What is older than John McCain?

Oh Happy Day! Cate has an Internet connection – and it works – and she can access her VPN or whatever it is that she uses to look at work emails and suchlike stuff. She is very happy tonight and has stopped prowling around the house howling. I expect that she now will revert to her normal lifestyle and work until midnight every night.

The photo is that of Muffy showing how gorgeous she is on white.

We went to Karlskirche to hear Mozart’s Requiem. (History lesson follows) In 1713, the Black Plague swept Vienna, and Emperor Charles VI made a pledge that if the plague abated he would build a church dedicated to his namesake, St. Charles Borromeo. St. Charles was a 16th-century Italian bishop famous for ministering to Milanese plague victims. The emperor's prayer was answered, and construction on the church began in 1715. This therefore is a thank you to a merciful God for killing only half the citizens of Wien.

The performance was by the Salzburger Konzertgesellschaft and they were surprisingly good. We had thought this might be a touristy thing as the tickets were only €44 each (about the price of Melange and Torte) but were pleased by the performance – in what is a truly stunning location.

The organisation was typically Austrian and – having bought and paid for our tickets online – we had to line up to collect our tickets with those people who were paying on the night.

To get there and back (it’s 10 minutes walk) we went past the Russian Monument which the grateful Viennese built to thank the Russians for liberating them (Joke!). It is gigantic and hard to hide but the Viennese have done their best by building a colossal fountain in front of it. At night the Russian monument is the only part of Wien that is not lit up – and we are talking here about people who would spotlight a hedgehog on a stick. At night it is absolutely invisible – which is just the way they like it.

We discovered belatedly that what was causing Bill’s discomfort was fresh meat. Apparently Austrian meat does not agree with him. Now that we don’t give him fresh meat he has settled down and now goes for days at a time with out throwing up. Of course all he wants to eat is fresh meat so for most of very day he follows me about the apartment yowling (like Cate without an internet connection). Eventually we both collapse emotionally drained.

I note that we can keep deer in our freezer for up to six months and this is a useful facility. I haven’t come across any deer yet but I will certainly know what to do with them. They will however have to be very small indeed.

We went cycling in the Prater which is Wien’s largest amusement park. The park had been reserved for imperial hunts but in 1766 Joseph II decreed that der Prater should be open to everyone. Now it is a very popular spot indeed and we were their with what seemed to be all of Wien. As you cannot shop on Sundays – cycling, walking and roller blading are very popular. There is a big wheel there that was erected in 1897 for the World Exhibition but we were not tempted. I’m not going on any piece of equipment that is older than John McCain.