End of the season.

Note:  I started this yesterday (Sunday) but basically went from being barely motivated to not giving a crap.   Plus,  the picture I was trying to upload was taking forever,  so I packed it in...


 ..../...



That is,  if "Visitor Season"  is some sort of season.  Can't blame anyone for not really wanting to hang around here in the next little while,  since if the weather is anything like last year,  it'll be rainy,  cool  and pretty much crappy.  Today's weather is pretty indicative.  (same as today...Monday)

 Our last evening together was at Figlmüller  which was a request from one of our visitors,  since I'm pretty sure we might never have ended up there on our own.  Had to make reservations over a week ago,  since this place is mobbed most every night.  Not only that,   but it's not a very big place,  so there was also a line up outside the door when we got there.   When they say they have the biggest Schnitzel,  they're not kidding.

Take a look.

And yes,  that's pretty much a normal sized plate.

I had nothing but Schnitzel,  since I had a suspicion that it would be a challenge to consume the whole thing.   Having skipped lunch,  I was able to manage.  Barely.


Now,  I had this bright idea that,  for fun, we'd take the car and park in the Matchbox Garage   style underground parking at Stephansdom.   Little did I know that access to the ring was blocked,  so it took some quick navigation to get all the way around to the other side of the Donaukanal and come in to the First District from the other side.  Good thing I've been lost down there enough times that I now have it pretty much figured out.
 What that meant was dropping everyone off at the door and then heading off to the parking garage.   I just had this paranoid feeling that I didn't want us to be late for the reservation,  since it had been a bit of a challenge to get the thing in the first place.   Plus,  we had to go for six,  since the place was booked after that.
Crazy thing is,  and I didn't know this before hand even though I've parked at this particular garage before,  but the "people exit"  is right next door to the restaurant.
Phew!  Couldn't have planned it better.
I didn't think there was any point in pretending that I actually had a clue,  since that strategy rarely ever works, especially if you're in the company of three women.

 Just an observation.

From a touristy stand point,  it wasn't so much the restaurant that was the novelty of the evening,  even though the Schnitzel was danged good,  but rather the parking garage.   This is something that one simply doesn't get to experience as a tourist,  and I've had very little luck finding anything about parking garages in Vienna on the net.   I don't think they actually think tourists come here by car....

Our guests showed signs of first befuddlement and then utter dismay....

Fortunately,  I took a couple videos last February!  Bwahaha!!   So you can have a look here

here

and here

Sunday morning was the usual flurry of activity that goes along with getting people to the airport,  including the somewhat mandatory trip to the bathroom scales.   Not so much for the guests,  but for the luggage.








I also briefly stepped on the scales to verify that they worked,  and quickly realised that the next little while is going to be the 'season of abstinence'.   From beer,  that is.

 Just another observation.


....meanwhile,  as I was wondering just why the heck this was taking so long to upload,  I realised that part of the apartment is dead,  in the power department,   and after some investigation,  and putting the router on a couple extension cords,   we're back in business.  I was getting just a tad frustrated there,  since I couldn't seem to determine just what the heck was going on,  since all the breakers were closed.    Turns out,  there's a problem down at the front door,   since one of the restaurant dudes was down below.

It seems that power that comes in from the street is three phase,  and one of our phases is out.
I had put some potatoes on the stove and thought that it was working,  but it turns out that it's meant to work on two phases,  and is missing one.   So even though the elements get hot to the touch,  it'll take forever to boil a pot of potatoes.

  We have a back up plan however,  since the hotplate we had to buy a year ago works on a single phase.


Ha!

Gee,  aren't we lucky we had to spend the first two weeks here "camping" ??


Right.





 Today's number is 66.






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