What's She Up to Now? Jody's Life Blog

Vienna, Austria and Real Life

Howdy!

So, today we're in Austria. The Austrian flag is red and white...hmmm...well, I can't type in white, so I'll just use red and BLACK. lol Red was the color I typed in last time, so I'll keep that. Black will be the prompt's color. I hope that's not too confusing when I go on to write about other things after this 30-Day Blogging Challenge entry...

August 14th--Vienna, Austria

http://www.altstadt.at/en One of Austria's famous Design Hotels.

Vienna is the capital of Austria, lies in the country’s east on the Danube River. Its artistic and intellectual legacy was shaped by residents including Mozart, Beethoven and Sigmund Freud. The city is also known for its Imperial palaces, including Schönbrunn, the Habsburgs’ summer residence. In the MuseumsQuartier district, historic and contemporary buildings display works by Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt and other artists.

Well, that was a very long train ride, but worth it. Intrestingly, Kit of House Lannister tried to get us to sing a Dutch song about 100 little fishes and them getting eaten by sharks one at a time. Not a bad song, but it was too early for singing. lol I should have put in my ear plugs and gone to bed rather than continuing to have fun with my roommates from our last place last night.

http://www.austria.info/uk/where-to-go/cities/vienna

Vienna Love and Desire in Vienna
Stories about love and desire in Vienna are a universally intriguing and almost inexhaustible topic. Viennese have partaken in the pleasures of the flesh for centuries. The so-called “Hübschlerinnen” (prostitutes) of the Middle Ages and the courtesans of the famous Graben street of the baroque era were part of the Viennese way of life and love. This entertaining tour will give you insight into life inside those private dining rooms, and you will hear anecdotes about flirtatious encounters, but also about true love at the royal court.

https://www.guides-in-vienna.at

What?!? No tour of the Vienna Sausage Factory?!? This place sucks! Hahaha Kidding. We are getting closer to my roots--Germany and Switzerland! I'm excited!

I wasn't so thrilled about the idea of a "Love and Desire" tour, since I'm not a romantic for the most part, but when they started talking about prostitutes and courtesans, I decided this tour wasn't so bad after all. lol

Central Cemetery
In 1874 Viennese citizen Jakob Zelzer was the first to be buried in the newly-opened Central Cemetery. Today this resting place with more than 3 million graves is the largest in Europe. Besides countless ordinary citizens, the cemetery has the largest number of celebrity graves. Musicians such as Beethoven, Schubert, Johann Strauss or Falco; actors such as Hans Moser, Theo Lingen or Curd Jürgens; painters, architects and sculptors and other luminaries are interred here next to Presidents of the Republic and mayors of the city.

https://www.guides-in-vienna.at

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about going to a cemetery. I haven't been to one since I came back from Iraq. At first I stuck with the group and listened to the guide talk about famous people buried here. It was interested, but I kept being drawn to looking at the other graves. Those of the not so famous. I saw one that I'm sure was for a Soldier and then I got teary. I wandered away so the others wouldn't see and I found myself just looking and looking for the other Soldiers who were buried there. Each time I found one I thanked them for all they did to serve their country and especially thanks if they did anything in a joint effort with mine.

SB Musing noticed me off alone and came to check on me at one point. That was really sweet of her, but she sensed that I was okay and just wanted solitude, so after she knew I was okay, she left me alone. I felt like she kept checking on me, but that's okay. That's what friends do. I think it was obvious to everyone that I was having some trouble, but I felt like I was doing something good for them, those many long-forgotten who'd served their country so faithfully. No one came to visit their graves, well, perhaps friends or family if they'd not been deceased that long, but for most, they probably rarely, if ever, got a visitor. After 30 or 40 years, time passes and so do friends and family. In any event, whether anyone cared, living or dead, it made ME feel better and that's what I guess really matters.

Dinner is at 7:00pm at Die Metzgerei
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g190454-d6691633-Reviews-Die_Metzg...

Interestingly, Die Metzgerei means The Butcher's Shop. I guess their meat is fresh. lol I wasn't feeling meaty today, though. Oddly, I got pasta again. lol No idea what got into me. But it was good. It tasted a bit different from what we'd had in Italy, but I suppose everyone adds their own flavor according to their national tastes. Dinner was fine; dessert was great!

Tell us about the music you heard in the cemetery, did you let it carry you to a haunted place or did you decide to crank some of your own and rattle the dead.

I also wonder if those long-gone warriors knew or cared that they were in the company of what others considered greatness. I wonder if Mozart played for them. Did they hear music? All I heard was the far away sound of "Taps" on some unknown bugle

Anyway, when we got back, Sally asked if I wanted to hang out. I think she might have been a bit worried about me. I had a lot on my mind, but knew she would be a good distraction. I was right! Her and her cocktails! She's going to turn me into a lush! lol But she certainly knows what to order, I'll give her that! She's a great person and a wonderful friend!.


Real Life

Today I decided I really wanted to pet some animals, so I walked down to Pet Smart for the first time. Turns out they don't have dogs. I'm not sure if that's all Pet Smarts or just this one, but THIS one doesn't have dogs. Also, the local shelter that provides the cats, is only there on Wednesday and Saturday, so I can only play with a cat then. Seriously? What if I really wanted to buy a cat TODAY? She said I could call the volunteer in. I'd feel guilty doing that. Then again, I certainly wouldn't buy a cat I've never played with. Whatever. I was kind of irritated, but mostly that I got all hot and sweaty and didn't get to play with any pets. Oh well...

Well, I think I found out why my bar stools were in the garage sale. If you're even slightly damp (like from summer sweat), the paint starts coming off. Now the one I'm sitting on, instead of being black with a little red peaking through is now mostly red on the seat. Hmmm...inconvenient.

Tomorrow the pest control guy is supposed to come and kill my 2 wasp nests. That will be good. I also need to ask the front office about my a/c. It's really loud (though I think that might be the location that makes it so echo-y) and seems to cycle harder and gentler then harder etc. while it's on. That doesn't seem normal.

I'll be out of the Army on Friday. I'm SO SUPER SAD! I thought about buying a pet on Friday to cheer me up and mark a difference in my life. As a civilian I can more easily have pets. But I was thinking of going to visit my ex-boyfriend who would then drive me to see my alpacas in New York (state). I can't get a pet, then board it a week or 2 later. That's just wrong...not to mention, expensive. lol

Well, I broke 100 merit badges today. That's cool.

My team, the White Walkers, won Game of Thrones. That's cool too.

I'm just not in a real celebratory mood, I guess. I keep trying to feign happiness on this virtual trip, but I find I'm kind of a party pooper--even virtually.

I did mosey down to Wal-Mart to get a new thumb drive so I can download pics. Maybe I'll figure out how to upload pictures and actually put pics on all my stories like other folks have. Probably not, but I can hope. I have no idea how I managed to upload that profile pic I have that says Warning: Newbie at Work. lol I did it SOMEHOW, but I can't figure out how to upload anything again. That Writing 101 doesn't always work for my brain. Sometimes I just can't understand it! Maybe I'm having an "lack of awareness" episode and just don't know. Huh...maybe. After all, the doc said I'm not aware of them.

Anyway, the bug guy comes "early," (whatever that means) so I need to get to bed.

TTFN!