Showing posts with label Vienna. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vienna. Show all posts
17.10.12
Cody Duncan Photography
Cody is a friend and landscape photographer currently trekking through europe. This years travels have included locations in Norway, Germany, and Hungary. Alpine fall colors and the UK are next. Check his blog out: Cody Duncan Photography
14.10.12
Vienna after Dark
A few pictures of Vienna after dark. I will continue to add to this set as I take more pic's.
23.9.12
Week Recap
It's time for another update.
Since leaving home and arriving in Vienna (my home away from home) we've been really busy with the finding a place and settling in. I say my "home away from home" because neither of us are citizens here. Anyway, we managed to lock down an apartment late August after an unexpected difficulty with a move in date of September 12th, the same day I arrived back from my family reunion trip. A trip which had been organized & booked way in advance. So it turned into a nightmare and I'll just give you the cliff-notes. It involves cats, negotiations, contracts, and said contract falling through. Finding a plan "B" in 24 hours, almost loosing our plan B, but ending up with it. Now it's our residence. That was half the battle.
Finding it was a pain. Moving in has been a pain too. It's difficult enough moving within the United States. It's a even bigger pain moving to another country. Conditions for rent are different and the process is very different. The plugs are different and we didn't bring enough. The bathroom was "new and remodeled" but unfinished (they never sealed the shower) - oops. The shower had no Faucet head. The water heater was set to scalding hot. Apartments don't come with washer/dryers. Previous residents take their lighting fixtures with them so we needed to buy lighting. There are no closets. My US drill wasn't shipped for two reasons 1) It needs to stay in my Baja pit box and 2) the plug/voltage converter likely wouldn't have worked with it. No drill made making repairs/hanging pictures difficult. Some furniture was broken. And to top it off we fried some electronics due to voltage differences - a TV and a stereo receiver. It's been way more than simply moving furniture and hanging some pictures. And apparently this is the "norm" around here.
Apartments here are easily 100+ years old. They are kept up "ok" but clearly were not built around a 21st century lifestyle, nor an American one at that. There are no studs to anchor to (it's brick). Wire routing is suspect. Bathrooms double as laundry rooms. And Euro's love cheap plastics and laminates so the "remodeled" kitchens lack quality.
So we have to make this place livable and it's been a bit of an effort. We got the internet up and running which was a huge hurdle. NFL season is going on and I'm missin' it! At least I'll be able to catch a few of the weekend games, netflix, pandora, and Skype/Google voice. So It's like being at home in regards to TV and communications. It really can be a bit confusing with the time change. For instance: Watching NFL Sunday morning games at 7pm. Yeesh!
I don't want to say everything about the move-in is bad. It certainly beats living in a hotel room, which we had been doing on company dime for the last three months. We live in an awesome neighborhood with great accessibility. We have a bank, grocery store and the D tram within a two minute walk. The D tram is a really convenient line to have as it runs between Karlsplatz and the vineyards of the 19th district. We have a bike path near by, a park, and we can walk to downtown easily. The main rail station is also close, so we can skip town easily if we want. We aren't directly facing the street so our place is very quiet.
Since leaving home and arriving in Vienna (my home away from home) we've been really busy with the finding a place and settling in. I say my "home away from home" because neither of us are citizens here. Anyway, we managed to lock down an apartment late August after an unexpected difficulty with a move in date of September 12th, the same day I arrived back from my family reunion trip. A trip which had been organized & booked way in advance. So it turned into a nightmare and I'll just give you the cliff-notes. It involves cats, negotiations, contracts, and said contract falling through. Finding a plan "B" in 24 hours, almost loosing our plan B, but ending up with it. Now it's our residence. That was half the battle.
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| 360 panorama of our street |
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| Our Apt. Complex |
Apartments here are easily 100+ years old. They are kept up "ok" but clearly were not built around a 21st century lifestyle, nor an American one at that. There are no studs to anchor to (it's brick). Wire routing is suspect. Bathrooms double as laundry rooms. And Euro's love cheap plastics and laminates so the "remodeled" kitchens lack quality.
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| "The cellar" |
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| With flash, kinda creepy down here |
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| Main hall looking into kitchen |
8.8.12
My Rules for traveling in Europe (Specifically Austria)
1) Never pass up a free bathroom
2) Always take advantage of restaurant bathrooms
3) Carry toilet paper
4) Know some basic German
5) Always order the "special for the day"
6) No need to tip more than 10% on food (they dont make their $ on tips)
7) Chill out, people here eat slowly, up to 2 hours for dinner! And they eat late!
8) Don't buy a subway pass, you can if you like, but the fine is $100 for not having one - the same as a monthly ticket costs. FYI they only check on Wednesday's in Vienna.
9) Just carry $100 on you somewhere, you may need it in a pinch. See #8.
10) Everything is closed Sundays, including pharmacies. So carry what you need!
11) Don't expect them to know English
12) Your an American: We speak louder than they do and we like our space. If they push you out of the way - call them out on it.
13) Stay to the right on escalators, the left should be kept clear for people in a rush.
14) If you find something that loods good (i.e. edible or a souvineer) then buy it - it may be the last time you see it
15) Be aware of the exchange rate!
16) talcum powder
17) Remember plug adapters! Buy them before you leave the states.
18) no one in Austria jay walks, be careful if you do it cuz cars don't slow down!
19) it's not uncommon to see pregnant women smoking and drinking. This makes perfect sense in a country with socialized healthcare right?
20) there will always be someone with bad body odor around you, at all times, just make sure it isn't you.
21) Austrians are terrible at washing their hands, especially after using the bathroom. Be prudent about washing yours. Otherwise you might find yourself in the bathroom more than you like.
22) keep hand sanitizer on you
23) don't order bottled water. Its overpriced and tap water is tasty here, it comes from the alps via an old roman aqueduct.
24) always keep 20-50 cents on you to use a public restroom.
25) Have an accurate watch and keep it set to military time (if possible). I set mine to the US Navy master clock and find trains/subways run with accuracy down to the second.
26) Be aware of transportation schedules, i.e. what time subways close down, their intervals, when the next train from Salzburg to Vienna leaves, etc. IF you get confused about the platform number you can figure it out based on departure time.
I end with this note - this is why I love Europe:
2) Always take advantage of restaurant bathrooms
3) Carry toilet paper
4) Know some basic German
5) Always order the "special for the day"
6) No need to tip more than 10% on food (they dont make their $ on tips)
7) Chill out, people here eat slowly, up to 2 hours for dinner! And they eat late!
8) Don't buy a subway pass, you can if you like, but the fine is $100 for not having one - the same as a monthly ticket costs. FYI they only check on Wednesday's in Vienna.
9) Just carry $100 on you somewhere, you may need it in a pinch. See #8.
10) Everything is closed Sundays, including pharmacies. So carry what you need!
11) Don't expect them to know English
12) Your an American: We speak louder than they do and we like our space. If they push you out of the way - call them out on it.
13) Stay to the right on escalators, the left should be kept clear for people in a rush.
14) If you find something that loods good (i.e. edible or a souvineer) then buy it - it may be the last time you see it
15) Be aware of the exchange rate!
16) talcum powder
17) Remember plug adapters! Buy them before you leave the states.
18) no one in Austria jay walks, be careful if you do it cuz cars don't slow down!
19) it's not uncommon to see pregnant women smoking and drinking. This makes perfect sense in a country with socialized healthcare right?
20) there will always be someone with bad body odor around you, at all times, just make sure it isn't you.
21) Austrians are terrible at washing their hands, especially after using the bathroom. Be prudent about washing yours. Otherwise you might find yourself in the bathroom more than you like.
22) keep hand sanitizer on you
23) don't order bottled water. Its overpriced and tap water is tasty here, it comes from the alps via an old roman aqueduct.
24) always keep 20-50 cents on you to use a public restroom.
25) Have an accurate watch and keep it set to military time (if possible). I set mine to the US Navy master clock and find trains/subways run with accuracy down to the second.
26) Be aware of transportation schedules, i.e. what time subways close down, their intervals, when the next train from Salzburg to Vienna leaves, etc. IF you get confused about the platform number you can figure it out based on departure time.
I end with this note - this is why I love Europe:
1.8.12
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