Drizzly, unmotivating day... wait, am I in London??

I struggled to get out of bed today... it's been a steady decline in the morning stakes since I realised how long I've been doing early morning starts. Making matters worse, it was raining (my body must've known) and dreary so we were naturally instantly unmotivated by life. In general. Felt like I was back in London.

Brandishing whip and a fuck-you attitude, I moved the camels around and succeeded in not having Mustafa make a mockery out of me today. Still got the factory hand to help me tying him up though... on G's orders, of course. I would've managed... maybe. I felt like we were moving in slow motion - maybe because each step we took was calculated due to extremely slippery conditions - but at the end we weren't finished all that much later than normal.

The boss was due back today after her 10-day health retreat, sure to be brimming with life and energy, so I wasn't quite sure if I was ready to have her back in the picture. On one hand, I was excited about having her back because she is a funny little ball of energy that always has new things to do... on the other, she could start ordering us around doing this n that every second because there are two of us now.

Happily, she was the former, mostly concerned with unpacking and settling herself back into the house than finding chores for us to do. I showed her what we'd done while she was gone, and that seemed to please her. I am actually surprised, she hasn't pushed us to do much at all, I guess figuring the weather was a bit of a dampener (bad pun alert)... or maybe the worst is yet to come tomorrow. Eeeeeeeek!

L is still praying we get to ride, I guess I am too but I know how shitty it can be when it's wet n slippery. It will be funny to see her try to move the camels but I know it takes some getting used to, so I wouldn't be surprised if she just moved around the edges silently for the first few times. I just hope her presence means less effort for me and therefore less whip blisters on thumbs.

My old school friend rang today re Vienna - seems she's still keen as mustard to come along, just looking into trains now. Would be awesome if it all worked out... Vienna is such a nice city and there is still so much of it I haven't seen. Like the butterfly nursery!! Also wouldn't mind getting some pints in with aforementioned mate, it's been a while between drinks - literally!

Unexpected riding ahead

Had a mini bout of depression this morning, brought on by a couple of small mishaps during the morning rounds. First, Mustafa (the big stallion I had issues with yesterday) kicked me. Again. I don't know what has changed, we were so good together before... sigh as heart falters. Then I stupidly didn't open a gate when I let the camels through and the ensuing confusion caused raucous behaviour from the camels and the smallest one fell over from being picked on so much. Poor thing was bleeding on the hind leg afterwards. I've made a special note to pamper her a little today.

G called and said she will be back for a couple of hours (is that allowed at this health retreat??? hmmm...) so this means we can go riding - yay!!! I have been selected hard-mouthed Hafi, oh what joy, and I don't know how the ground is up there now the snow has melted to mud, but it should be fun anyway. The day is nice enuf for it...

We got a lot done again today, we didn't even think about "11sies"... well, I actually did but by that stage it was actually past 12. Good sign. The less eating, the better. These jodphurs need to stay done up, thank you!!

So I told W he need not take us to Vienna on Thursday, as J from Friday night is happy to do it. Now we just need to avoid telling G too much or she might make L stay home and miss out on the day trip. Boo. But it will be good to finally introduce G and L - can't believe she's been here a week and has never met her "boss"! I think this actually might be a new record for G... leaving before a new helper comes. I'll take that as a compliment.

Opening cans of camel whoopass

Had a new experience when dealing with the camels this morning. One of the bastards - the former stallion, no less - kicked me. Yes, kicked me. With it's front leg. Odd.

Although the action didn't actually hurt - with their pads, it was more like a soft thump - but the incident caused me to immediately freak a little that I'd lost the 'alpha' status I needed to be able to control them during the early morning feeding process. My reaction? Open a whole caaaaaaaaaaaaaaan of whoopass on the prick. I used what I had in my hand - a bunch of collars - and whipped him a few times until I was sure he was scared of me, or just fed up with the whipping. Then I grabbed a whip and made sure I tied him up with no more instances.

Now I don't want y'all to think I've gone crazy with power ("what's the use of going crazy without power??" sorry... Simpsons movie quote there - when you watched that one a zillion times while teaching English in Bratislava, it happens)... I really had to take charge of the situation, and if you knew how big this guy was... his humps sit about 2m off the ground I reckon. If he goes over the top of me, I am finished.

So. Besides this, today was good. Another sunny one, and we used the opportunity to do outdoorsy kinda work with the hay and oiling some of the tack. Actually, we got a lot done today, and when G called me from her health retreat (sounding relaxed, I'm happy to report), I told her we were on a break because our arms were about to give up on us. I swear L will punch me next time I ask her to get the wheelbarrow.

W asked when we were going to Vienna, and as I thought he was perhaps organising the trip for tomorrow, I confusedly said ummm, Thursday?? He said OK, then I checked my email and the girl who took us out on Friday said she could also take us to Vienna that day. So now I am sure I will be there on Thursday, no matter what. Everything will be sorted. Fingers crossed.

Free hotel, private airport transfer in Rio? I'll take that!

So it seems an oversight by my travel agent has turned out rather well for little ol' gypsy traveler here... by incorrectly booking my flight and having to move it 2 days earlier, I have now been given 2 nights accomm in Rio and could cancel my original Vienna - London flight so she could rebook another one, thereby getting back a small refund on my ticket.

And it gets better. My Couchsurfing friend in Rio - who I dared not ask to stay a FURTHER 2 nights on the already-generous 10 he committed to during Carnival - suggested a hotel near his place and I forwarded that onto my agent, not really knowing much about it. At the same time, I asked if it was possible to get a hotel transfer from the airport as I get in late (and on my lonesome, with an inconveniently heavy backpack in tow). She came back saying none of it was a problem, and she'd book me a private transfer as well.

I then Googled said hotel and found it was 4 stars, and the price I would've paid for those 2 nights is about 265 euros. Sheizer!! So that's pretty snazzy. Just hope I don't spend too much more in those extra days on food etc than I would've at the camel farm. Speaking of food at the camel farm, last night I had knödel, a traditional Austrian potato dumpling... mmm mmmmm so tasty!! Had the leftover 1 for lunch today.

The weather today continued to be ball-freezing, I tried to stay indoors as much as possible but it was hard because every time I was outside I'd find more things that needed doing. Such is life! G was busy running around, more stressed than usual because this is her last day before going away for 10 days. So I just did my thing and kept out of her way, on the times she was actually here.

The morning was pretty hectic, though, and I ended up having breakfast 4 hours after I got up. Late for the amount of energy I exude until that time.

I had to exercise the camels before their big break... now horseriding G doesn't usually count as work, more play, but today I tell ya it was WORK! The lazy fuckers didn't want to move more than a walk, but I gotta be honest, my joints were also beginning to freeze up with the cold. G went off to do other things and I swear she forgot about me out there, because I ended up having to call her and ask her to come back to help me move the camels back almost an hour later as my chin, toes and thighs had gone numb.

Was thinking I was alone for Vienna, but my old school friend says she's still in... this is a good sign. Very good. Considering the tomfoolery - oh, the tomfoolery! - we used to get up to back in the day...

Seeing Austria through my champers glass

Today brought with it more English and more delicious food... as I sit here typing my stomach is about to burst from eating the leftovers for dinner (there's still some left in the fridge).

I did the morning work in record time (2 hours) - without even meaning to rush! - and thought I'd have a quick nap before being picked up at noon by one of G's friends for lunch and some help with English learning. Seems it wasn't to be, as I found things to keep me busy until I was rushing to change clothes in time to be picked up.

Now, still having not had any nap time, I need to go to my room and try to rest my brain before making it sleep. I've been having a hard time shutting off lately, there is so much going around my head and I am not as exhausted as usual so I can't just pass out anymore. Damn my body regulating to this routine!!

Lunch was awesome, some meat rissoles (I taught E the word "rissole" and it sounded so funny, colloquial English coming from an Austrian), mashed potato, creamy sauce and a variation on the traditional sour potato salad they always seem to serve here. Mmmm.... even with my full stomach my mouth waters at the thought of it.

We went across the st (literally, across the road) to a young boy who was learning English at school and talked with him and helped him with his exercises. After a while, it does start to drain my brain, all this thinking about what I'm saying. I'm not meant to think about what I say!! I'm me!

After that, and a couple of glasses of champagne (sweeeeet), I was driven the scenic route home and tried to stop myself from lapsing into an alcohol-spurred slumber to enjoy the views. We went through lots of little villages, all with their pastel-coloured Austrian houses with little designs around the windows, plantations of Christmas trees and dustings of snow from the last couple of nights. Actually, it was snowing softly this morning when I was feeding, a really light snow that fell ever so slightly onto the ground. My favourite kind.

The scenery really is so stunning here, the area is world heritage listed because it is so pretty and has so many ruins and castles around about. I didn't see any today but we often drive past one... it's like oh, hey, there's another 1000-year old building. Sweet. Next!

On another note, my Spanish friend can't come to Vienna anymore and another friend I had invited just quit her job so I doubt she wants to splash out on a city break... here's to hoping my other mates don't dog it! Oh well, I will just hans solo. I need to sort my visa to Brazil anyway...

The most intense sausage ever

To say my bus ride to Vienna was enjoyable would not be entirely true... I was running for mayor of Struggle Town after NYE and it was a blessing that I was able to stretch out on 2 seats and try to sleep during the 5 hour journey. And occasionally I would peek out the window at the changing landscape, still covered in snow but now getting noticeably more high brow.

Landing just outside the city centre, I was helped by some German girls to the main train station and stupidly wandered around helplessly trying to find it before asking someone and getting pointed to the rather large building opposite the local train station with WESTBAHNOF printed in equally obvious letters above the door. Ahem.

About an hour later, I arrived in Melk, a town I assumed to be just like the other Help X places - completely remote and isolated. How wrong I was, I thought, as I strode down to the town centre and saw the massive Stift Melk (monastry) that overlooks everything. What a magnificent building. As before, photos will come... apologies for the delay.

I had to wait an hour and a half for my new host to pick me up, so I went to the cafe and ordered some kind of sausage from the German menu. The waitress didn't speak much English so I took my chances. The plate arrived and on it were two giant weiner sausages, split down the middle with cheese melted into them, and wrapped in bacon. Plus sides. Not gonna lie, I was scared.

So after tackling the mountain of sausage in my hungover state, I met my new host G and we went to her camel farm. There, I met the camels (so funny!!) and she showed me around a little. Altogether, there are 10 camels, 10 horses, a bunch of wild sheep and deer, 3 ostriches, 2 cats, guinea pigs, rabbits and her mum's dog. So, plenty to keep me occupied :)

I was pretty tired so I went to bed as soon as I could... Unfortunately sleep didn't come as easily, given I was actually in a bed with a blanket and not on a floor with my jumped laid on top of me, but eventually I dozed off. Then came my alarm at 5:30am...

Next job opp - teaching English in Eastern Europe??

Oh, and I forgot to mention that during my time with the American and the Canadian, I started talking to this other American guy who'd lived in Hungary for 9 years and owned an English speaking school. Apparently he has teachers who are mostly based in Budapest that he send to some other Hungarian city, Vienna in Austria and Slovakia (or was it Slovenia??) to teach. Pay sounds half decent... got his details so I think I'll keep him in mind post-Romanian horse farm...