My Archives: April 2007
Monday, April 30, 2007
Saturday was our last full day in Vienna. I really wish we'd found Metalab earlier, but I forgot to do a web search for free Wifi before leaving Graz. Our Vienna hotel was very nice in many ways, but their price for WiFi (five Euros for an hour) I consider robbery! So I took the laptop down to the lobby, paid their money, and googled for Vienna Free Wifi. I found this collective of techy folks, located a basement just a few blocks from City Hall (the Rathaus in German). On one of their pages in English, I saw the words "Public Terminals and free W-LAN" (W-LAN is the German term for WiFi, I think) and I knew we should go over there.
I think Jack was dubious as we were walking there, but once we found it, got online, and started talking with the guys who were hanging out there we both enjoyed it and felt very comfortable. I spent most of my time catching up with email (boring problems meant I hadn't been able to update my daily crawl blog list or check email for a few days) and Jack discussed digital photography and music with three guys (nex was one of them) in the Lounge.
The other place I found free WiFi in Vienna was a cafe/bar near the hotel. The Porzellan Cafe was very nice and the people very friendly. Address is Porzellangasse 3, on the D tram line just a few blocks from the Ringstrasse.
Posted by Anita @ 05:45 AM PST [Link] [Add a Comment]
The First of May, the first of May! Outdoor blogging begins that day! but we will be indoors for the East Side Weblog Meetup. Weblog folks who live and/or work on the East side meet at Crossroads Mall (map and info). Look for us between the main area by the stage and the giant chessboard -- there will be a sign. Start time is 7 pm.
(tags: SeattleMeetup, WeblogMeetup, Blogs, Weblogs, Meetup.com)
Posted by Anita @ 01:22 AM PST [Link] [1 Comment]
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Jack has been working so hard that I haven't had much chance to get online the past few days. I've done some great site-seeing, though! I hope to catch up when we are in Vienna (tonight, I think) and Jack won't be able to work so much during this, his supposed vacation. On future trips I will certainly get a small notebook computer, probably used, and bring it along for my own use. The weight factor was why I didn't bring the laptop I have at home now.
Anyway, I think Graz, Austria, is a grand tourist stop and Rick Steves needs to do an episode of his TV show on it!
Posted by Anita @ 06:23 PM PST [Link] [4 comments]
Sunday, April 22, 2007
(Graz Day 3) Jack worked Sunday morning, then we went siteseeing in Graz's old town in the afternoon. Jack wanted to see the Landeszeughause or armory (very impressive). We ate sausages for lunch at a food stand in the main square. Then we tried to apply that ticket to other city museums (admission free for the day after you pay for one). Oops, the Joanneum's main building was closed. We retraced our steps back to the tourist info office and asked which museums were open and nearby and included on our ticket. Hey, the folk museum fit our requirements! So off we walked, me lagging behind Jack because even at my best I can't walk as fast as he does.
The folk museum had an exhibit sponsored by Haribo, makers of gummi bears, all about, guess what, gummi bears! Jack and I weren't really interested in that, so we were directed to the next floor where there were sections on folk costume, folk customs, and so on. I liked the old log cabin kitchen with big ceramic stove, with flat-screen panels next to the benches where you could view clips from Austrian movies and TV that took place in rural settings. We guessed that this was in aid of demonstrating the cultural importance of such kitchens.
I do think that both the armory and folk museum should have a few more pictures on the web, since photography is not allowed inside and you have to lock up your stuff before entering. Instead these google image searches will have to do.
When we were done with the folk museum, we decided to climb the Schlossberg! This is a small mountain in the middle of the old town which has had a fortification or castle on top for the last few thousand years. Instead of walking all the way we went through a tunnel (dating from WWII, dug as a bomb shelter) to an elevator (dating from 2000) that whisked us to near the top for only a Euro. We still had to do some walking to get all the way to the top. On the way we passed the Clock Tower, the Bell Tower and the Stable Battery (with souvenir shop next to it). We were a bit late to get into the museum up there, but the views were wonderful along with the lilacs at their peak of bloom.
After taking the lift down again, we took a tram to the Jakominiplatz near our hotel and ate dinner at the Da Vinci cafe, outside on the sidewalk. My Rick Steves German phrase book came in handy for deciding what kind of pizza to order -- we only made one mistake! What I thought would be pepperoni turned out to be peperoncini, but the pizza was still very tasty.
Posted by Anita @ 05:42 PM PST [Link] [4 comments]
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Jack and I have been in Graz, Austria, a few days now, with a few more to come. Then we'll be in Vienna. It seems likely that Jack will have to stay over here longer and I'll fly back by myself! Jack's company is partnered with a company over here (that's why we are in Graz) and he's doing some work.
(Graz Day 1) Friday Jack went to work and I walked around the old town part of Graz (pedestrian only zone, tons of historical buildings). But first I was on a mission -- to get our laundry done! I walked to the tourist information office and they told me how to find a laundramat, and which bus to take. The lady there was very nice, helping me every step of the way with putting the card in the slot, loading it with money, pressing the right buttons, and so on. There was an internet cafe right next to the laundrywhich pleased me very much, because the promised free WiFi at our hotel wasn't working in the evenings. Since then they moved us to another room on a lower floor, and now all is lovely.
Jack's coworker and her partner took us out to dinner Friday evening in the old town, and we had a blast! Weiner Schnitzel and mushroom soup for Jack, wine soup (local specialty) for the rest of us, spaetzle for me. We finished up with home-flavored schnapps at a hofbrau near the opera house -- cherry, dandelion, and alpine tree.
(Graz Day 2) Saturday we started with a visit to the farmers market for picnic supplies: bread, cheese, and sausages. I'd bought some apples the previous day, looking for a local variety but ending up with Gala! Then we took off for the Österreichische Freilichtmuseum, aka the Austrian Open Air Museum, a collection of historic buildings from the various regions of Austria. But when the Tom-Tom GPS Jack had borrowed didn't know about the small town of Klein Stubing, and we couldn't find the Museum on the map (it was there but we were looking too far away from Graz), we returned to the hotel and got directions from one of the owners. Then we were okay, though I did misread a sign at a roundabout and we ended up on the Autobahn where we didn't want to be.
The Museum was great! A good combination of cultural education and walking around in a natural setting. I did well with the walking though there was a lot of up-and-down. I think we looked at almost every building! There are some panoramas here (not taken by us), but warning, they whirl around at a very fast pace.
Today Jack and I will see more of the sites in the old town.
Posted by Anita @ 09:40 PM PST [Link] [2 comments]
Monday, April 16, 2007
Jack has joined Flickr and is uploading each day's photos during our European trip (at least so far). Here we both are standing in front of the Bath Abbey. Tonight is our last in Bath. Tomorrow we take the train to London for a few days, then we fly to Austria. Jack took a Mad Max tour to Avebury and Stonehenge today, while I took it "easy" by walking all over town again, visiting the Jane Austen Center, I mean Centre, and the Museum of Costume, then washing some clothes at the tiny laundramat up the road from our hotel.
Posted by Anita @ 11:26 AM PST [Link] [5 comments]
Friday, April 13, 2007
Wednesday, April 18, it's the Seattle Weblog Meetup! Start time is 7 pm, location is Ralph's Grocery and Deli, 2035 4th Ave, in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood, diagonally across from the Cinerama. Free WiFi, food and drink available (you can buy anything in the store and consume it in the deli area, so that includes wine and beer if you want). Local and visiting webloggers talk about blog topics and lots else.
(tags: Weblogs, Blogs, SeattleMeetup, BlogMeetup)
Posted by Anita @ 05:15 AM PST [Link]
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
This picture of Isaac (of Going Jesus fame) is one of the cuter and funnier baby pictures I've seen recently. His espression!
Also in the cute department, I was talking with Karen Anderson the other night at Vanguard and found that she hadn't heard about cat macros! (Well, I hadn't known of them as a phenomenon myself, until last year sometime.) They are a subvariety of image macros. O RLY?
(tags: CatMacros, GoingJesus, KarenAnderson, WriterWay)
Posted by Anita @ 06:31 AM PST [Link] [Add a Comment]
Friday, April 6, 2007
I was glad to see Devil's Cub, a novel by my all-time favorite author, Georgette Heyer, reviewed at Smart Bitches Trashy Books! I've read and reread all her books countless times. I hope to find a few British editions on an upcoming trip to England we are taking. Shocking, though, that SB Sarah had never read a Heyer novel before! "Heyer does a wonderful job of setting up the depth of the hero and heroine before they meet and begin to interact, and it wasn't until their deliciously snappy dialogue - snappy in the sense of sparks flying off the page - that I could appreciate the setup of Mary and Dominic's meeting, slow and tedious though it was. Parts of Dominic's character are revealed through gossip and through ancillary characters' discussions of his own merits (or lack thereof). Parts of Mary's are revealed through the narration, though her actions reveal what the narrator hints at. It's a huge payoff - once the reader gets through the period of time introducing the reader to the protagonists, and the depth revealed about each one, the delight of watching Heyer place all the players in action is addictive. Thank God it's not that huge a book or I'd have gotten exactly nothing done all weekend."
(tags: GeorgetteHeyer, Heyer, SmartBitches, DevilsCub, Regency, RegencyRomance)
Posted by Anita @ 04:51 AM PST [Link]
Sunday, April 1, 2007
(Not an April Fools Post) I'll admit that Grandson R--- and I rarely skip McDonalds. The Redmond McDonalds near us has a great indoor play area so we probably go once a week. But since during a low-appetite period for R---- I managed to switch him to the yogurt and fruit parfait instead of the standard Happy Meal, the Happy Meal toy is not a regular part of our routine. I only get one when I deem it a good toy, like the Cars Movie Cars or the Humvees they had last year. Did you know that the toys can be purchased separately? Thus you can complete a collection if having all the cars is important. But like badbadivy at Love Shak, Baby, I don't like it when the toys are designated specifically as for boys or for girls.
When I go to McDonald's and they ask the dreaded "Is this for a girl or a boy?" question, I'm always stuck. My daughter always wants the boy toy, but if I say it's for a boy, she freaks. If I say "It's for a girl, but we want a boy toy", invariably we get the girl toy anyway. Even if I just say "I'd like a boy toy, please", my daughter cries. "I don't want the BOY toy, mama, I want the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toy! They're not just for boys, are they? Why do the boys always get the good toys?"I wish I knew why the boys always got the good toys. It's like that Christmas song Up On The Housetop. Nell gets a stupid doll in her stocking and that's it. Who cares if it opens and shuts its eyes? Will gets a hammer and tacks and a whistle and a ball AND a whip that cracks. So jealous.
By the way, I found Love Shak, Baby via Ivy's work at Home Ec 101.
(tags: badbadivy, LoveShakBaby, McDonalds, HappyMeal)