What Happened in Wein

No, I haven't learned the language, just showing off a little.

So what's happened since the last episode. Nothing calamitous (sp?), thank heaven. A small part of my fantasy did come true. Just a small part. I fantasized that when I get home, I'll find my wallet in the accumulated mail, with the contents intact.

Mark & Brenda, my first emergency contact (and bail-out specialists) got a call from someone in the Czech Rep. He had found my wallet, no money, but with credit cards. He's mailing it to my home address. Someone also charged about 200 Euros to one of the cards, but that charge was voided. At least I won't have to get a replacement license, etc.

Replacement cards showed up on Friday, so I'm flush again. With two cards stashed in my secret hideaway under my shirt, along with emergency cash. The only trouble now is getting into the new accounts on the Internet, so I can see what I owe and pay my bills. Hopefully that will work out before it becomes a problem.

Personal stuff: J & J, I haven't had any trouble finding places to eat, or fast food. And haven't tripped over any curbs either. Wish me luck. T, there is a Karlin Theater of Music in Prague. Related? BW, I just bought "The Fall of Hyperion". Needed something to read late at nite besides Bill Bryson. After "Hyperion", I think Simmons has me hooked on his brand of sci-fi. KB, other old time Hi-Fi nuts, they still sell brand new vacuum tube amplifiers here.

And what have I been doing, you ask. At least I hope you do. Thursday was spent wandering around town to get familiar with it. I did go to the Albertina art museum, and really enjoyed it. Three exhibitions, Joseph Fuhrich, life size 14 stations of the cross, in browns and grays. Included some of his initial sketches.

Then a great caricaturist/satirist, Gerhard Haderer. All the captions were in German, but I got the point on nearly all of them. Laughed out loud a few times, and I wasn't alone.
The last was the watercolors of Jacob and Rudolph Alt, father and son. Mostly Rudolph. He really did some fine work, in my uneducated opinion.

Friday was more of the same, just wandered the town, and used up the batteries on my camera taking pictures of museums, churches, civic buildings, things in general.

Saturday was busy. Took a tour which consisted of an hour + bus ride, an hour + river cruise on the Danau (Danube) to the little town of Melk. Saw castles, little villages, all those old Europe things. Melk was a nice, small, old town, with outdoor cafes, cobbled streets, etc. It also had a Benedictine Abbey, which was part of the tour. So it was a full day of touring.

I got back just in time to change into respectable clothes for my Evening With Mozart concert. That was a pleasure, as well. Full hall, orchestra in period costumes, including wigs, all the things that make it seem realistic. It included several opera arias (is that the right term, you in the audience with culture?) by a soprano and a tenor. And it closed with a tribute to Strauss, with a medley of his works. Person next to me was from Vancouver, BC, so we had a nice talk before the performance and during intermission.

This morning, I walked out to the Danau and strolled along the banks of an island in the middle of the river. You have to use your imagination to make it the Blue Danube, but it is relatively clear.

Then had lunch at a sidewalk cafe near the Museum Quarter. I decided to close the day with a visit to the Art Museum. On exhibit were late 19th and early 20th century impressionists. I really have to say that the 19th century artists did more for me than the 20th.
And then I logged on and composed this.

Tomorrow, I head for Salzburg for three days. I'll return through Wein (show-off) on Thursday, and go on to Kleinstmuchen, in eastern Austria to visit relatives for a few days.

That's it for now. Time to move on.