Caliban – Opinion and Righteous Anger

Today was our fourth day in Vienna. We’re really enjoying our time here.

After breakfast at Demel, we went to the Stadtpark again to let Eloïse crawl around on the ground.

The Stadtpark is lovely, lovelier in some ways than our own Vondelpark back home. I really wish people wouldn’t leave fag-ends in the grass, however. Why do filthy smokers not treat their fag-ends as litter? No-one makes them smoke in the park, so it’s their responsibility to take their foul litter home with them.

After the park, we spent most of the day walking around Vienna’s main shopping streets. The heat, again, was formidable, although things started to cool off somewhat in the early afternoon. The wind also gained significantly in strength.

Later in the day, after recuperating on Sacher-Torte and good coffee, we went to the Freudpark for Eloïse’s next exercise break.

She’s close to walking now, we think. She regularly clambers to her feet, then lets go of the thing that is supporting her. After some wobbling, her bum flops down onto the ground, but each time she looks more confident and has a facial expression that seems to say, “I’m getting there. Just you watch.”

Vienna has an amazing number of parks; about 50% of the city is green, which makes it a very pleasant place to walk around. I wish all cities had been built with regard for this practice.

After dinner, some light rain came in. We hope that signals lower temperatures in the coming days. It’s been hotter here than in the Middle East and India over the last few days.

Tomorrow’s our last day here, so we have to be sure to pack in the last few things we want to see.

On Sunday, we get back into the car and head north to Brno in the South Moravian part of Czechia.

After breakfast this morning, Sarah bought some amber at a local jewellery shop. That’s been pretty much our only lasting purchase in Slovakia.

A quick ascent of the Michalská veža (Michael Tower) for rooftop views of the city and an equally quick, cold soft drink to use up the remainder of our Slovak currency (Koruny) followed. After that, we loaded the car and headed out of Bratislava across the Nový Most and headed for Vienna, just 70 km away.

In no time at all, we were at the Austrian border. Although this particular crossing had only one open lane, we were quickly across and on our way.

I was sad to say goodbye to Slovakia, for which I will always have a special fondness: stunning scenery with excellent hiking, breathtaking mountains, warm people, cheap prices and great food (in Bratislava, at least; more hit and miss elsewhere). And who could forget the zmrzlina?

And then, before we knew it, it was 14:00 and we were rolling into Vienna.

Computerised Audi-woman escorted us straight to the Sacher, where a pitiful doorman dressed in abysmally inappropriate garb for the merciless weather helped pile our bags onto a luggage trolley. Sarah and Eloïse went inside to check in, whilst I drove around the block to park the car underground.

Parking in the centre of Vienna is, as you might expect, not what you might call cheap. We really might have been better off leaving the car in Bratislava, catching the hydrofoil to Vienna, and getting a taxi from the quay to the hotel. In fact, it definitely would have been vastly cheaper than using petrol and paying to park the car. The only reason we didn’t do this is because of the perceived hassle of lugging our bags around in the searing heat and not being able to bring all of our items (there’s only so much you can carry, and we have a pram to consider, too).

I was quickly back at the Sacher, however, where I met up with Sarah. A porter was assigned to lead us to our room… and what a room!

This place is beyond luxurious. I thought the Kempinski in Budapest was nice (and it was), but this place is in a different league. We are — without a shadow of a doubt — the two scruffiest fuckers staying here (Eloïse’s quite presentable, in case you were wondering). In fact, we’re too shabby-looking to even get into our hotel’s own restaurant (no shorts, please); we peered through the cut-glass windows into a time gone by, where well-groomed gentlefolk were exchanging plesantries as an appropriately dressed pianist set the mood.

Our room is sumptuous, to say the least. We have a pillow menu, for crying out loud. Just dial 1, and a down pillow, one filled with horse hair, or even a wedge-shaped one will wing its way to the room.

When we came back from our first explorations of the Innere Stadt this afternoon, our beds had been turned down (why do hotels perform this most useless of services?), mats had been placed on the floor on each side of the bed (well, you wouldn’t want to touch the carpet with your bare feet, would you?), and a plate containing chocolate bon-bons and two individual Sacher-Torte cakes was on the table, together with a letter welcoming us to the room.

The real Sacher-Torte is delicious, too, I can now vouch, as is their rum-truffle-like punch cake dessert.

Anyway, that’s all garnishing. The real reason we are here is the city itself, Vienna. Tomorrow will be our first full day of exploration.

Tomorrow morning, we bid a fond farewell to Slovakia, as we leave the capital, Bratislava, and head for Vienna, the Austrian capital, for five days.

We’ve had a great time here in Bratislava, but as always, all good things must come to an end. The food has been excellent, with restaurants like Le Monde, Mezzo Mezzo and Tempus Fugit (the latter two of which coincidentally have the same owner) giving anything in Budapest a run for its money.

Yesterday, we took a river-boat up the Danube to Devín Castle. Once we’d climbed to the top of the castle grounds, we were rewarded with beautiful views of the lower ramparts, plus distant views up the Danube into Austria.

Today, the largest part of the day was taken up with a day-trip to Slovakia’s oldest town, Trnava.

Vienna promises to be a veritable feast for all five senses, not least amongst which that of taste. We’ll be staying within the historic Innere Stadt, at the Sacher Hotel, founded by the son of the inventor of the famous Sacher-Torte.

After Czech, Slovak and Hungarian keyboards, this entry is coming via my phone’s tiny keyboard.

We’re now in Bratislava, having arrived here yesterday from the Hungarian town of Sopron via a very attractive part of eastern Austria.

Bratislava turns out to be a really nice town with a beautiful, charming and vivacious historic city centre. We have a further three nights here to enjoy ourselves.

A long drive, some 250 km, lies behind us today, as we enjoy our last night in Hungary. Nine nights in four towns have given us a good impression of the place, and we look forward to returning another time, to take in Lake Balaton and the south of the country.

We drove from Szentendre to Sopron today, placing us a stone’s throw from the Austrian border. Sopron’s a lovely town with an unspoilt mediaeval layout. The huge number of dentists and opticians, beckoning to Austrians to cross the border for cheaper healthcare, do not detract from the town’s charm.

Tomorrow, we drive to Bratislava, the Slovak capital.