We bought a house

Our house

The hotel we are staying at was chosen for us by Ducky Pharma and we are in a cave on the ground floor. Breakfast on day one was served on paper plates with plastic knives and forks – but in any event was inedible.

There was no espresso machine and the filthy sludge which masqueraded as coffee came in gigantic drums. I think they brew and stew new coffee every Sunday whether they need to or not.

But then things improved dramatically and they produced real china plates and steel cutlery – together with stuff that could pass as food. Today I had bacon and eggs!

Of course we still cannot drink the coffee so go to Au Bon Pain where the staff know us really well as we also have lunch there most days.

So we spent half a day touring Indianapolis with a guide who showed us all the sights and told us all about where we could live. But we pretty much knew this from our last trip.

Everyone told us we should live in Carmel which in 2012 was voted by someone as the best place to live in America. But it is – at best a 45 minute commute and we knew this would make Cate tetchy so wanted something closer to the city.

We new pretty much what we wanted in a house and in fact had chosen one on our last trip but someone else bought it – the swines.

But this time we found exactly what we wanted.

One of our squirrels

It is a historic house called The Wishard Mansion and was built in 1897. It is very us and is even older than our house in Sydney. But it has been completely refurbished and renovated from top to bottom.

It also has its own squirrels which is important to us and will drive the cats crazy because they will not be allowed outside to chase them.

So we made an offer and clinched the deal.

Unfortunately I have to go back

So we had an interview with the US consulate at 8:30 AM. They suggested we arrive 10 minutes early – which we did.

I was hoping for a nice cup of coffee with the US consul who would exchange pleasantries - welcome me to America and thank me for my interest in coming to his great country.

It was a complete Goat Fuck. The lobby was crammed with hordes of desperate souls clutching their pathetic scraps of paper which they hoped would admit them to the Land of the Free.

Apparently – as we discovered – all appointments are made for 8:30. The security guard told us there were 30 such appointments.

Clearly they have modeled this on the Austrian system – which we have experienced on a number of occasions.

We lined up for 20 minutes to get through security – then joined another line to get a hearing with Frau Grimm as to why we were intent on bothering the very busy US Consulate on this particular day.

Eventually we were seated and were then able to listen to the pathetic stories of all those who went before us as they gave their pitches to the Consul – who stood behind a (no doubt bullet-proof) glass screen listening to their tales of woe.

Hmmm…. No sit down in an office – no cup of coffee.

My favorite was the man whose house was being repossessed by GMAC although he had paid as much as he could and was down to his last dime and desperately needed to get to the USA for a hearing on 26 April to stop his house from being sold for a song. He got his wish.

Our turn – when it  came – was extremely pleasant. The very nice man had a few jokes with us – asked a few questions – approved our visa applications and gave us back our passports so that we could go house hunting.

Unfortunately I have to go back there on 8 April to drop in our passports. At least now I know what to expect. 

A smell of goat in the air

We spent an idyllic  day or so exploring the towns of the Romantic Road. There are some towns that Bomber Harris did not get time to destroy and these are quite beautiful.

Even Würzburg – which he bombed to a pulp – has managed pretty much to put itself back together again and is a quite beautiful mediaeval city. Some of them he did not get to at all – this would have had him biting his pillow – and remain absolute gems and worthy of close inspection.

You all know my thoughts on Arthur Harris. He was a war criminal who should have been hanged. But only the losing side has war criminals.

We got lucky and had lots of snow. I know most people would think of this as a hindrance – but we love it and to walk around a town like Nordringen – as we did – including the still extant town walls – being pelted with snow - was a complete joy.

We were lucky with our hotels – the one in Würzburg was a real gem – and we encountered no rat-infested hovels.

We were due to stay in the Panoramagasthof in the mountains but could not get to it. We encountered something of a snowstorm and Billy simply could not cope with the conditions of the roads – and indeed – nor could we.

So – still in a snowstorm – we beat  retreat to Innsbruck – and it took us three hours to cover 110 kilometers.

There we stayed in the Penz hotel and had our most unpleasant experience of the trip. We had forgotten after Germany – and we keep doing this – that the Austrians are Barbarians.

We went to the 5^th floor bar for a drink after dinner and everyone was smoking – including one asshole who was smoking a cigar – and he was sitting with his two children. What a country. We retired to our room with a bottle.

After this America will be bliss as far as restaurants and bars are concerned.

 So on Thursday we have our interview with the US Consulate. There is an odor of goats in the air for reasons which I shall explain later. It is not yet one of those goat things – but has significant potential.

On Saturday we are supposed to fly to the USA for our housing visit. The goats may prevent his. We shall see.