A Weekend in Vienna - 18th May, 2002
So, another trip over to the wonderful city that is Vienna. This time I was in the company of Merter (who used to work there about three years ago and has been playing in the sands of Bahrain ever since) and G.P. (my ever faithful & reliable chariot).
Made reasonably good time and stopped off at Mondsee to stretch the legs & admire the view. Incidentally, I put this panorama together with a trial version of "Ulead COOL" that I got through www.softseek.com. It's easy enough to use and I'm sure with a bit of practise I'll get the hang of the best methods & techniques. Definitely should have had the tripod with me for the photos.
Saw this at the back of the restaurant and thought it looked good. Felt like breaking into a few bars of Scarborough Fair. Found the Petersilie (Parsley), the Rosmarien & Thymian were pretty obvious but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what Sage was. Oh well, Simon & Garfunkel can be saved for a little bit longer from having their song completely butchered by me. As it turned out, the Sage was directly behind the Minze. Oh well.
Anyway, we got into Wien in a reasonable time on Friday evening and headed over to Hooters for a bite to eat. Martyn joined us later on after arriving at about 11pm from Stockholm.
Stella's red
outfit here proving that even a tiny thread can be very very strong. 
On Saturday when I scraped myself out of bed I went for a big wander around the city.
Chilling in the sun.
This is the Mozart monument in the Burggarten Park. Apparently he died in 1791 and nobody actually knows where his grave is.
Here we have Mr. Goethe, the German writer & philosopher, just at the front of the Academy of Fine Arts. A pleasant chap if ever there was one.
Now this is what Priesto should have taken to South America with him for his IHANA expedition. A big mother of a Mercedes with plenty of room for entertaining "Doris's" in the back.
Who is taking whom for a walk in this shot??
I did try to get a photo of this bride with her father from the front, but she seemed to have more important matters on her mind. Presumably the bloke who was waiting patiently for her at the front of the church might have had something to do with it.
Someone once told me, (and by someone I think it was Ian Moore although I may stand corrected), that if you want to know what a girl is going to look like in 30 years, then just look at her mother. Anyway, don't know why I mentioned that just now. Carry on with the photos.
I distinctly remember saying to Merter at one point, "What Vienna really needs on a hot sunny Saturday afternoon is some Roman Centurions in band uniforms and a handful of Cheerleaders!".
The Pride of USC.
This was one of the people you see pretending to be a statue. When some Muppet tourist gives them some money they move a little bit. Shake hands or change position, something like that. As I was taking the photo I heard a female American accent beside me saying "Gee, she's soooo talented to be able to stand there like that." That gave me a chuckle. I bet Halle Berry, Nicole Kidman & co were shitting themselves at the Oscars in case of a late nomination for the woman in silver paint who can stand really still. All the same, if people are dumb enough to give these guys money, then they may as well keep at it.
And here's a few more sights around the city. Hold the mouse over the picture to see a few words about it.
This is Merter and a couple of friends of his from Bahrain, Deniz & Sevda who happened to be in Vienna at the same time.
The 'Peace' sign from Merter and what appears to be a left-handed Nazi salute from the guy on the right. Plus, there's a girl in white trousers on the far left hand side who appears to be posing for a photo. But since there's nobody in sight with a camera, I guess she's just posing.
Chilling out with coffee & ice cream.
Mert checking out a couple of "Yummy Mummies".
Saturday night ended with a visit back to Shooters under the Hotel Atlanta where we stay. It was relatively early when we got back and it looked like we might get a good nights sleep. This however did not happen and I think it was about 4a.m. that I performed my official duties and married Martyn & Verena. It was a small intimate ceremony.
Always get your jeans a couple of sizes bigger than normal to accommodate the phone and oversized wallet.
Oh, and this girl believes that her stomach is too big.
The happy couple just after the ceremony. Sadly the happiness was short-lived as the bride decided pretty much immediately that she wanted a divorce. I was unable to perform that ceremony for some reason which I can't remember.
Breakfast before our return to Munich was courtesy of Lucia in Molly Darcy's. When I went into the bar, Lucia was there measuring stuff. After I enquired as to what she was doing she showed me a note from her boss which read something like "Lucia, can you please measure all the bar stools to see how high they are.". I suggested that there was a slight possibility that he was taking the piss out of her. After she confirmed this on the phone and all measuring activities ceased, I was able to order some food.
Anyway, breakfast done and dusted and after a little mosey round for a while myself and Mert headed for G.P. and back to Munich.