En route to Vienna

30 May/31 May/1 June 2012

It doesn’t matter how many times I check the stove. It will always be off. I left the house at 5 pm convinced I was forgetting something. Still haven’t figured out what it is, but as they always say, all I need is my passport and debit card and nothing else matters.

I dropped by my sister’s house to check on the cats. The real ones. They are not happy. I’ve offered my sister added incentive to give them extra chin scritches while I’m gone. Well, all that matters is that they’re eating, drinking and pooping and they did all three while I was there. 

So, I made a break for it.

This is the first time I’ve lucked into the direct St. John’s to London flight. At first, I thought, awesome, only five hours to get to Europe. Then I realized that the flight left at 10 pm. Of course, such a short flight means precious little time to sleep, so I’d be getting into London at 3 am according to my schedule and wouldn’t see Vienna until mid-morning. By then, there’s no sleeping or I’d be sleeping on the bus.

It’s a small plane to London – a 319. I asked for my usual seat D when I made the booking. What I didn’t expect to get was a bed.

Of sorts.

Yes, don’t you just love that feeling as the seats fill up around you and no one shows up for the two seats next to you! Executive class for the price of economy. Woohoo!

As we took off, all I could think was that one of the people in the full rows across from me were gonna hop up and grab the empty window seat. The woman in front of me also had an empty row and as soon as the seat belt sign went off, she slid over into her window seat and put her feet up.

Row claimed.

Guess what I did?

Yeah. I got the luck of the draw and I was running with it for all it was worth. One way or another, I was going to sleep on this flight. I piled up the pillows and extra blankets against the window’s arm rest, put my feet up and watched Contagion while the crew served a quick snack. A half bun with mustard and turkey slices.

Processed. Not real. This is airline food, after all.

As soon as I was done, the ear plugs went in and I started to figure a way to get my five feet, four inches into the 5 foot row. Yes. I could actually lay down with the knees slightly bent. I didn’t recline the seats. No sense in making those behind me suffer while I snoozed in the lap of luxury.

All I was missing was the heated face cloth and champagne.

And believe it or not, I slept like a log. I managed about 3 hours. Not bad on a 5 hour flight. When I woke up, they had served breakfast and were working on the tea and coffee. How nice of them not to wake me.

Or maybe they tried.

Earplugs. Highly recommend them.

The attendant said good morning and offered me breakfast – eggs or pancakes. Knowing that the chances of them having molasses for my pancakes was next to nil, I went with the eggs. Not bad. An omelet with potato and sausage bits. And lots of water. The plane was quite warm.

As I ate, I finished off watching Contagion. I should note, watching that as I land in one of the world’s largest airport is like watching a season of Mayday before boarding a flight.

I stayed in the window seat and hauled out my camera and was not disappointed. The early morning haze obscured the scenery a little, but there was no mistaking the Thames, the Tower Bridge, the London Eye and Canary Wharf as we came in over London. I haven’t been to downtown London in over 20 years. Talk about a walk – or rather flight – down memory lane.

This is my second time going through Heathrow in a couple of years. I am as impressed now as I was in 2009. Granted, I’ve been through Frankfurt several times, so you know what I’m comparing it to. At least Heathrow doesn’t send you down into pipe-lined tunnels that have you convinced you’ve taken a wrong turn and that you now expect to run into some maintenance man who looks like he hasn’t seen the sun in a decade.

Nope. Heathrow is bright, sunny and has “Connecting Flights” clearly marked with staff ready to intercept you from going into the wrong lines, like the line for new immigrants into Britain.

Now you know why I made sure I had a 4 hour layover.

I managed to make it to Terminal 1 without getting adopted by the UK. The security line went quickly then I had to find the British Airways desk as I didn’t get a boarding pass in St. John’s for my Vienna flight. I got rejected by every BMI attendant who kept pointing to the lone woman at the end of the desk. Five attendants for BMI. One for BA. Is there something wrong with that picture?

As I waited, another man off my flight got added to my lonely line after being rejected by BMI. He was on his way to Stavanger in Norway (Okay, living in St. John’s, Stavanger means only one thing to me – it’s where Costco and Walmart are). He had only a half hour to his flight so I let him go ahead. I was down to 3 hours myself, so I was in no rush. They ended up getting him on another flight then spent 15 minutes tracking down his luggage.

Yup. Four hour layover. Highly recommend it.

The nice gentleman took off running to catch his flight and I got my boarding pass. She found my luggage apparently – she didn’t say she didn’t find it, so I’m assuming it was sitting next to a BA plane somewhere – and she issued me the boarding pass. I took a window seat for a change.

So, I take the boarding pass and step into the waiting area. Or should I say, shopping mall.

Gotta love Heathrow.

I checked out the shops, hoping to find something nice for the Olympics but there’s precious little. Not even a fridge magnet to be had. Though I did find a nice travel wallet. It’s a thin nylon with the sections inside like the wallet Trafalgar gives us, but has none of the weight or thickness.

I picked up a Coke too. They didn’t have caffeine available in an IV solution. Nor do they have free internet.

Heathrow. Dude! It’s 2012!!

And you’re hosting the Olympics. And you don’t have free internet in Heathrow???

Dude!

There are terminals where you can serf for 10 minutes for one pound, but I don’t have a pound on me. Well, actually, I do have 20 to spare, but I don’t think they’ll take that. Would be messy.

Heh.

So, I haul out the netbook anyway to type this up and realize one thing I did forget.

No. It wasn’t the stove. That is most assuredly off.

I forgot a plug adapter for the UK. I had brought the twin pin one for Europe but completely forgot that the UK is different. I even have one. At home. But as it turns out, without any free internet to burn up my battery (not pointing any elbows), I have several hours of battery to spare.

And only an hour until my gate opens. I go looking for food, but my stomach isn’t awake. I’m not supposed to be awake for another hour. My gate opened at 10 am, so I followed some bright tunnels to the gate 5 area and there’s a BMI plane waiting at my gate.

Darn. I was hoping to actually fly on a real British Airways plane finally.

Next time.

It was another A319 and I claimed my window seat. Didn’t luck out with the row to myself, but did get an empty middle seat, so all the elbow room I wanted. No video on the flight, so I haul out my smart phone and start watching Once Upon a Time. I’m told it’s pretty good, so I have the whole season on the phone.

I make it through one episode before the lack of sleep catches up, so I snooze for about 40 minutes. I got a tea and a cookie. Just enough to wake up the tummy. The flight into Vienna is a pretty one – over a lake and what might be the Vienna woods. Not sure. Last time I saw them, they were hiding behind a wall of fog.

And no fog today. The sun is peeking out between some thunderheads though it looks heavier to the west. 

Think we’re in for some rain.

We land and park in the middle of nowhere. Well, what do you know? BMI passengers get bused to the terminal. I wonder if BA passengers do. Hmmm.

Nice part about that is that by the time you find the baggage area, the bags should be coming out.

I passed through passport control first. Okay. Now when I say I passed through. I really did. The officer took my passport, looked at my picture and just handed the passport back to me.

Yeah. You know what they say about looking like your passport picture. It happens when you’ve only had 3 hours sleep.

I take my passport and make a run for it. Just as I arrive at the baggage carrousel, the bags start rolling. I don’t have to wait long to see my dreadfully thin 25 lb rolling duffel. I take it and roll out into the arrivals area and right in front of me is a nice big sign for taxis.

I decided not to pay for the transfer. The only time I’ve had to pay for a transfer was at European cities - usually because I’m arriving a day early. If I arrived on the usual arrival day, there was three transfer times for free. I was offered a transfer for $58 but turned it down as I’ve found it cheaper to take a cab – which I don’t have a problem with in most large European cities. (I’ll research it a bit and it’s easy to find information online about how the taxis work in a particular city). My research said that Vienna taxis are generally beige coloured cars and must have the meters going. Airports tend to be no problem for taxis in Europe too. In the cities I’ve taken them from so far, the taxis were controlled.

I walked out the front door and a driver pulled up to me and I told him I was going to the Hilton Danube. He tossed my bag in the back and off we went, meter on and all.

It took about 20 minutes to get to the Hilton – the same hotel I had stayed at in 2009 on the Bohemian Highlights. The taxi cost 35 Euro which turned out to be about $15 cheaper than the transfer. The driver offered to drive me back to the airport, but I said he’d have to show up in Zagreb in two weeks.

He wasn’t up for that. Heh.

Nice guy.

The hotel hasn’t changed in the 3 years, which is fine. I liked it in 2009 – with the nice riverside walkway and all. Tried to walk it in 2009 but it started to pour much too heavy for a walk.

I checked in and the front desk wanted my pre-day voucher. No problem. I ask her for a map to the mall and to the amusement park for tomorrow. And internet. Yup. Still up there in price. Seventeen Euro for unlimited 24 hour. I can also get 1 hour over a 24 hour period for 10 Euro. I’ll probably do the first one for my first day and the 1 hour for the day the tour starts.

I get room 443 and I am convinced it’s the same room I had before. Same layout. Same view. Maybe I should check for the bubble gum I left under the night table.

Heh.

It’s a large, spacious room with a double bed, a couch, desk, flat screen (only news channels in English), bar, kettle with stuff, iron and board, safe, shampoo and stuff…and even a face cloth. Two actually.

I log on to the internet and check stuff then go for a walk back to the mall I remember from 2009. The Stadion (I believe it’s called) is right next to the subway station. It has places to eat and a supermarket and electronics shop plus the usual mall shops. Just as I did in 2009, I picked up a croissant sandwich and bananas with a Coke. This time, I threw in an apple strudel.

Word of warning. Bring your own bag. The moment I got to the checkout, I remembered the girl trying not to give me a bag. This time I remembered to ask for it before she finished checking me in. It was more like the bags you use to put your fruit in – you know those thin, really fragile things.

I bet you think you know where this is going.

Yup. I expected to be picking apple strudel and bananas off the ground at some point, too.

But alas, the bag stayed in one piece all the way back to the hotel.

I feasted, swiped the crumbs off the bed and had a really nice hot shower.

Another word of warning. Always check to make sure the shower head isn’t taking aim at your head when you switch the water over to the shower.

Yeah. That woke me up.

Nicely refreshed, I did a laundry. One pair jeans, long sleeved t-shirt and the unmentionables. Took about 20 minutes total. Then I converted my knapsack from airline mode to bus mode. I plan on checking out the Prater amusement park tomorrow. It’s within walking distance and hopefully I can kill four or five hours.

I’m just about ready to put my head down for the night when there’s a knock at the door.

You guessed it. The cats have caught up with me. 

(Word of note to those not familiar with my previous tales, I have two cats and only two cats, but when I went to China, a creative minded Australian decided to write up a tale of my two cats while I was away. Only problem was by the time I got home, there were 315 cats and a sweatshop set up in my basement. Yes, completely fictional, but those 315 cats have been following me around since then. I almost got away on this tour without them, but they got my credit card, got online and chartered an A380).

They’re looking awfully rested and well groomed.

Of course, when you charter an A380 with a spa on one level, what do you expect?

And guess who helped them charter the A380?

They’re sleeping on the couch tonight.

<insert 12 hours of elevator music>

 

Twelve hours passes quick. I managed to stay awake till almost 10 pm last night and woke just before 10. Didn’t bother with breakfast. I had a banana I had bought at Stadion yesterday and that hit the spot. Not bad considering my stomach thought it was 5:30 am.

There was an envelope under my door from Gasper, the TD.

No, he’s not a ghost. That Casper.

Though I bet everyone calls him that instead.

Our welcome is at 5 pm when we’ll take an orientation tour of the city and then have dinner at a restaurant called Donauturm. Awesome.

I opened up the curtains to a cloudy morning with blue spots everywhere. The rain that was forecast has not materialized! Awesome Part Two.

I roused the cats and made my way downstairs to check out the TT board. There were three sheets up. One for the Highlights of Eastern Europe, one for the Sound of Music tour and one for our tour. Tomorrow has the city tour in the morning with the optional to Bratislava in the afternoon. I hope that goes ahead. Then we have the Vienna Concert in the evening.

That will be a first for me. Or rather, a second. I did the Vienna Concert on the Bohemian Highlights and really enjoyed it. I’d love to see it again.

Another woman was reading the board and turns out she’s doing the tour too. A couple from Australia. We chatted for a sec and then I said I was off to the Prater Park. Don’t think she noticed the 315 cats following me out the door.

And you want to see something funny…watch 315 cats with long tails try to make it through one of those rotating doors. You’ve never heard so many “me-oooooows.”

The porter ended up holding the door open for them. You don’t wanna know what I had to tip him for that.

The Park is quite the walk. It’s not as close as the map likes to insinuate. I realized after that I could have taken the subway right next to the Stadion Centre and the park is 3 stops down the line.

Yeah, that’ll give you an idea as to how far away it is.

Granted. It’s a beautiful walk. Once I get by the Stadion Centre, I turn right down a road that in the middle of a huge treed green area with wide sidewalk and the road was obviously not meant for cars. Don’t think a single one passed me. 

Gorgeous area. Part of the park is a forest with dog trails going through it.

And race horses.

The type that pull the jockey in the trailer thing behind. The word escapes me now.

And the horses escaped the cats.

Guess that makes them really good race horses.

Took me close to 45 minutes to walk the full way. You can enter the park before you get to the end of the road, but I wanted a picture of the main entrance, so I went alllllll the way down.

My feet are now telling me that they miss the wool socks they wore all winter. The cotton ones are not doing the same job.

Did I mention that I have blister band-aids packed? Yes. I do.

I get my picture of the entrance...

 and the cat’s scatter to check out the bumper cars (and you think the door squat a lot of tales??!!), the ferries wheels, the roller coasters and concessions stands. They really enjoyed the one where you burst the balloons.

With the sun beaming through big breaks in the clouds, I made a break for the big ferris wheel. It’s the one that has cars about half the size of a train caboose and takes about 20 minutes or so to do a full rotation. 

Great views. Only nine Euro to get on.

I finished that then crossed the courtyard to Madame Tussauds’ Wax Museum. Almost 19 Euro but worth it if you’ve never been in a Tussauds. The funny part is that I was expecting one to come alive at some point.

Wouldn’t that be a hoot! Taking a picture of Richard Nixon and then he turns and holds out his hand.

That would be a heart attack waiting to happen.

Then I was tempted to play wax figure myself and wait until someone took a pic then just walk away as they wonder who I was.

Wouldn’t that be funny? Just like the time we all took pics of our TD and driver who posed for us in the Grand Canyon lodge and all the other tourists came over and started taking pictures then asked “who are they?”

LOL.

I got shots of Michael Jackson, Albert Einstein, Lady Gaga, Brad Pitt, Barack Obama, Queen Elizabeth and more.

Outside, I started walking the park. It’s quiet in the morning and the threatening rain probably isn’t helping. 

Most stuff is open or just opening. There are plenty of places to eat, some gift shops and the rides. A great way to blow a few hours. The second ferris wheel was turning, so I took a ride on that as well. It’s not as high as the other one but is a full speed type. I got three rotations for 3.50 Euro.

By 1:30, my feet were saying “take a taxi.”

My wallet said “walk.”

So, I walked. It must be a full two kilometres. I met up with the cats near the dog trails. I didn’t ask what they were doing there.

Back at the hotel, I walked in on my cleaning lady and waited for her to finish vacuuming up the cat hair.

I got on the computer with a half hour left to the internet, so I did what I needed to do until the time ran out, then I signed up for another 24 hours at 17 Euro.

I don’t mind so much as I know most of the hotels after this one have free wifi. This one is quite expensive compared to most hotels…except the Prague Hilton.

Do I see a Hilton pattern here? Granted, it was far worse there. Sixteen Euro got you 30 minutes.

I got ready for the welcome meeting and locked the cats in the room when I left. No sense inflicting them on 25 unsuspecting tourists. Some of the others haven’t arrived yet as there were not a full 25 there. Gasper, our TD, gave us the rundown and showed us on a map where we’d be going. He said this is a Leisure Tour and apparently that means the mornings start later, more free time overall and more multi-night stays. Our wake-up call for the next two mornings is at 7 with 8:30 departures.

I can handle that.

Then he told us that people can’t always pronounce his name and to pretend he was a ghost.

Called it, didn’t I?

The group is made up primarily of Australians – about half with a half dozen Americans, a couple of Canadians, New Zealanders as well as a couple from Singapore. There are 2 or 3 other solos. Not sure yet. I like to keep my distance at first so that I don’t become nursemaid to another solo.

After his short talk, Gasper took us out to the near-brand new Trafalgar bus. My first thought was – is there wifi? No idea yet but he didn’t mention it.

But we did get a safety video about coach and overall safety. Things like don’t disturb the driver, hold on to the seats or overhead when you walk, use the bathroom only for emergencies etc.

That was a first for me. At least by video.

Gasper went on to say that the bus will never leave early, but that if we were 5 minutes late, we’d have to dance for everyone. And that if we were 10 minutes late, we’d have to dance and sing for everyone.

And if we were 15 minutes late, we’d be singing and dancing in an empty parking lot.

Then he gave us the time off his watch.

Every head in the bus was looking down at their own watches.

Yup. Some got reset. Being on Eastern Standard Time could mean you’re dancing and singing for the hotel staff in the morning.

So, off we went for our orientation tour of Vienna – in Friday evening traffic. We essentially made a circle of central Vienna then headed for the Donauturm – the revolving restaurant at the top of the tower. I’ve visited a number of towers on tour. This is the first time I get to eat in one.

Cool.

We get to the top and we have 3 eight-seat tables. Somehow, we ended up with one chair left and one couple left out.

Remember playing musical chairs when you were a kid? Yeah. It was like that.

The staff took pity on them and found them a place to eat. Dinner was schnitzel, potatoes and the torte cake for dessert. I love schnitzel. The torte was good too. One gentleman didn’t realize the schnitzel was pork and had to go for the vegetarian option.

At least we were sure it was pork.

We took pictures and ate while we slowly rotated. I sat with the Canadians, New Zealanders and Americans (who are originally from Korea and India). The meal came with two drinks and the wine was quite popular.

Good thing they weren’t driving.

By 8:30, we were stuffed and most were plastered. As we made our way down to the bus, a well-endowed German woman wearing far too much make-up and short shorts and a tight green leather jacket (green that matched her fingernail polish) was in a panic because she lost (of all things) her make-up bag. She was chasing around our TD, the other TT’s TD and the staff while we all waited to go down in the elevator. She took it down with us, trying to locate this bag which apparently was handed between TDs and when we got back on the bus, our TD held it up and asked who owned it. We all said who it was (he thought it was one of us but we all said she was a German woman).

One man said she had a green jacket but he said he didn’t know she was wearing make-up. We all looked at him and asked how he could miss the inch thick layer of make-up on her face.

To which he replied that he wasn’t looking at her face.

At all.

I thought his wife was going to clobber him. LOL

Back at the hotel, Gasper took our names for the Bratislava optional and the concert. Only a dozen are going to the concert. Most are going to Bratislava. And the weather looks to cooperate.

The cats are going to stay in Vienna.

Something about those dog trails that they want to go back and experience.

Don’t ask.