Vienna, Austria, 18th - 19th September 2011

MUNICH Sitting in the living room of Erhan's broher-in-law's apartment, I hear the noise of children playing in the school downstairs. It's a Jewish school and the kids put on a skull cap. Nice... We arrived Vienna early in the morning from Munich. Munich was a nice city. It was very crowded though. The Germans (and of course everyone else all over the world including some groups of American tourists) were celebrating the Oktoberfest. The festival that seemed to be about drinking and getting drunk. I walked down a stretch of road where all the shops were. By shops I meant the fashion stores. H&M, UCB, bla bla.. The names have left my head already. I didn't really buy any clothes just walking down. That stretch was really crowded with restaurants along the way.  I took my time to just look around and soak in the atmosphere. Erhan and Ömer on the other hand were walking so quickly and chatting away. I lost them a few times and had to call Ömer on the phone. Neither of us could find the landmark the other was talking about even when we were on opposite buildings about 10m away from each other.  In the crowded place with shops and buildings all so different, everything became the same. I found them after 15mins and two phone calls later.. After Ömer left us, we decided to sit at one of the alfresco dining places for tea. While there, there was this man who was putting up a show for everyone. He was playing pranks on passers-by. Onlookers were really entertained. Most of his victims were also very sporting playing along with him. I was wondering why he was doing that. Then... After about a half hour, the answer came. He took out a bag with a '€' sign on it and he made a hand gesture to show eating. Then I understood he was busking. That's a first. JETLAG IN VIENNA It's almost 6am and I have problem sleeping since 4. In Singapore I will automatically wake up at 10am so my body is still on sg time. Anyway, it's not so bad. I'm just an early bird in Europe. I'll take a walk later to greet the sun. Yesterday, we (Erhan, Namık and I) had a walk in the hub of Vienna. Vienna is very much a mix of a few places. If I hadn't been to Baku, London or Munich, Vienna would be really authhentic. Anyway, as I walked, I saw some nice buildings. There were horse carriages but that was very much for touristic purposes. Namık is Erhan's nephew who's settled down in Austria. He lives one level above Erhan's brother-in-law. While I was standing around the waiting area for these horse carriages, I heard the sound of water being poured onto the road from a pail, like a prolong splashing. Then I saw where the sound came from. One of the horses was peeing. That was a lotof pee. The horse must have a very big bladder. Another notable feature about Vienna is the influence of Mozart. In London, there's a Beatle shop. in Vienna there is a (few?) Mozart shop(s). There is even a toilet that played orchestra music. I could hear it as I walked past. I guess the music helps the flow of bladder and bowel movement and also maybe to mask the funny toilet sounds. They should also make some music with the toilet sounds. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT I'm reading this book for a second time and the neighbourhood that we are staying in, if it was a little bit more dilapidated, i think it will be a good setting for the movie. JEWISH SCHOOL  I was looking out of the window after waking up. Jewish families were sending their kids to the school downstairs. Mothers with prams, fathers driving cars, kids cycling, kids walking. They all streamed into the gates. The gate was a heavy, blue metal gate that closed on its own. Many a times, the prams were pinned between the gate. The mothers would have to push it open. Kids on bicycles had to get down and push their way through the gate. One of the kids tried to ride through the gate but fell off the moment he passed through the gate. All of the men going to the school wore this black long coat and a hat. Some looked like those fedora type, another small group would have a skull cap. The men and kids also have these two strands of hair down their sides like sideburns but not quite. Most of them were in black or mostly black. Everyone was in a hurry. This was a rainy Monday morning.