Wandering the Stadt

Howdy Friends and Neighbors, and a big tip o' the lid from Vienna.  Reverend Squeaky-Eye here.  Once again I have the tiller for the Blog duties.  Marco is off in the corner shaking like a dog pooping peach pits.  I believe that this week's affliction is a nervous breakdown caused by Prepositional Adverbs.  I wish him the best with that.  Anyway, where were we?

 In Vienna, one of the things that is sort of a required item is a bicycle.  I'm here to tell you Brothers and Sisters that this is one serious bicycle town.  It easily puts the most bike friendly towns in the ole' US of A to shame.  Why, Vienna makes Eugene, Oregon, seem like west Texas.  The thing that is hard to deal with is that the Wieners actually yield the right of way to bicyclists.  It's a damn difficult switch from the normal routine of "Argh!!  Torches and Pitchforks!!  Kill the Cyclists!!" to the Vienna model of cars stopping for a cyclist at a bike crossing on one of the many, many, many designated bike routes. 

"Okay, okay, they stop for you at bike paths and there are lots of the bike paths.  Got it.  So what has that got to do with the big concrete tower?"  Sorry Folks, I got a little carried away there. 

The shops here tend to be real proud of their bikes, so the place to buy a ride is on Willhaben, which is the Austrian equivalent of Craig's List, albeit with a slightly higher degree of responsible behavior.

After learning the tricks to 'For Sale' ads written in deutsch, we found a likely mountain bike located just off of the Augarten on the other side of the Donau Kanal.  Some of you may remember that this was one of Marco's favorite spots in Vienna.  It is also one sites of the giant Flak Towers, of which there are three pair.  Bike shopping and sight-seeing were combined on a very frosty morning.

Here's Marco on the new steed:

Marco Rides the New Bike

Just a second there Friends, let me check on the old boy.  Naw, I don't think he'll be coming out of this anytime soon.  It was a combination of things that laid him low, but all of them to do with Deutschgrammatik.  Myself, I ignore the grammar altogether, just like a lot of the good Wieners.  You see, there is Hoch Deutsch, sort of the German version of the King's English, and then there are all the dialects.  Now Wienerisch is about as far from Hoch Deutch as  Donald Trump is from sanity.  But to learn the dialects, well, first you have to learn the grammar.  When Marco tells any of the good Wien Volk that he is studying the dreaded Grammtik, they all shake their heads in a sort of Baptist Commiseration nod (you can almost hear the implied "mmm, mmm, mnh") and say "Deutches Sprache ist schwer Sprache."  German Language is Hard Language. 

Left to my own devices, I have had a chance to wander further afield. Spring continues to be a tentative business here, but there is some hope.

One of the strangest sights that I have seen is a real Unimog parked on the street.  Not only is this one of the oddest vehicles a fella can come across, this particular one is owned by an attorney who advertises his trade via said Unimog.  There must be some other message here, but I'm befuddled.  

This is a case that crazy doomsday-prepper lawyer I've heard so much about!!

And of course, there are the Stadtwanderwegs.  Now it's three down and, I think, six more to go.  The sun came out so it was off to on the U-6 to the U-4 and then a quick bus ride to the base of the Sophien Alp, one of the hills that make up the Wienerwald.  I just love being able to ride the public transport to go hiking.  Jolly civilized.

Not exactly a balmy summer day, but at least the sun was out.  And it was gorgeous.

So it was over the hills and through the woods, another fine four-hour walk.  My favorite folk are the old couples out climbing the hills and tromping the woods.   Folks here do enjoy a good walk.

Well, I had better tend to Marco before he swallows his tongue or something.  I'm wishing the Brethren and Sisteren out there all the best.  Ya'all be well and keep dodging that Downpressor Man.