Granted, I have a small child these days which somewhat intrudes on my ability to pack-up and head off on hedonistic adventures at a moment's notice. And there is the other small matter of the said small child's ever developing schedule: agendas and obligations that now need to be factored in. Between Kindergarten, playdates, gym classes, reading groups, occasional birthday parties etc. etc. it can be hard to find a space for spontaneous "city-breaks" . Actually, come to think of it - the Caspi-Man could really do with a personal assistant. Oh- hang on a sec - he has one...
Last weekend, encouraged by a visiting friend from OZ, I took unpaid leave from my PA position (citing phrases to the Ger-Man like "quality boy time" , "unlimited watching of Fussball on TV", "processed meat product meals" & the absolute cincher: "happy wife") and the friend and I were free to pack-up and head to the (somewhat warmer) Austrian climes of Vienna to meet up with a mutual English friend for a weekend of pure indulgence.
It was our first time in Vienna so much singing of favourite tunes from The Sound of Music was obligatory. As was Sacher-torte. (Except that we kept getting distracted by the enormous range of gorgeous other tortes). And Viennese coffee with extra cream (we're hard-core - so none of the wussy Melange [coffee with steamed milk] for us). Then between, there were the obligatory stops for carbohydrate and protein rich meals that needed to be washed down with lots of locally fermented grape juice.
I think it is fair to say we waddled around Vienna.
We managed to secure last minute tickets to see Carmen at the Volksopera. The seats didn't even have columns in front of them. (But we all agreed that if one had a vision-impaired friend these seats would be great value at 7 Euro a pop). Besides the obvious, Carmen had the added advantage of banishing our Sound of Music created ear-worms, and replacing them with Bolero.
And then there was the Sunday morning, front row tickets for the Wien Spanische Hofreitschule (Spanish Riding School). This had the English friend and myself sobbing emotionally into tissues while the Oz friend scratched her head in befuddlement, stating- "but the horses haven't even come in yet!"
Ahhhh yes. Eurotrashing. Not what it used to be. It's not how I remembered it. It's much, much better.
über me!
- pyjamamel
- Düsseldorf, NRW, Germany
- Of antipodean origin, currently living in Germany with the "Ger-Man", not-nearly-as-little-as-he used-to-be "Caspi-Man" , "The Cheeky Monkey", and four-legged "Banjo". Dream is to have a permanent place in both hemispheres and the means to travel betweeen. Am lucky to have family & friends in far-flung corners of the globe but, where ever I am, I'm missing someone terribly. Prone to procrastination and to wearing pajamas and animal ears - I often find myself outside my comfort zone...life seems to be a continually- vertical learning curve...
2 comments:
There is only ONE Shire, and that is the place that the descendants of Anzac used the Howard blitzkrieg against the Middle Eastern invaders. The Shire has pride of place as the last bastion of Anglo Celtic culture and rites which revolve around rituals of drinking and regurgetation followed by demonstrations of respect for the female gender. Ahhh, the Shire. Where eating pizza with garlic bread is their overwhelming demonstration of racial tolerance and multi-culturalism, where pouring beer on anything on the barbie shows they have embraced the haute-cuisine subtleties of marinade. Ahhh, THE SHIRE
Yes...but, Godfather, you must realize that (unlike the Hobbit's homeplace) the greater part of the rest of the world refers to your SHIRE as just "Cronulla". But I reckon that Peter Jackson could make a great movie there to similarly immortalise the em, unique qualities, that abound over that there brdge! ;)
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