deep. It is run by a woman who sits in the back and reads newspapers and probably has a really nice time. She seems to have no customers at all – apart from me. I ask her for bits and pieces that she doesn’t have on the basis that I will do anything I can to avoid going to Bauhaus. She always looks for me ( I need bits and pieces for down lights in the kitchen) but has not so far produced anything I can use.
We did go to a Herren Mode store to buy some gloves for me. They didn’t have gloves but we did buy a coat and pullover as it is starting to get cool. We encountered the least interested sales assistant I have found so far (and there have been a lot) who really didn’t care whether or not we bought anything – or indeed self-combusted on the floor of the store. But we are accustomed to this and took it in our stride. We have become very self reliant and know that if we want something we need to find it, try it on and then force the sales person to take our money and give us a bag.
Cate has decided that it is time that the cats slept anywhere apart from our bedroom. In Sydney they usually slept in the lounge room or studies – because we locked them out of the bedroom at night. There are many reasons for this – mostly too disgusting to canvass publicly – but Bill and Muffin have been getting very restless and roaming around at night. They make a lot of noise and prowl up and down the bed. They also get up very early and decide that they are starving to death and need to be fed immediately.
But Bill tipped Cate over the edge when he got under the bedclothes and licked her bare back. My ears are still ringing.
I will wait until Cate gets back from Korea – I don’t want her to miss the fun – because when we lock them out they put on quite a performance. It includes scratching at the door, yowling incessantly – and in Bill’s case – hurling himself at the door to try to break it down. Can’t wait.
But it’s worth it because bed at night without cats is absolute bliss.
Cate is away for a few days and I have been tasked to attacked the 52 cartons of books in the store room to see what should be brought up to the apartment. We have great difficulty throwing books away so our collection continues to grow.
A removalist in Sydney asked me if we read any of them again ‘ yes we do ‘ I said.
‘Do any of the words change?’ He asked (flippantly I assume).
‘Well only occasionally I said’ – ‘but the meaning changes because each time you read a book you discover more about it – or the writer – or indeed yourself’.
He seem unconvinced – but was Samoan and probably only read books once like other normal people.
If your stats counter show that someone has spent the last several hours on your blog, it's only me. I found you quite by accident the other night and had to come back to read... everything.
ReplyDeleteConsider yourself blogrolled. As someone whose dream is to move to Vienna (hopefully next year), I've learned more from you than any other site on the web.
And you're damned funny, too!
Yes, Eduscho has quite a hodgepodge selection of products but you'll find that they are often invaluable for purchasing household goods at lower prices than in the usual stores. And 've bought some clothes there - jackets and such - but am a bit embarrassed if I have one of them on the back of my chair with the "TCM" tag proudly declaring where I bought it! For a real mixed bag of offers check out the flyers from Penny Markt. While boasting cheap deals on food and such, they've also proudly advertised little garden huts for around 6,000€, saunas and other things. These stores, needless to say, are small and have nowhere where you could actually view these items. Who in heaven's name would buy such expensive things sight unseen? No idea. Hofer is also a great place to buy inexpensive groceries that are stacked next to laptops, washing machines, chainsaws and tanning beds. Gotta love it.
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