Deb Wants Inquiring Minds to Know 10-31-15

Another set of random thoughts from Deb, this time from Berlin, Prague, Cesky Krumlov and Vienna.

*My gosh, the Germans are tall! I know I'm getting even shorter as I age, but there were high school girls half a head taller than Warren. Made me long for my far-away days of being a tall blonde in India...

*Besides being beautiful architecturally, with one charming building after another, Prague (Praha) is so clean. It was a pleasant change to not have to watch so carefully where one walks, or would have done had the cobblestones not been so challenging. Made me wonder how my dear friend Charla got around in this, her favorite city. She has a fair amount of foot trouble, and has earned my eternal gratitude this year for having introduced me to Arcopedico shoes in time for this year of non-stop walking.

*My impression is that sausages are to the Germanic countries the way cheeses are to France. In our travels here we've eaten dozens of kinds, in varieties of preparations. Just in time for World Health Organization to state that preserved meats contribute to cancer. But Warren maintains that enough beer will kill any possible cancers. (I'm not sure he doesn't have a hidden agenda.) I do wonder, though, if preserved meats are so bad, why cancer isn't rampant in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic? Wonder if they put the same things in theirs? Don't know.

*It's fall now and all sorts of mushrooms are appearing in the markets, most of them new to me. I'll be trying more of them and probably preparing them incorrectly, but, hey, how bad can any mushroom be sauteed in fresh butter? Saw some today called "Trumpets of Death", just in time for Halloween, which, by the way is very popular in France. Don't think those mushrooms are likely fatal, but I could check by taking some to our local drugstore. Pharmacists in  France identify mushrooms for safe consumption. It's an especially important protection this time of year, when the woods are full of people meandering with baskets and long walking sticks, stalking the wily, wild mushroom.

*We had virtually no sunshine on our Berlin/Prague/Vienna trip, but loved seeing the beautiful rolling countryside from our trains. The damp fields are being turned and plowed for new winter crops. Some of the plots are newly green with vibrant new growth.  I have no idea what the plantings are, and my language skills in this part of the world wouldn't have allowed for an explanation anyway. Noticed the large size of the fields in the Czech Republic compared to Germany and Austria and wondered if it reflected the communist history. There were hunting blinds all over at the edge of the frequent forests, and their object, some lovely smallish deer, could be spotted out unrepentantly pillaging the fields. Also spotted from the trains: hawks of various colors, crows with varieties of grey markings, a huge swooping owl  and more domestically, flocks of pudgy white turkeys, grey geese and multicolored ducks and chickens.Often a cat in a field of grass, scowling at the train and slurking away disgustedly from a disturbed hunt.

*Those who learned to read in the early 1950's might recognize the phrase "Cookies, cookies, cookies, said Susan." a phrase that became a joke in my family when, after having to read that
sentence aloud,  I solemnly told my parents that my first grade reading texts were for "morons", a term I'd picked up from my college-aged brother and sister. Nonetheless, I developed quite a sympathy for old Susan while on our trip. Only the objects were dumplings. Dumplings, dumplings, dumplings, said Deb. Dumplings in every shape and type, and with every meal. Sadly, most were too subtle, bland and heavy for my taste. I longed for my decadent baguettes. France has corrupted me.

*Warren shone with his language skills on this trip. His rudimentary German got us around quite nicely, and kept me from ordering a variety of regrettable choices. And his few Czech words were an instant hit every time he used them. He would get a grin from the grumpiest looking shopkeeper with his greeting, and couple of polite phrases. Czech is hard! I only managed a couple of words (although please and thank you are arguably the two most important in any language). Warren cleverly got our cute little waitress to write a couple of phrases for him, which he then trotted out on appropriate occasions to certain applause. Good on Warren!

*It was a culture shock to once again be in an area where I could not pick up any hint of meaning in overheard conversations, and where written information conveyed nothing to my ignorant mind. One gets complacent, being able to parse out meanings from romance languages, however undependably. It's disquieting to be back where not even the exit signs are recognizable. Good for humility though.

*Speaking of writing, I once again recognized being outdated when I noticed that the dynasty I had always referred to as "Hapsburgs" is now being more widely referred to as "Habsburgs." A little research found that both spellings are historically valid, and that the family itself even occasionally signed as "Haburgs." Makes me less embarrassed over my own faulty spelling.

*Everywhere there is the feeling that winter is coming. Those northern folk are hardy souls though, and continue to enjoy eating outside. The restaurants had not yet limbered up their outdoor heaters (it was, after all, above freezing) but most provided lap robes for the lily-livered among their customers. In Munich, I used two of the blankies while huddling around warm Munich white wursts, served in a bowl of hot water, and roasted potatoes. Warren downed several types of beer to stay toasty.

*While we were in Berlin we missed a lovely invitation from Kathy Hancock, a childhood friend of my brother's family, who is living in Berlin with her family for a year. I'm sorry we didn't get to meet. I sense a kindred spirit since she commented that she's going with a daughter to Poland for a weekend "just because we can." Cannot think of a better reason. You go, girl!

*Had an interesting train-conversation with a couple of young women travelling with their little daughters to Prague. One of the moms was a white-blond, the other Asian and their conversation was conducted partially in English and also in an unidentifiable tongue. The Asian mom spoke Mandarin to her daughter. On their apologizing for their little ones' noise, we got into a conversation and found out that the blonde was Finnish and that the Asian was originally Chinese from Chendu, who had lived in Finland for over 10 years and had just moved to Germany.  Each spoke several languages and had travelled widely. They were having a little mini-vacation together while their husbands were in the US, driving Route 66.

*In Vienna, the "Imperial Capital that isn't anymore" we took the opportunity to see the famous Cellini salt celler that the Renaissance sculptor made for Francois Premier of France. This is yet another of those world renowned objects that so richly deserves its fame. Luxuriously, we had the time to look at it undisturbed by any other viewers. The detail and symbolism and execution are just magnificent. Cellini was a rascal, a brigand, a braggart and a self-confessed murderer, but after all, who doesn't have some faults? His artistry redeemed much if not all.

*Similarly, I had wanted to see the Ishtar Gate in Berlin ever since a high school art class. Some fragments at the Louvre just increased my interest. It is amazing. So much bigger and more colorful than any of the pictures indicate. No wonder Babylon was the wonder of the ancient world. What a privilege to get to see treasures like this, and even poignant when others are being destroyed in their home countries. Perhaps the "theft" of archaeological treasures and their dissemination isn't an unalloyed evil.

*Small issues assume greater importance when travelling like not knowing when daylight savings changes in your locality. Luckily, I'd had the foresight to send myself a calendar message on my Ipad. Time and trains wait for no confused tourists. We also learned more about various train systems. The German DBahn trains were lovely, clean and modern. And, contrary to my cultural stereotypes, often late. I was so impressed that, in contrast, to the more "flexible" French SNCF train system, DBahn lists the platform on their train tickets. I was less impressed when I found out that they weren't always accurate. If Warren hadn't had the sense to check a TV monitor as we ran frantically from a late train to our TGV connection, we'd have missed our connection to Paris. I was so convinced it would be where it said on the ticket. Silly me!

Now Where Were We Before We Were So Beautifully Interrupted? 10-30-15

Today was another beautiful sunny day so our goal was to do one of the walks in our book, "Around and About Paris" by Thirsa Vallois.  She presents walks around Paris by arrondissement, and includes history, architecture, and general interest sites associated with each walk.
So today's walk featured the 14th arr. and walked us through several beautiful little streets that were associated with famous artists in French history.  Some only by name and others by the fact that they lived in houses in the streets.   Our route over to the area today was the Metro because it got us so close to the start of the walk.
Our walk began in a square facing the Mairee of the 14th arr. that is fronted with a small but appealing little park and area where they were holding an open air market, the produce, meat, and seafood stall had very fresh offering and the food stalls all had lines.  We walked through but didn't shop.  We stopped in the park and sat for a couple minutes reading the details of the walk and watched a man and his young son kick a ball back and forth, sort of a precursor to soccer.  The youngster must have been around 3 or 4 but his foot coordination was very good.  The park's flower beds were fully in bloom  with autumn flowers.  But we had a walk ahead so we left after a few minutes.
Our first destination was called Adrienne Villas and is a gated square with houses surrounding a small park.  The houses are all named after artists and architects of France.  The gate was closed and locked but a woman was leaving and opened the gate so we let ourselves in.   This is often an acceptable action and unless you're challenged you walk right in, which is what we did.  The villas sit right next to the busiest street in the arrondissement but behind the gate it is very quiet and peaceful. The square is a combination of detached homes and apartments all very nicely kept up.  So a few minutes walking there and back on to the trail.

Villa Halles Crescent

We left the square and walked down a block or two and turned off the road into a quiet street where we walked back to a T junction and took a left.  Looking for another of the "villas" which are streets that are little enclaves of houses that are still single family houses or houses that have been converted into a couple apartments, but none more that about 3 stories high.   Some are gated and some are not and access is hit or miss as I described above.  The next one was closed and nobody coming out so we walked a few steps beyond to see the crescent of homes that were open to the street and form the outer edge to the villas that were locked.   A very delightful group of small homes that looked very much like a crescent one might see in London.   The houses set back from the street with a parking area for the owners and small gardens in the front. as we sat and read about it a gentleman walked by and as I was taking a picture, asked where we were from.  So we told him and explained that we were walking the neighborhood looking at places of interest from our book.  He turned out to be a resident of one of the houses and interested in the history of the area.  So he told us a bit about the crescent which followed what we had read.  Marcel Duchamp had lived with his mistress in one of them at one point and then later had lived in another just a couple houses removed.  The woman who lived in the first Duchamp house came out and verified that indeed he had lived there with his mistress, who owned it.  At that point another woman came up and the man and she began talking and then we all talked about another two houses where some celebrated singers had lived.
We chatted on a bit and then the woman said there was a little Vietnamese restaurant close by and they were going there for lunch and asked if we would like to accompany them,  We were flustered but happily accepted whereupon the woman said would we like to see her apartment, just across the street.   How can you say no to a charming woman?  So the man went to get a table at the restaurant and we walked across the street to see her apartment.  She has the top floor of the building and at least part of the floor below.  But we went to the top floor where she has a kitchen, a sitting room, and a living room where she hold concerts on a regular basis.  Many comfortable sitting areas where a grand piano dominates the room.  She is a true lover of music and has season tickets to the philharmonic orchestra next to us at Villette.  She also has a group of friends that accompany her to the concerts to tune of 20 or so.  We are now on her invitation list for the next concert and also have an invitation to an art opening of her companion next Thursday night.
We left the apartment and went to the restaurant to meet the man who was already eating due to a prior meeting he had to attend.  But we sat and had a very nice conversation about travel and where each of us had been.  Both of them had been to the U.S. at least three times and visited a number of cities.  As we talked it came out that in addition to the house in Paris he and his wife have two additional houses in Brittany, and the woman has another house somewhere in France as well, true Parisians.   I would have guessed ages at perhaps early 70's but it turned out that he was 80 and she was 78, wow what energy and joie de vivre.  It's really a pity that the Parisians are so cold and stand-offish otherwise we would have been drafted into the family.
After the interruption for lunch, we continued our walk and walked several more "villa" streets. In one we saw the house that Henry Miller lived in when he was writing "Tropic of Cancer", about his life in Paris of the 30's along with Anais Nin.  In another was located the house of Seurat in te appropriately named Villa Seurat.
At the end of the tour we sat in the Parc Montsouris and just watched people enjoy the parks for several minutes before heading back to the apartment, to watch rugby of course.   South Africa roughs up Argentina, but Argentina is game throughout.  Too many penalties for Argentina that South Africa effectively






exploited.

Mouthly Maintenance 10-29-15

Not a typo above, today we had to go to the dentist. Deb for her semi-annual cleaning and I for the crown-prep on the tooth I broke again just before our trip.  Everything went according to plan and we were out in time to walk around a bit and then sit in a park before going to lunch.
There were a couple of interesting new sculptures on display in the park that weren't there when we last visited. They have the appearance of harking back to the turn of the 20th century and the bronze has been finished in color so they look a bit life-like.

Street Market

After our little park stop we headed over to a restaurant that we had visited some years ago and, unlike the one down in Butte aux Cailles, still in existence.  It's just slightly northwest of Parc Monceau in the 17th arr. and is called Chez Leon.  I believe Deb and I found it on a surprise trip that I planned for one of her birthdays.  It's still good and inexpensive.

Place Pigalle

After lunch we walked through an open air food market and then over to Place Pigalle where we caught the Montmartre Bus. It traverses up and over over Montmartre and down to the mayors office for the 18th arr.  From there we caught the bus back to a stop about 2 blocks from our apartment.  Not really and action packed day but necessary.

The Shining Pathe 10-28-15

Street view

It was raining all night last night and into the morning but by about 10:30 it had stopped and was drying out.  It has not gotten cold as yet but the humidity in conjunction with some cooling makes it feel colder.  In any event our plan to visit the renovated Rodin Museum fell through when we checked and it turned out to have set back the reopening to November 4th.  So we punted and decided to try and visit another museum that has been on our radar since before we left last February.

The view from the rear

Specifically it's the Fondation Jerome Seydoux-Pathe and it is associated with what used to be one of the major players in presentation of film news, Pathe Cinema.  What particularly caught our attention was that the foundation managed to build an entirely new and modern building within the space of an interior courtyard of a historic Hausmann style building.  In some of the architectural community it is even more impressive than the Gehry building built for the Fondation Louis Vuitton in the Bois de Boulogne.  Its distinguishing characteristic is that it is not immediately obvious from the street elevation, so that the original feel of the neighborhood is maintained.

Scale Model

The objects that they have on display is somewhat limited but because the foundation is more geared towards the research and education related to moving pictures and film, so their museum is almost a byproduct.  But they do have almost 2 floors of research library and a staff of support people.  Also each Wednesday afternoon they screen films for children, adults not admitted unless accompanied by a child.   No matter, we went in and were able to see their holdings, a room dedicated to what must have been close to 100 old movie cameras and projectors dating from the late 1800's up to perhaps the 1970's, mainly 35mm format.  They also had original lithographs for Pathe movies made from the 1910's up to around the end of WW I.
After our visit we walked a couple blocks and caught a bus back to our apartment.  Deb made us a delicious meal for dinner and then a quiet evening.

Wherein We Reprovision our Apartment 10-27-15

Today was a bit of a sleepin day for Deb after yesterday's marathon train ride.  I got out a bit earlier and bought a couple baguettes and a couple croissants for breakfast since we had nothing in the place. Shortly after I got back Deb made her appearance and I brewed tea for us to drink with our croissants. We had to go out to get some food and non-perishables and around 12:30 we popped our noses out of the building and went shopping.
We think our butcher may have sold his business to the other butcher that has been in the shop, our butcher's wife and son left him sometime this summer for what we thought was vacation but turned out to be more permanent.  We're hoping that he sold out to go and salvage his family life, but we don't know.

Be that as it may we managed to get our two shopping carts filled with stuff and then went home to a lunch of rotisserie chicken legs, cheese, fruit and a bit of wine.  All out on our little kitchen deck, basking as the sun shown brightly.  It was nice because since we went off daylight savings the sun is going down around 5:00pm now.  It's the time of the month when I have to start the process of wiring our rent to our landlady, Carol, so that is my afternoon's goal.  Deb is doing the laundry from our trip and looking at how much money we spent on our little holiday, woohoo.  So all in all it's been a quiet day here in Paris.

A Long Day's Journey-Vienna to Paris 10-26-15

Our trip back to Paris started early with my finding an email from Deutsche Bahn telling us that the second leg of our trip back to Paris had been cancelled.  They sent it at 3:00am of the day we're supposed to be travelling.  

Lunch Outside

Great Beer

Now, we got up early to make sure that we wouldn't be rushed to get to the train station but that went right out the door with us.  We hustled down to the train station and over to the ticket counter where the Austria train system agent politely informed us that this was a German train issue and she wasn't able to help.   I got our hotel person to call the local German train number, but because this was a "holiday" in Austria they were not available.  So we did the only thing available to us and boarded our train over to Salzburg where there was a DB agent since it's right on the border.  So we got to Salzburg and I found the DB agent who told us to take the next train which was due to leave 5 minutes later than the original, it turns out that they informed me that the original train was cancelled but weren't real clear that it was replaced with a new train leaving 5 minutes later. So we got to Munchen (Munich) about 5 minutes later than originally planned where because we had a 4 hour layover was no big deal.

Pretty Cold Outsice

Pretty Warm Inside

So we spent the next 3.5 hours in Munich (our only pics) and had a little walk, ate some lunch, and visited the Frauenkirch before boarding the train for Stuttgart where we would meet the train headed for Paris. We left on time and with an 11 minutes connection time to walk between platforms we were in great shape.

Ludwig of Bavaria Tomb

But of course the train from Munich to Stuttgart somehow lost about 14 minutes on the journey over and we pulled into the station around 5 minutes after the other train was scheduled to depart.  We jumped off the train and headed to the platform where the Paris train was supposed to be leaving fromonly to find that it had been changed to another platform.  

Devil's Footprint

A quick U-turn and we hustled over to the new platform with about 100 other people from other trains that were still trying to board late. So we made it, whew, and it pulled out about 3 minutes later.  So we started out about 10 minutes late and even though it was a TGV and we got up to 315 kilometers/hour (195 mph) and kept it above 300kph for a good long while we still arrived 25 minutes late in Paris.  That's of course because the trains that were on time had priority and we had to get out of their way.  So we left at 6:30am and got to the apartment around midnight, a long day's journey.

Vienna goes by in a Flash 10-25-15

We keep wondering how a person can say they've seen a city in two or three days.  We've been here for two and a half days and have barely scratched the surface.  Today we got out fairly early again and made our way over to the St. Stephen Cathedral which was begun in the 1350's  in it's gothic splendor.  It was damaged pretty heavily in WWII and had its wooden roof structure replaced with a steel  substructure (very controversial).  Deb says it's been in a constant state of rehab since WWII. Today when we got there a mass was in progress so we couldn't tour the entire building.  But I was impressed at how full the cathedral was with parishioners, certainly over 70 percent.  We spent perhaps 15 minutes seeing what we could and then walked back to the Heldenplatz at the Hofburg.
They were setting up for what looked like an autumn festival (Octoberfest?).  We think it may have been a national holiday as well because they had a very large military exhibition with what looked like specimens of military equipment for all the branches.
While we walked back through they were doing a precision drill team demonstration, but we were on our way to the Museum of the History of Art.(Kunsthistorisches Museum).

For us the major draw was to see the Cellini Saltcellar, created in 1534 by Benvenuto Cellini for Francois Premier and subsequently given as a gift by Charles IX to a Habsburg Grand Duke who had performed a service for him.  It is one of the great art treasures of the world and a definite must see. So we did.

Not wanting to spend an entire sunny and warm day inside we left after an hour and went to lunch at a restaurant located in a former glass house of the Habsburg palace and faces the Burggarten.
It is noted for its seafood and it didn't disappoint us, Deb had trout and I had river salmon both of which were delicious.  After lunch we walked in the Burggarten and viewed the monument to Mozart.  It is a pity that they didn't appreciate him during his life like they revere him now, I can only imagine what he may have accomplished.
After a short stop in the park we decided to see the city from the trams which follow the Ringstrasse. it appeared that we could take the trams 1 & 2 to circle the city center.  So we boarded the number 2 as it came up and rode it along coming to the conclusion that it didn't feel very circular in its path. We rode it out to its terminus and it was a one-way ride, so we rode it back to where we boarded and decided that the number 1 tram had to be the correct one.   But we got the same result only in an opposite direction, what the heck?  Right before the last stop on the number 1 line
I saw a really interesting building so when we stopped I decided to jump off and get a quick picture.  I opened the door, got off and laughed ruefully when it left without me.  I waved at Deb as she left.  In my defense the number 2 train waited longer before leaving at its terminus so I thought I had time.  So I walked back and took a couple pictures of the building which turned out to be a water tower.  I then walked down to the second stop to wait for the next train and there was Deb waiting for me.  Our little travel understanding in these situations is that the person still on the train will get off at the next stop and wait for the next train to meet again. Good thing I didn't take the subway back to where she said she'd meet me as I got off the first time.
We were riding back in the dark, due to daylight savings coming off it gets dark before 5:00pm now. We got back to where we could change to the tram that goes by our hotel and saw that the two museums were lit up like the light shows we saw in Berlin so we walked over and watched them for a little while before going back to the hotel.  Once again I watched the last half of the other semi-final rugby match between Australia and Argentina, another good match that for a few Argentina mistakes would have been much closer.  So the finals will be New Zealand versus Australia and it should be a very good match, or so I hope.
Tomorrow we have a long travel day from Vienna back to Paris via Salzburg, Munich, and Stuttgart and we leave early.  Don't expect much the next day.

Tolpels in Vienna 10-24-15

Well here we are again today, Tolpels, bumpkins in German.  Each Saturday they have a large Flaumarkt (Flea Market) and it's only a 15 minute walk away.  So as the sun was shining and the weather looked to make fair we headed out and walked down to a canal where it's hosted.  We found it no problem and jumped right in.

Flaumarkt

The flaumarkt is different than Paris or Prague but essentially the same.  I guess the big difference is our reading of the Austrian demeanor, the dealers seem more distant and a bit less friendly.  I greeted them as we came into the booths, in German, and some responded and others just didn't, in Paris they all respond with a greeting as well and in Prague they responded too.   Maybe it's just me.  It was a zoo, not unexpected but still a lot more like roller-derby than one would expect.  Lot's more people smoking, lot's more people cutting you off, etc.  But to do it justice there were lots of juicy things to look at, of course since we're on the train and anything we buy has to be taken back discretion is the keyword.  Attached to the flaumarkt is the naschmarkt which is a series of little eating establishments and food vendors, so we walked through and finally found a little place that attracted us for lunch.  Deb had a pair of Bern sausages, wrapped in bacon and cheese, while I had a goulash soup and a dish of lentils with smoked pork and a couple beers. All pretty tasty.

Klimpt 

Klimpt - Life & Death

After lunch and the market we walked a few blocks up to the Leopold Museum, I wanted to see it last year but when I aborted my bike trip I didn't get to Vienna.  It was a private collection that was willed to the Austrian people by a man named Leopold.  He collected extensively from the German expressionists so the Blau Rider, the Secessionists, etc and decorative arts from the Wiener Werkstatt.
So it was a trip through art from about 1900 to 1950, featuring heavily Gustav Klimpt, and Egon Schiele, but also Emile Nolde, Lyonel Feininger, and others more obscure.

Schiele - CK House on River

Schiele - CK

It was fun to see the Schiele works because he spent some time in Cesky Krumlov, where there is a Schiele museum located as well. So to see several of his large oils that were painted in Cesky Krumlov was enjoyable. We stayed in the museum until closing time and then headed back to the hotel.  I watched the last half of the South Africa vs. New Zealand rugby quarter-finals of World Cup.  It was a really exciting game and very close in the end NZ 20 to SA 18.  We can only hope the final game will be so exciting.  Tonight is daylight savings so have to remember to set clocks back.

Nolde - Rising Clouds

Training Day or Off To Vienna 10-23-15

Our itinerary takes next to Vienna and to get there we have to backtrack a bit and then move forward on the intersecting line.  So we caught our bus, you remember that they are doing major line work between Cesky Krumlov and Cesky Budejovice, over to the last station that still has train service and proceeded from there.  However on the way the bus stops at analog stops where passengers would picked up if the line were intact and that's what we did.  At our last stop before meeting the train again there must have been more than 30 people waiting, about 5 adults and the rest little 4-5 year olds.  And they streamed on to the bus, Deb and I were in the back where there were open seats, in about 2 minutes there must have been 8 or 9 on the very last row and there were 3-4 on each double seat and they just kept coming on.  I realized that we would be overrun so I got up and moved to where I could stand but Deb was trapped!  She had another 3 little snappers up on the seat in no time and told me later that one of them would have happily climbed right into her lap but the teacher held her in check.
They were absolutely adorable, open and friendly unlike kids who've been taught to be wary around grownup strangers.  They just jumped into seats next to anybody who happened to be sitting there.  When we got to where we boarding the train, they got off (with teacher's help down) and were herded into a group and counted before marching off to some great adventure.
Our second train started out 20 minutes late, and we only had an 11 minute connection at Cesky Velenice so we were sure we were going to be stranded at the Czech border, but somehow we managed to arrive only about 3 minutes late and our connecting train was just across the platform waiting.   We walked across, got seats, and waited for our ontime departure.  We finally started seeing sunshine as we rode across the Austrian countryside, and it certainly is beautiful.   Our train stopped at many small towns on the way in to Vienna and we picked up many passengers and let others out.  I loved seeing the vineyards in the Austrian countryside, I feel a white wine itch.
Once we got to Vienna we found our hotel and while Deb read and planned, I went out to trade our Czech Crowns into Euros and obtain public transport tickets.  Were you aware that there don't seem to be any currency exchange businesses in Vienna?  I wasn't, and when I found out I also found out that banks are the only place to exchange currency and further more they were due to close in about 30 minutes.  So I reenacted a keystone cops movie and raced around trying to find a bank.  It took me 4 banks to find one that could do the exchange, some flatly refused and others closed 2 minutes prior to my arrival, but finally I got to the right one.  Too much work for 31 euros, but what would I do with Czech Crowns?
I wasn't carrying my camera and thus missed the somewhat wrenching scene at the railway station where there are Middle-Eastern refugees scattered all about.  This is a major crisis for the entire European community, but the Germans and Austrians are stepping up. bravo to them.  It's my opinion that a large part of the problem comes back to the U.S., we created a vacuum in governance in the Middle East with no real viable alternatives (only my opinion).  But it's a mess now.  This weekend is supposed to be sunny and mild, halleluja.  We will spend two more complete days here before heading back to Paris and the apartment.  Stay tuned.