Day Nineteen
Vienna
26 August 2007 - 22:34

Bucking the recent trend we got out of bed a bit earlier than we had recently; I booked our Venice accommodation and after breakfast we headed for Hlavni Nadrazi train station to catch our train to Vienna.

After trying to first make our reservations for the International trip at the domestic counter, I managed to book our train but was advised that the train leaves from Holesovice station instead.

Rushing to the metro, we used the underground train for the first time in Prague. In fact, bsides the train trips in and out of the country, it was the only time we used public transport at all in Prague. We got off at Holesovice and boarded the train but on the wrong carriage — easily corrected.

These trains manage a measly 160km/h and are extremely uncomfortable. Luckily it was only a four hour trip. I passed the time by catching a short nap, taking some photos and doing some reading.

Finally we arrived at Vienna with another two passport stamps (they were a lot less menacing and more friendly this time around) and as usual got lost. I went into a furniture store and asked for help, the guy spoke no English and I speak no German, but together we figured out that we’d walked too far in one direction.

A little backtracking and we realised that streets in Vienna change name just for the hell of it I guess, and having no map made it tough. I got our “Let’s Go” book out with a basic map and we figured out where we were, so grabbed a metro train (two lines, six stops) and still had more walking. We walked past our hotel but only realised when the street name again changed. Another multi-lingual conversation, this time with a pizzeria guy, and we finally found the place, two hours after setting foot in Vienna. Phew.

Exhausted, we rested for a few moments before heading out to grab some food. We were both surprised at how dirty the place is but glad we’ve seen few beggars thus far in the city. Since it’s a Sunday, Vienna — like Munich — had shut down, we managed to find a place to eat, “Centimeter”, which sells bread by the cm.

We forewent the bread, I had a massive plate of chili and Justine had a spinach pancake. It seemed awful (chili was fine) in which I expect will be a pretty normal trend for a non-meat eater around these parts.

One of most important things a guy can lose is his wallet. Without a wallet, a guy has no money, no access to money, no proof that he exists, and no padding should he get whacked in the back pocket.

It comes as a surprise to me, then, that I keep misplacing my wallet. Whenever I drive, I take my wallet out of my pocket; whenever I sit down at work, I put the wallet on my desk; whenever I sit anywhere else, I usually take out my wallet and put it close by.

But I keep leaving it in the car and leaving it on the desk at work. The other morning I found it wedged in between my car’s seat and the door. I’ve left it at work overnight a number of times; once, in fact, I had to convince a security guard I hadn’t seen before (I know most of them) that I did indeed work in this building and I needed to get into get my ID to prove to him that I worked there.

But I still keep losing it.

After a long wait, the two Stargate series and Battlestar Galactica are returning to the (US) airwaves tonight (well, technically tomorrow afternoon sometime).

I’m not super-excited about these three shows in particular, though I do enjoy them, I’m more excited about the fact that this means I have something new to watch. Of course, there’s heaps of old stuff I’ve not seen yet that I could watch, but really, it’s old! Who wants to see old stuff?

Before we know it, we’ll have Arrested Development back after it’s miraculous recovery, as well as The Simpsons, Lost and a bunch of other shows I can’t be bothered to recite.

Huzzah for mind-numbing television!

Also watched Million Dollar Baby tonight. I’m not totally sure if I enjoyed it as such, but I did watch it all the way to the end. Bit of a spoiler here if you haven’t seen it, but the whole thing ended on a pretty downbeat note. The in-hospital part felt a bit… wrong. Not wrong in the sense of right and wrong, but it felt like it didn’t quite suit the movie to me.

Just a quick reminder for anyone who hasn’t seen it that Lost is premiering on channel Seven tonight at 8:30, and because they have nothing else good to show (and when they do, the air it in stupid timeslots) they will be repeating it sometime in the next week.

So, if you’re not able to access it anywhere else, there you go. I also learned yesterday that Seven also has been airing Arrested Development episodes, though I can’t find when. I believe they’ve been airing it in late night slots, like 11:00 or 11:30 at night. This is a real pity, and quite strange, since the show is aired right after The Simpsons in the US.

It’s Futurama and Family Guy all over again. Seven somehow managed to get two shows which rivaled The Simpsons (in fact, they both beat a lot of the more recent seasons) and what do they do? They show them out of order, in a late time slot, and not even regularly. I remember Futurama would air one week, then not for another three. Great stuff, Seven.

I’ve got to stop talking about TV. Eesh.

No, I didn’t get more money… I lost Justine’s mobile phone (well, I haven’t lost a phone before, which means the title doesn’t really make sense). Greeeeat! I lost it at the Metro Nightclub… Somewhere. Aren’t I in the good books now? Looks like I’m poor again. It was my SIM that was lost, so if you’re reading this, can you e-mail me and send me your contact details.