Going Missing

I have been back in the nest since Wednesday evening. By and large, it is WONDERFUL. I had high hopes for some good food, and I certainly have not been let down by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, Dad has just put one of his homemade pizzas in the oven and Mum is slaving away on some homemade coleslaw. Good job too, because I am wasting away. Ha. While I am glad to be here, there are things that I miss, and more things that I will start to miss the more time I spend here. Here are a few of them:
- Cafe Central. I doubt I will ever find cake that amazing ever again.
- The sun. For the past month, temperatures have not gone below 20 degrees. Today it is about 10 degrees and absolutely chucking it down. Not cool.
- Decent public transport. For the meantime being I have got access to the car but when that changes in a couple of weeks. When that time comes I think I will sob every time I have to get on a smelly bus and pay over the odds for the privilege.
- 3€ opera. Although I have seen an advertisement for £1 Hamlet in September.
- Austrian beer. Dad's homebrew is good, but it's no Stiegl. Sorry Father.
- Living in a flat of my own. I don't want to jinx things, but so far there have been no major arguments. However, I am already missing the independence of living on my own.
- Money. Although I did not like my job (don't know whether I mentioned that?!), it was very well paid and I was financially quite well off. Now I have no job and nothing on the horizon so I think in terms of money, the best I have to look forward to in terms of money are fortnightly trips to the Job Centre. Oh joy.
- Falafel. And actually the Naschmarkt in general.
- Nice architecture. In the countryside here the scenery nice. Rotherham is sadly rather lacking in Jugendstil and/or Imperial resplendence. What am I going to photograph?!
I guess there are others that are not springing immediately to mind, and maybe other things that will only come to light once I've been back a while. But I'll put all that on hold because in 3 days I am going to JAPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!

When The Parents came to stay... part 2.

So... after an uneventful train journey we arrived in Vienna and headed off in search of the Parents' holiday apartment. It was about two seconds from Pilgramgasse U Bahn station so a very good location. After a brief stop to drop luggage we went to the Museums Quartier:

 What better way to start a trip to Vienna than with a nice cold beer in the sun? It was laaaahvely. We also managed to fit in some pizza and the first delicious ice cream of the week. I think it's fair to say that the Parents were suitably impressed with the first day of their Viennese jaunt.
I had to work a couple of hours at the beginning of the week, so on Monday I sent Mr and Mrs Blackbird to the Prater for a spin on the Riesenrad. I could think of no better place to go for lunch than the Naschmarkt so we had some delicious falafel from my favourite man. This is a photo I have been meaning to take since the stalls stopped selling scarves and started selling sunglasses:

 Actually, that reminds me of an excellent joke- what's pink and fuzzy and wears sunglasses? A peach on a beach. The Route March continued. This poor Merman is getting tired of holding up the whole fountain. Life in Vienna is never easy, that's for sure!

 Many, many photographs were taken, and it was exhausting so we thought we'd better go for a sit down in the Burggarten. I was told not to put up any incriminating photos, hope this one does not cause any offence.

 One of the (many) lovely things about my final set of visitors was that I had one last chance to do all the touristy things. I also did something new... I saw the Minoritenkirche. It looks a bit concretey I thought, but it is clearly very old and inside is quite nice.

 The best thing about it though is that once you see it, you know you're only a few steps away from the absolute number one best thing ever in Vienna... CAFE CENTRAL! The Parents were huuuuuge fans and spent a long time deliberating about which cake to have:

 Everyone was pleased with their choice. They are so delicious, I can almost taste it now in fact!

 This is the Hofburg reflected in the window of Valentino. The dresses there are always so nice. One day I will be Rich and Successful and able to afford nice things.

 The Viennese seem to be excellent at timing their restoration works very poorly. What better time to take things away and cover things in scaffolding than in the summer when there are millions of tourists coming to see the city? Mr Strauss has been gone since April, but luckily they have replaced him with a temporary version. Sadly it is a little small:

 Only joking! There is a full size plastic version, perfect for posing Parents!

On Tuesday I had to work again, but after a lunch of noodles (and some rather shocking chopstick technique!) we were off on another Route March. Actually, that is not strictly true. We were invited for coffee on Brigitte's roof terrace. There was time for a quick stop in the Volksgarten though to ooh and aah at the beautiful roses.

Brigitte's roof terrace is AMAZING. You could see pretty much the whole city. Must get a good job and become rich in order to achieve a nice lifestyle with a Perfect Flat. After this and a picnic tea, I went to evening school for the last time ever. It felt fabulous to be finished, so we went for a celebratory beer.
The next day it was a bit rainy, but that didn't stop the keen explorers. We paid a visit to the Karlskirche (another first for me!)

 It was really rather fancy and Baroquey (possibly) inside. I was overjoyed to see a tribute to my second favourite Catholic!

 There is a lift up into the dome of the church so you can see the paintings. It was really impressive.

 I am not sure if this is blasphemous, sorry if it is, but LOOK, NO HANDS!

 It brightened up a bit so we went to see the Postsparkasse, because I thought it was only right that I included some Jugendstil in the tour!

 There are lots of different, not always pleasant, sensory experiences in Vienna. There seems to be a disproportionate number of Smelly/Dirty People. Sometimes there are Funny Characters too.

 This season, black is the new black!
After a piece of pizza for Dad and I, and a very messy falafel for Mother, we went to the Rathaus, where much silliness occurred.

 Some of you may be aware of this song:

Everyone knows that kebabs make you more beautiful. Or maybe...

 ...they make you more stupid. I think I know what Mr Boring would day! I think this next photograph has appeared in pretty much every guide book written about Vienna EVER.

 This one, not so much. There is some weird stuff in Vienna. This had something to do with human rights.

 Father is something of a beer connoisseur , so I took him to Siebenstern. They brew all their own beer on premises and have lots of different ones. My favourite is the smoky beer, and the chilli beer inspired Father to create his own. My tastebuds are positively tingling with anticipation!

 Mrs Blackbird had a rest back at the apartment so Father and I went to Karlsplatz and took almost identical photos, before going to the Naschmarkt to pick up a picnic tea.

 Against our better judgement, we wandered by the Oper to see the ballet which was being shown on the big screen. It was an homage to Jerome Robbins, whoever he is when he's at home, and I have discovered that I am not a fan of Philip Glass music unless it is a film soundtrack.

 The only funny thing was the two children dancing along. They reminded me of a brother and sister combination that I know rather well actually...
The Thursday was a Feiertag for something Catholic, and was thus a very bad day to try and go up Stephansdom.

 So instead we had to go and take some more photos. I took about 900 over the course of the week. Mrs Blackbird took more like 9000 by my reckoning!

 Dad made a rather shrewd observation which tied in nicely with one of mine from a few months ago- the Austrians are OBSESSED with dogs, particularly those of the impractically small variety!

 I have had no need for my Mountain Delights during my year of city life, though I do still think about them on a regular basis.

 After all our walking, we deserved a trip to a cafe. This time it was Demel. I will miss the smell of the Sachertorte as you walk past the kitchen.

 I will miss the beautiful icing creations in the shop and in the window.

 I will also miss the delicious cake, which I sadly neglected to photograph. Somehow I don't think this post will be short on photos though!

 Vienna is the city of music. On rollerskates, apparently.
Ever since my first day at work when I saw it from the tram, I have been meaning to photograph the Russian church near Rennweg. Finally I got round to it.

 At the Polish church opposite the Belvedere there is a statue of my all time, number one favourite Catholic ever!

 Who would have thought my two favourites would appear in the same blog post? Speaking of favourites, I took Mother to Cafe Schwarzenberg. This is my favourite cafe to go to just for coffee and not cake.

 We were very excited for the Sommernachtskonzert at Schoenbrunn (sorry, no more umlauts now I'm not using a German keyboard!). It was a bit sad that Daddy wasn't feeling well enough to come...

 But then I got a phonecall saying he had arrived and was looking for us! So all's well that ends well!

 It was brilliant, a real highlight of the trip. The atmosphere was fabulous and the music excellent. I can take no credit for the next photo, it was taken by someone much taller, and with a much steadier hand. Can't think who it might have been.

 Ding ding round two, we finally made it up Stephansdom. It was worth the wait.

 The view from the Kahlenberg was excellent, as was the mountain picnic, but what impressed me the most was the array of postcards on sale in the souvenir shop.

 My lucky Parents were treated to a glimpse into almost all aspects of Vienna life. Well, the good ones anyway. We went to a Heuriger in Grinzing where it rained very heavily but luckily we were under a roof enjoying our wine and Almdudler (not mixed together, that would just be wrong!)

 The service at Zanoni und Zanoni is furchtbar, but the Eis is pretty good:

 Saturday was sadly the last day but there was a Blaskapelle festival which meant lots of brass bands across the city. We only saw one on Stephansplatz but it was a good start to the day.

 Nobody can come to Vienna without going to Aida. I will miss the pink uniforms and brown tights. And the cake and coffee.

 Schoenbrunn by day was lovely and it was really hot.

 The ongoing joke of the week was this:

 We encountered the Bikers of Christ. Yes, for real.

And then it was time to say so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, adieu to the beloved Parents. I was sad to wave them off at the bus station but also excited because it meant only a couple more days before my return to Engerland!
Sorry for this colossal post, but now it is out of the way. I am am back in the nest and it is ever so lovely. There will probably not be many more posts after this one. Sniff sniff. Perhaps I will do a "best of Vienna" type review. That will be pretty short hahahaha. TTFN, dears!

When The Parents came to stay... part 1.

After a considerable delay, I am finally finishing off the posts about the Parental Visit. Sorry it has been so long coming, Windows 2000 is not conducive to anything productive. But now I am back in a house with real, live wireless internet (!!! only about 10 years after the rest of the world!!!) I can get back on top of things. Half of this post was written last week, half I will have to do now, so apologies for any inconsistencies/mistakes.

Hello hello! This week I have been even more absent from Cyberspace than normal, and I shall tell you forwhy- Mother and Father have been on the continent and I saw it as my duty and GREAT PLEASURE to entertai them and act as their tour guide. It was a week of epic proportions, so I have decided to split this post in two.

On Saturday last week (when it was still May) I met the beloved Parents at Bratislava airport quite late in the evening. We eventually managed to find our hotel:

It was... retro. In fact I don't think anything has changed since the fall of the Wall, probably long before that. But for the price, it was pretty good. A real Communist Experience. After a quick drink and many, many biscuits we took a quick photo out the window (see below) and went to sleep.

 The next morning we were all up bright and VERY early. After a very delicious breakfast, consisting mainly of bread, eggs and cake (my favourite things) we headed out for some sightseeing in the Slovakian capital.

First stop was my favourite metal paparazzo. He is quite a character, loved by all. He was closely followed by another metal man and another paparazzo.

Even though it is on a much smaller scale, it was nice to see that Jugendstil exists in Slovakia and is a nice break from the Communist Plattenbau buildings which seem to dominate. I don't know whether I have mentioned it, but I really love Jugendstil.

I am ashamed to say that I do not know who this man is. I mean, the one on the right is obviously Napoleon or Admiral Nelson or someone like that, but as for the other I haven't the foggiest.

Another of my passions developed over the course of this year is doors. Big doors, little doors, plain doors, fancy doors, I just really like them. Which is why I take so many photos of them.

I bet you didn't know that Einstein was actually a small black child. The Slovakians are very forward thinking and clearly all about Equal Opportunities.

Having said this, they are a bit... eccentric maybe. At what point does it become a good idea to advertise the pharmaceutical museum with a lobster?!

One of my last posts was all about street art. Here is a teeny tiny bit more. Sorry to be boring.

On all my previous trips to Bratislava I haven't actually been up to the castle for a proper look round because it has either been too cold or the castle has been closed for renovation. It was well worth a look around though, plus the toilets were free which is always a bonus.

This girl was looking ever so sad, not sure why though. She was the star of many a photo taken by the Coates Clan.

I think the citizens of Bratislava are very proud of their nationality. There are flags EVERYWHERE.

It is a long running joke in the family that if someone is taking a picture, Mrs Blackbird will invariably be in it. More often than not she is taking a photo of the same thing. I was glad to say that even after many months of separation, she has not changed.

Of course it was very nice to see the Parents again, but one thing was a bit sad about the week. Mr Boring was unfortunately unable to join us. Luckily there were plenty of fountains so he was never far away from our thoughts.

It wouldn't be a trip to Bratislava without going to see the Blue Church. I do love it, but alas, it is not reason enough to fly over 1000 miles, so I doubt I'll be seeing it again for a long time.

We had a nice drink at a swanky riverside cafe and then went to Tesco for a lovely picnic in the "picturesque" square by the hotel. I know it is probably politically incorrect to say the P word (peasant) but there are quite a lot in Bratislava.
So after our brief Communist sojourn we boarded the train and set off on our way to Wienna. I think I will save that for another post though and I warn you now- it is going to be a BEAST!