I am in Vienna now, arrived by car (a Mercedes!) via Germany on Sunday. It is strange being in a country where you have no ability to understand the language - you're brain seems to think that you should be able to figure it out if you just focus hard enough. No luck so far though. Germany is much prettier than I though it would be - a marked difference from the region of France I came through, where it is all fields and then you pass into Germany and it is all forested (at least for the first while). Everything seems so green after the grey of Paris. It was a pleasure to be able to stay with friends of Cat's in Speyer, Germany and take a lovely walk along the banks of the Reine River. I really appreciated having someone who speaks German to accompany me to the Apotheke (pharmacy) to help me buy some cough suppressant medicine for a terrible cough I have developed. That might have been pretty entertaining to try to have to act out my symptons to the pharmacist (or would that be the apothecary?)
Austria seems to think that you should focus on the road, because they have put up high barriers along the highway which block most of the view. The biggest adjustment here is getting used to having smoking in public places. Even Paris has banished their smokers outside. We arrived in Vienna on Sunday evening, and the European Geosciences Union conference started at 8:30 on Monday morning, so there hasn't been a lot of time for sight-seeing. Cat & I managed to attract an impromptu tour guide when wandering around the Stephansplatz reading our guidebook Tuesday evening. He pointed out things in the cathedral we would have never even noticed on our own, and then took us to see a portion of the old city wall before showing us a great place for Austrian food. I don't think I've ever seen so much weiner schnitzel on one plate before. It was delicious!
In this photo of the roof of the Stephansdom cathedral (one of the tallest churches in the world), there is the emblem of Austria on the right and of Vienna on the left. The roof was destroyed by fire in WWII, and rebuilt not with wood, but with steel. Apparently, the tiled roof is more indicative of the style used in southern France. I'll have to make the comparison when I travel there in a few weeks.
Well, my break in the conference program is over, so I'd better get back to it!
Auf Wiedersehen!
1 comment:
ahhhhhh schnitzel..... mmmmm.... my German genes are rejoicing at the thought of schintzel =)
I was just talking about German food to a guy on the bus today. Personally, I think if you add butter to anything it's German cuisine. Serve it with either beer or coffee and you're definitely covered!
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