Not even the fact that I'd lost the alpha battle with former stallion camel (never have been good with stallions) could dampen my spirits today - it was Vienna day trip time!! J, the local friend I've been out with a couple of times now, offered kindly to drive us the hour-long trip to the big city during her holidays and I gladly accepted!
We got up a little earlier - neither L or I had trouble waking up today! - and worked hard to get the stables done quickly. Mustafa has come to find it entertaining to try and chase me, so tomorrow it's whip in hand AT ALL TIMES. Sneaky mother fucker. I will not go down without a fight.
J arrived on time, 8:15am, with her 7-year-old son (STILL can't believe she has a son at school!) and 10-year-old half-brother in tow. First stop for me in Vienna was the Brazilian Embassy, where my expectations that the famed "Eduardo" - the only English-speaking member of staff I'd called with questions several times before - would be a striking Brazilian stud ready to waive my visa and carry me in his arms across the border... well, there's this thing called "reality"...
Anyway, Eduardo was helpful enuf, after initially questioning me on why I didn't have a letter from my employee (uhh, employee??). He even took the passport photo in their little setup in his office and lingered his fingers over the keypad as he asked casually, "So what were we giving you then, 60 days or 90...?" Uhh, 90 thanks, if you'd be so kind. "Righty-o, 90 it is." *Bats eyelashes* Hmm, is it that easy then??
I met up with the others, who'd spent their time climbing hundreds of stairs in some famous church spiral (dodged a bullet with the one), and announced I was famished. So off to the würstel (sanger) stand it was. I've actually grown accustomed to those hideous tubes of god-knows-what meat with extra bits n bobs thrown in... I remember years back in Berlin when even the word Bratwurst would send shivers down my spine.
We walked around town in the lusciously warm sun, stopping at another church built similarly to St Pauls in London, and then onto Schönbrunn, the most famous castle. Or rather, its grounds. Yes, the tightass tour of Europe continues. But holy shit, the grounds were beautiful. And at the top of the hill we found the Gloriette cafe, where I splurged on some overpriced torte which I savoured as long as possible (about 30 seconds) in the beautiful surrounds.
The drive home was pretty silent, we were all beat from the day's activities, but we were all pretty chuffed at what we'd achieved. Me, I got my visa sorted FINALLY (will pick it up next w.e on my days off - man, that sounds GOOD), also got some sightseeing in, enjoyed another sunny day, and actually felt like we gave ourselves a day off! Tick, tick, TICK for that To Do list!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment