the last schlafwagen to veniceby michelle
The only thing nicer than going to Venice... is getting proposed to an hour before you leave for Venice. One would think that Venice is where you would get proposed to which makes getting proposed to before you go most certainly a surprise. And it makes the already highly anticipated trip to Venice even more highly anticipated. What was once just a ho-hum run-of-the-mill trip to Venice, Italy is now an ENGAGEMENTMOON to be celebrated at every waking moment. And celebrated we did.
So we decided to take a sleeper train to Venice or as they say in those parts, a Schlafwagen. The nice thing about taking the train is there is no rigamarole to go through before you get to the train including pretty much zero security. I could have had bombs in my underwear, shoes... I could have shown up five minutes before the train left and had one of those cartoon round bombs with the long fuse under each arm and been like, hey what's up, and they probably wouldn't have even looked at me twice.
So we reserved our very own two-person Schlafwagenzimmer (sleeper car room). I think it's the fanciest you can go on these things. The next step down is what is called a couchette which basically is a room with six couches, three on each side like bunk beds, that you share with random people. We get two nice bunkbeds with a little table and a couch and even a little sink. Mind you, it's all very cramped and tiny but they do maximize the space.
Who's that engaged lady in the Schlafwagen?
If you want to see more, go to our Videos page to get a grand tour of our glamorous quarters!
Along with the fancy room, we got a nice big breakfast in the morning. This translates to us each getting to choose six things from a list of Viennese breakfast items which can best be described as a deconstructed sandwich. The bread traditionally included with one's Frühstück (I'm larnin' you something!) is basically a Kaiser roll or as they say in Vienna, Semmel. The other items are basically jam, butter, cold cuts, cheese slices, pate, etc. And of course, we also got some juice and coffee. It is Wiener Frühstück, isn't it?
Riding into Venice on the train is beautiful. For those of you who are unawares, Venice is an island and you arrive just as it's light over the water onto the island and into the city right to the train station.
That, my friends, is the island of Venice.
After we unloaded and detrained, we made our way to the water taxi aka Vaporetto stop. I was fully debriefed by my Venetian friend Andrea which Vaporetto to take to our hotel as one will make many stops (1) whilst the other (2) is very swift about taking you through the Grand Canal. However, even a native's help will not prepare you for navigating the "streets" of Venice. I had a map. It seemed we were very close to where we needed to be. I wish Venice were laid out like an Ikea. You walk in the entrance and maybe you have to walk through the whole store but you will eventually pass by everything before you get to the end. In Venice, you basically wander and wander and wander perhaps employing some natural instinct and hopefully stumble across your destination. That is essentially what happened to us. We knew we were close. It just took us a while to find the right rape alleys to follow. We somehow found our hotel. Unfortunately, however, it was still a bit early, so we were not rewarded with a room or even so much as a high five for finding the place. We dropped off our bags and headed off into the frozen city. Oh, did I mention? Venice was super duper cold. It was so cold, I didn't even think of getting an Italian gelato. That's cold.
Let me pedal back a week or so to make mention that in my German class, a Lithuanian classmate warned me of the flooded streets in Venice. I scoffed at her. She said, wear galoshes! I doublescoffed. Well, here I found myself in Venice, Italy and a lot of the streets were indeed flooded. I scoffed in error! I doublescoffed in a double error! Now, the kind city puts out platforms for us greenhorns to walk on when this situation arises. However, there were a lot of showoffs in their knee-high water boots splashing around from here to there and back again. I could wear galoshes! I can splash around! You're not analyzing the complex genetics data of the Arabidopsis thaliana! That's what Alex does. I like to throw it around when I can.
Some people put on their galoshes and took on the water. We opted for the platforms.
Honestly, though, I don't know why I have been wasting your time. I went to Venice. I will now give you what you want... FOOD PORN!
At Osteria Al Portego eating a plate of awesome fried seafood. Heaven.
Taking a break after some ridiculously awesome pumpkin flan at La Zucca in Venice.
Our meals at Osteria Al Promessi Sposi. That's a whole lot of squid ink.
At Osteria Al Portego. Up top we have pappardelle with pork sausage and porcini mushrooms and on the bottom we have gnocchi with scallops and zucchini and saffron. Murder me it was so good.
Ciao!
i know all there is to know about the crying gameby michelle
Alex and I had separate flights from Vienna to Hawaii. Mine was through DC. And that is where this story takes place. I arrived in my nation's capitol about 4pm. I had about an hour and a half to connect and it takes bloody forever to go through customs. You have to wait there in line with a million people in the same predicament as you. And there was this jackass of a guy who was trying to cut past everybody because he has a plane to catch. Really, a plane? Guess what? We ALL have a plane to catch, a-hole. I actually said that to him minus the a-hole part.
I finally got to my gate with a few minutes to spare. And....the flight was overbooked. (Thanks United!) So I just had to wait there for my name to be called. Tick tock. Tick tock. Finally, she sighed and said, I hate to do this. And then she said two names...one not my name and one MY NAME. Hallelujah. Let's roll. (Okay, maybe that's not the right thing to say when talking about an impending plane ride) So I get on the plane where I have been instructed to find an open seat. I spy one right away but the other girl was right there and her name was called first and I am nice so I did something that was going to become very regrettable... I offered her the seat. I did that assuming the other purported open seat was just going to be a few rows back...so I kept walking... and walking... until I found myself at the end of the plane part. Shit, no more seats. Dammit! Why was I so nice to that girl I didn't know? She was probably a jerkface too. Maybe I could just go unnoticed and let this plane take off with me standing here and I could do a choreographed dance between the aisles and the lavatories for the next five hours? I didn't get a chance. I got spotted. I wish I had worn my "inconspicuous part of the interior of an airplane" camouflage. Exit, stage left. Sigh. Cue plane take off. Now show me some despair. Oh, DESPAIRRRRR.
I was so very tired. And so very screwed. It was too late to get on any flights after that one. Alex was on his way to Los Angeles where he was expecting to meet me at my gate when we were then supposed to go to meet the good Jim Hamilton at baggage claim. I had no American cell phone. I had no American money. So I had to go exchange my 10 odd euros for cash and then use that cash to get change from a bartender. Then, I had to travel in a time machine back to 1998 and use a payphone. Oh, the humanity. And I'm jetlagged to the point of feeling drugged. Well, I guess, technically, I was jetlagged AND drugged. It's a PRESCRIPTION!
So then I had to go wait in line. It seems really unfair that they overbook your flight, they screw your plans and then they make you wait in an unreasonably long line. (Thanks United!) Not to mention an unreasonable long line with pissed-off, crazy people. Everybody wants you to join their Team Angry Consumer. I just wanted out of there. It took probably an hour and a half of line waiting before I got my turn. At this point, I was kind of glad to be getting a hotel and some cash. It was late and I had enough jetlag to work through already without adding on another three-hour time difference. There was another flight at 8am in the morning which would put me in Los Angeles 11amish which wasn't going to be so terrible. However, as the man helping me was ringing it up, he realized that that morning flight was sold out too and he wasn't going to have a specific seat available for me. He said that I was first on the list though and it shouldn't be a problem. (DANGER DANGER DANGER) I was too tired to protest though. (No, Michelle. Protest! You should protest!) Sure, fine, whatever. Where's the bed?
I got back to the airport the next morning with plenty of time to spare. I wanted to be the first person at the gate. The rep finally showed up about an hour after I got there and she barely looked up when she told me that the flight was overbooked (Thanks United!) and she couldn't promise that I would get a seat and THAT SHE WOULD CALL MY NAME WHEN SHE DID. She had to say that over and over to people. I didn't want to make her madder so I just sat nearby and waited patiently and hoped hoped hoped things were not going to turn into a shitstorm. Then, I heard her say to somebody that the next available flight after this one didn't leave until like 8pm. SHITSTORM! I started to panic. And I realized that drastic measures needed to be taken. There was only one choice. I had only one option. I went up to that counter and focused on the new less-angry-seeming lady that was now there... and I started, "I know that you have said this over and over and that you'll call my name when you can give me a seat but I just had to say something because I just have to get on that plane. I can't stay here in D.C. all day. I don't know anybody here. (Voice crack) I don't have a cell phone. I don't have any money. (Tears) I've been living in Vienna and my boyfriend is supposed to meet me in Los Angeles and we're going to Hawaii tomorrow and I can't stay here (Full-on crying with an audience)." I looked at her face and I saw that I broke her. She looked back at me with Mom eyes. Mission accomplished. She said to just be patient and listen for my name. I wasn't embarrassed that I cried in public. I wasn't embarrassed because all those people waiting for their names to be called were just jealous that they didn't do it first. And they couldn't do it now. That would be so transparent. Five minutes later, mine was the first name called. And when I went up to get my boarding pass, the first meaner gate lady held on to it, looked at me with these super "tsk, tsk" eyes and said, "Next time... don't cry."
Sorry, mean lady. It worked too good. My only regret is I didn't cry the night before.
i made tirolerknoedelnby drplatt
They're like grammelknödeln, only filled with Tirolers.
In all honesty, neither of those things are true. The protein is some sort of smoked ham and they’re not much like grammelknödeln at all. There is a theory, however, that they were invented by the toilet paper industry to boost sales.
It’s my theory, anyway.
--AP
i made grammelknoedelnby drplatt
Had I known beforehand what grammeln were I'd've made some other sort of knödeln.
It's stuffed with whatnow?
--AP
too late for second thoughtsby michelle
Well, I am here. He is here. And I am here. We are both here. Here is here. There is there. Here and there. There, there. Did I mention I was jetlagged?
Okay, so let me recap my last week in Los Angeles before I bring up my first coupla days in Vienna. First off, Judge Judy was cancelled. Her show wasn't cancelled, mind you. If my Grandpa is reading this, I hope I didn't just give him a heart attack. Hi, Grandpa. (He likes it when I mention him.) Rah, rah Obama and the public option! (He doesn't like it when I talk about politics). But I digress...Judge Judy's taping was cancelled. She shares studio space with crazypants Judge Joe Brown and he needed it so they pushed her taping back to October 3rd. Such is life. (By the way, I have connections so it is on good authority that I refer to him as crazypants.) It was too bad. I have had bad luck with my bon voyage events. First, I have Beastie Boys tickets and that gets cancelled (Get better, MCA!) and then this. However, my mother had the best perspective..."Well, they aren't going to close Disneyland, Michelle." And she's right. They did not close Disneyland. And my friend Stanley and I Disneylanded the shit out of that place on Thursday. Both parks, 9 hours, tons of family fun. If you ever need a Disneyland partner-in-crime, I offer up Stanley as the best candidate. He showed this lady a great time.
I have to give myself a big high five. I did a great job packing. Wednesday, I made one last pass through all my stuff which yielded a final offering for Goodwill. Thursday, after I got back from my big day, I mustered up enough energy to start putting things in suitcases. Somewhere during this, I went on the internet to see how much it costs to check a third bag. In my head, it seemed like it should be $50ish. Uhh, check that. Scratch that. Reverse it. It's 200 clams. Really, United? So I had to do something that I hate doing... carry on a suitcase. I know I'm in the minority here. Everybody carries on now to avoid that $15 to $25 charge. Not me! I check. I think of that fee as me paying to not have to carry anything around while I'm traipsing through the airport. And I consider it worth it. I like to be unencumbered. However, color me encumbered... I'm carrying on this suitcase. Not only am I carrying on a suitcase but also a laptop bag filled with laptop. Encumbered times two. So anyhow, I get everything packed up and I'm ready to go. I'd say I was done by early evening. When does that happen? I'm a write that 15 page paper the night before kinda gal. Guess it's a new beginning. It was nice though. My friend Cesar came over for a few hours and when Jim came by after work, we went to my favorite restaurant Cube for my last Los Angeles meal. If you're in Los Angeles, do your mouth a favor and go there.
Okay, I have to take a break now and nurse my jetlag. Stay tuned for the beginnings of my Vienna adventures. It'll be soon, promise.
the @whatupvienna twitter
the @biloon twitter
the photos
the weather
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Mostly Cloudy
30°F
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Fri
33/28
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Sat
41/24
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Sun
39/26
the comments
- MomBiloon on action photos
- sphobia on take your prague and shove it
- katy on take your prague and shove it
- AP on take your prague and shove it
- Stephanie on he liked it so he went and put a ring on it (among other things)
the most commented
the links
- american women's society of vienna
- bjarni & dorte machen wien
- deutschakademie
- english cinema in vienna
- english theatre in vienna
- germanwings
- livemocha
- official website of comedian michelle biloon
- the @drplatt twitter
- the daily flailure
- the gregor mendel institute
- vienna expats forum
the calendar
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