June 29 – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, The Some “Not Worth Repeating”

TJ in Vienna

Today Niki took off from work so we could all go back into Vienna to spend time together.

We were supposed to stop (I thought) before reaching Vienna for some breakfast. I have an issue with low blood sugar, so by the time it hit 11:00am, we were pulling into the parking garage in Vienna and still had not stopped for food.
I was getting dizzy with a headache, so in general feeling icky and cranky.
This was after sitting in the backseat, feeling like I am on a roller coaster ride because Niki who drives a race car for one of his hobbies also treats public driving the same way.
The fast stopping/starting, flying around corners and aggressive driving with the almost constant yelling at other drivers had me on the verge of wanting to get out and catch the public transport. I asked him nicely to please calm down some but…. so I sat back and fiddled with my iPad and hoped not to get even more motion sickness.
There was much back and forth about where to eat, that I thought my head would explode, so I just walked towards McDonalds because I knew it would be fast. I was over “talking” about food, as I NEEDED food. I guess it is difficult for others to understand, if they don’t have the same problem.

While in McD’s a table full of punk ass teen-age girls were being so loud, obnoxious, walking on the seats, and any one of them could have easily starred in the “Mean Girls” movie. They were louder than all other teens in the place.
I already had a small headache, there was no where else to sit, as it was very crowded and I just wanted to eat my damn lunch, when a small moth flew by them, which incited them to scream, jump all over the place and acted like a damn snake was attacking them. At this point I had reached the end of my patience and I said, “it’s just a moth, geez.” They did not know exactly what I said but they could hear the displeasure in my voice, so they started calling us “tourist” and speaking Austrian, thinking we would not understand.
Well then Han and Niki began sternly speaking to them, with Niki being the most vocal since he speaks the best Austrian.
They then began calling us idiots in English quite a few times. I guess it was the only rude word in English that they knew how to say.
Niki was trying to explain to them and ask the to settle down but they were not having it. After calling us an idiot for about the 4th time, I freaking lost it.
I looked at her and said, “call me an idiot one more time and I am going to slap you, just do it.” Yeah, I really did and Niki told them what I said. I was so pissed and my face was beet red by that time.
Honestly had there been no witnesses, I would have slapped the words right out of her smart ass mouth.
They calmed down somewhat and shortly left after that.

Then another set of four girls, actually young ladies, sat down and you could instantly tell the difference in their upbringing. We complimented them on their manners. So that restored a smidgen of faith in todays teenagers.
I have learned that teen-agers are the same worldwide and for the most part, it is a sad situation that we have to hand over the world to such a bunch of self-entitled little know-it-alls. Obviously not all teens, but vastly too many and it sure worries me.

After eating, we began a fervent speed walk towards our next destination: Hofburg Luckily we saw a cute cafe and decided to have some coffee. Han accidentally spilled my water all over me, I yelped out of surprise and was then compared to the teenagers in McD’s restaurant by Niki. Thanks for that. Maybe tease the person who spilled the water instead?

We reached Hofburg Palace and it is huge, majestic and a tad overwhelming due to the size. We did not tour the palace due to short time schedule to get rental car back on time, but we did have fun seeing all the intricate clothing, treasures, jewels, some furnishings and religious articles at the Kaiserliche Schatzkammer Wien aka “Imperial Treasury Chamber Vienna.”
They have some truly stunning treasures and it is almost unbelievable that they could create such beauty with limited tools. The hand-sewn tapestry robes were nothing like I have ever seen before.
Flash photography is not allowed and if by mistake the camera does not listen to your command and it flashes anyway, you will be reprimanded over the intercom for all to hear. >insert embarrassed TJ face here<
http://www.kaiserliche-schatzkammer.at

We began our way back to the car, taking photos as we went.  I wanted to go down this one little alley that looked cute, but I went off the “schedule” and got the look.

We got back in the roller coaster to do some fly by of sites, take some photos and keep going.
We arrived at my favorite place of the day on the Danube River. The Donau Insel is a park area with restaurants, bars, beach area, swimming, beautiful swans, activities for families and such a relaxing easy feel to it.
Loved the soft breeze as we sat along the river front in an open air Greek Restaurant. The food was very tasty and the atmosphere was simply perfect.

We finally had to head home, and by accident we drove by a architectural gem Han had wanted to see: “The Hundertwasser Haus”, a gem of innercity architecture. After that Niki dropped us off at the house, before dropping the rental car off, grabbed one of the funniest movies around on the way back home “Deadpool” and that is how we ended the night.

Footnote: I reread this and realized that not every day is meant to be seen through rose-colored glasses.
Even on the off days we learn something about ourselves and others.
These stories are from my point of view. Niki and I discussed this and all is fine.
One wacky day is not going to damage our long standing bond we have for each other.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.