{"id":1779,"date":"2022-12-19T14:21:30","date_gmt":"2022-12-19T14:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/?p=1779"},"modified":"2025-02-05T19:31:44","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T19:31:44","slug":"coming-soon-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/19\/coming-soon-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Vienna, Austria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ah, \u00d6sterreich!\u00a0 But first, the train from Zagreb.\u00a0 Could have taken a bus, but trains have bathrooms!\u00a0 And bar cars!\u00a0 For about the same price as the bus, you can ride the rails like a hobo.\u00a0 Sadly, the train runs only once per day.\u00a0 At 7:27 in the AM.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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OBB first class…proof of life (12\/22).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I, as you may have noticed, tend to err on the side of caution.\u00a0 That\u2019s a nice way of saying \u201canal-retentive.\u201d\u00a0 So, I add up the walk to the tram stop (7 min), buy a tram ticket (hah, I already have my ticket! Anal, indeed.), waiting for the tram (up to 10 min), the tram ride to the station (5 min), getting to the platform (5 min)\u2026 and get\u2026 well, let’s round it up to 45 mins.\u00a0 Call it an hour, just to be safe.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it turned out, I arrived at the station 40 minutes before departure.\u00a0 But, what\u2019s this\u2026 nothing on the departures board for 07:27?\u00a0 Oh, the train is departing at 07:05.\u00a0 Crap!\u00a0 I\u2019m late!\u00a0 Well, I\u2019m still early, but I almost could have been late!\u00a0 I mean, the train was already at the platform.\u00a0 Waiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I buy a snack, get on the train, and find my seat.\u00a0 In first class, thank you.\u00a0 Sure, it is more expensive (as the lady at the ticket counter said it would be when I asked about the price), but it is also empty!\u00a0 Nice.\u00a0 On Austrian trains (\u00d6BB), and German or Swiss, first class isn’t a much more luxurious than second class, but it’s twice the price. Why bother? Did I mention it’s empty? And the added price is just a few bucks an hour, so I\u2019ll call it a decision well made. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The train departs.\u00a0 First class?\u00a0 Check.\u00a0 Wide seat?\u00a0 Check.\u00a0 Table?\u00a0 Check.\u00a0 Peace?\u00a0 Well, Quiet?\u00a0 Check.\u00a0 I don\u2019t even have to get out of my seat to clear customs at the border of Slovenia. Didn’t clear customs at the Slovenian-Austrian border, because it was all part of the Schengen (free travel) zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Venus of Willendorf Statue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Vienna, like everywhere here, has been around for a long time.  In fact, there is a small statue in the Naturhistorisches Museum, called the Venus von Willendorf<\/em>, that is 29,500 years old.  So, there you go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I arrived, Vienna was in full Christmas Market mode. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, Merry Christmas, or Froh Weihnacht<\/em>, from jolly Vienna (aka, Wien<\/em>, although Google seems to prefer Vienna).\u00a0 Plenty of markets selling hats, gloves, art, food and drink.\u00a0 Lights hung over the main streets.\u00a0 How festive!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christmas day itself?  Not much to say.  Seems everyone celebrates quietly with family.  Almost every store was closed.  The exceptions were non-Austrian: Japanese restaurants, Turkish restaurants, and so forth.  One thing that was cool, is that the public transit was all running at full schedule.  Got to get to grandma\u2019s house somehow, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Christmas time. St. Stephen’s Cathedral.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After Christmas, it was time to transition to New Year\u2019s Eve.  Booths were replaced by bandstands, but lights stayed up.  Seems, New Year\u2019s Eve is a big deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, I have to digress a bit, before I can continue.\u00a0 Let\u2019s talk about the Pope dying on New Year\u2019s Eve.\u00a0 December 31st<\/sup>, 335.\u00a0 Yep, Pope Silvester died on NYE.\u00a0 That\u2019s why it\u2019s Saint Silvester\u2019s Day.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why New Year’s Eve is all about the \u201cSilvester\u201d in Vienna.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Silvesterpfad<\/em>, or the Silvester Trail, winds through Vienna (remember all those Christmas lights they left up), with music stops along the way.  Festivities begin at 2pm.  Do you like standing in line?  Then get a drink.  Afterwards, you can queue up for the porta-potty! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t want to fight the crowds?  Head for the hills\u2014or any high place, really\u2014to get a good view of the fireworks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
One of many… Silvesterpfad, 2022.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wish someone a happy New Year by saying \u201cProsit Neujahr<\/em>!\u201d  Before midnight, you can say \u201cGuten Rutsch<\/em>!\u201d  Rutschen<\/em> means to slip, slide, skid\u2026 so before midnight, just say \u201cI hope you fall and slide in to the new year without getting hurt?\u201d  Well, that didn\u2019t translate very nicely.  But it works figuratively and, with enough schnapps, literally. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ah, \u00d6sterreich!\u00a0 But first, the train from Zagreb.\u00a0 Could have taken a bus, but trains have bathrooms!\u00a0 And bar cars!\u00a0 For about the same price as the bus, you can ride the rails like a hobo.\u00a0 Sadly, the train runs only once per day.\u00a0 At 7:27 in the AM.\u00a0 I, as you may have noticed, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1780,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1779"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1789,"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779\/revisions\/1789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}