Hostage in Austria

[dgs49]

I recently received an email with an invitation to a "meeting" in Austria, and including a schedule for a week of activities. I made my plans accordingly. What I failed to note was the last line, which said, "On Friday we will finalize the schedule for Week #2." Sometimes reading 90% of something is insufficient.

So after having my wife FedEx me another week of meds, I've made the best of it. But with essentially no television (nothing in English), no car, no bike, and only a couple of books to read, my spare time has become a burden. I took a train to Vienna on Saturday, trekked around for many hours, took a short bus tour (recorded descriptions in English), and satisfied that itch (for this lifetime). My feet are killing me.

There is a lot of prosperity hereabouts (I'm in Linz, home city of the company we are meeting with). The main drag is 20-30 blocks long and there's nary a single open storefront - other than the ones that are being renovated for the next tenant). It is a shopping nirvanna. They do bakeries very well here, but I can merely tolerate the food. There is no such thing as a "salad," and no green vegetables. Potatoes are there, but not well prepared. They have a lot of "mystery meat" here, but it doesn't seem to kill them.

"Bicycle friendly" doesn't even begin to describe it. Most main streets have dedicated bike lanes on the sidewalks, and people respect them. I imagine they have pretty serious winters here, but weather permitting, you can go anywhere on a bike, in relative safety.

Vienna is a living, breathing architectural museum. On a sunny day, it is one of the most pleasant places I have ever experienced.

Mass transit is one of the many things they do well in Austria. Buses are clean and on time. You could set your watch by the subway trains. Bus stops tell you which bus is coming and when it will arrive. Everything is on the honor" system. You buy your ticket and keep it with you. I have not seen any "transit police" (or whatever they would be) on a dozen or so trips so far.

Many things are what I consider to be grossly overpriced - I'm glad to be on an expense account, although I can't charge the trip to Vienna.

Worst is 4 Euros for a fucking half-liter bottle of water. It drives me crazy, even though I'm not paying for it. If the tap water were contaminated I might be able to see paying for water, but the tap water here is fine and dandy. The other thing (at least here in Austria) is taht they al drink carbonated water, which I think tastes like shit. You can get water without "gas," but they look at you like you are a pervert when you ask for it.

I had lunch yesterday in an "Australian" pub in Vienna. 15 euro for a hamburger & fries. It was good, but it was too much to eat, and too much to pay. With water & tip, it came out to about thirty bucks - real money.

I don't know how they do it, but they do it well. If I had guaranteed access to McDonald's, I could live here. The local unemployment rate is about 3%.

[Lord Jim]

(I'm in Linz, home city of the company we are meeting with).

Home city of someone else I can think of.... *








*Beat ya to it Dale

[Joe Guy]

Charles Manson.....?......




I know it's Adolf

[Lord Jim]

[Lord Jim]

The main drag is 20-30 blocks long and there's nary a single open storefront - other than the ones that are being renovated for the next tenant)

Well it may not look like much now Dave, but there was an aspiring architect a few years back who had big plans for the place:



Unfortunately, the funding ran out before the project could be completed...



If you get really bored, I understand the local cemetery is a tourist attraction:

[dales]

I had lunch yesterday in an "Australian" pub in Vienna. 15 euro for a hamburger & fries. It was good, but it was too much to eat, and too much to pay. With water & tip, it came out to about thirty bucks - real money.

'Roo meat ain't cheap, there is a huge duty in Austria on anything Australian becuase Americans get the two places confused all the time.

[Lord Jim]

I had lunch yesterday in an "Australian" pub in Vienna. 15 euro for a hamburger & fries. It was good, but it was too much to eat, and too much to pay. With water & tip, it came out to about thirty bucks - real money.

Okay, I just did a little on line exchange thing...

At the current rate 15 Euros equals about $19.44 in real money....

That must have been some really great water....

[dales]

At one time it was 4 DM = $1 as I recall it was a similar exchange rate for the Austrian Schilling. Of course, that is when we really had a country (1965-66) and Europe was shaking off the last of the post war wreckage.

With the dollar so weak, it's a wonder that it will even purchase that much in regards to the Euro.

[Lord Jim]

With the dollar so weak, it's a wonder that it will even purchase that much in regards to the Euro.

To me it's surprising that the Euro remains so strong with players like Greece, Portugal, Italy and Ireland in the mix...any one of whom could bring the Euro down like a house of cards...At 1.30 to the dollar, I think the Euro is significantly over valued....

The only way I'd invest in Euros is if my money was held in a German bank....

The US projected GDP growth for 2013 is a fairly anemic 1.9%, but the projected GDP growth rate for the EU is negative .1% http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/ta ... e=tec00115

Joblessness in the 17-nation currency area rose to 12.2 percent in April, EU statistics office Eurostat said on Friday, marking a new record since the data series began in 1995.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/ ... DJ20130531

The US unemployment rate is 7.6%....

Say what you want about how crappy the US economy is, (And I certainly wouldn't deny that it's crappy) by any yardstick one would care to use, the US economy is stronger than that of the aggregate for the Euro Zone countries. This is indisputable; our economy may be crappy, but theirs is even crappier...

It looks to me like the Euro is being held at an artificially high level; it should probably be worth no more than 85-90 cents on the dollar.

[dales]

I dunno.....we have a sh-tload of debt and our printing presses have been cranking out greenbacks like there's no tomorrow (which might in fact be the case).

The Bilderbergs just had a big shindig somewhere in England, maybe they know?

[Gob]

Nice trip report Dave, Vienna is lovely.

You should have tried to do some walking in the Austrian Alps.

[dales]

Vienna is on the other side of Austria, Gob.

Next to Germany

[Gob]

Sorry I phrased that badly, didn't I?

Nice trip report Dave, glad you enjoyed Vienna, it is a lovely city.

You should have also tried to do some walking in the Austrian Alps, if your time in Austria allowed you to.

Fixed.

[dales]

I've been to Hitler's Eagles Nest, Dave.....you would have LOVED it!

[oldr_n_wsr]

I've been to Hitler's Eagles Nest, Dave.....you would have LOVED it!

I've been there too. Vienna was nice. So was Salsberg. Never forget going to some Austrian mountain and all the women were sunbathing without tops on. A 16yo's dream come true. Good thing I had sunglasses on but they probably did notice my tongue hanging out.

[dales]

Garmisch?

[oldr_n_wsr]

Yes!!! the Zugspitz. Isn't that berg half Austrain half German?
We toured all over Germany, a lot of Austria, some Switzerland and an hour in France.

[dales]

We spent about a month and a half in Germany/Austria/Switzerland. We ran into a few cranks in Germany (who were prolly angry cuz they got the shit kicked out of them just 20 years before). The people in Austria and Switzerland were quite friendly. My mom could speak fractured German and my father Algerian-tinged French which was mocked in Paris (those assholes!). We were in France for about 2 weeks but did not see the June 6th land zones. Why? I dunno, I really don't. We spent most of the time in Paris and near Mt. Blanc.

It was good to get back to England after the continent though.

Just recalling this makes me long for those care-free childhood days during the summers of 1965 and 1966.

We saw so much of Europe, but it was good to get back to the USA (we landed in Chicago from London) and pigged out on American food. Recall there WAS NO MICKEY DEES OR ANY FAST FOOD IN EUROPE AT THE TIME.
We were so happy to be home!

[oldr_n_wsr]

I was there for most of the summer of 1975. Actually I had just turned 17yo that June. My grandparents took me and my cousin. She drove, I navagated and Grandma and grandpa slept in the back seats. I had a great time. My cousin was a grouch most of the time. Only the last week or so did she start having a good time. I hit the ground running (so to speak) the second I got off the plane.

[dgs49]

Favorite son, perhaps Hermann Goehring. Founded voestalpine, the biggest employer in town.

For the record, the $15 Euro hamburger, a 4 euro bottle of coke, a couple euros for a bit of cake and a tip, and it's $30 for lunch. American Express don't lie.