Vienna, a Saturday night in late October.
So here I am, cowering behind a pillar at Starbucks! In Vienna! An absolute disgrace, I know. In one of the world’s coffee capitals – a city renown for its fine coffee. And I’m at Starbucks! I should be ashamed of myself. And I am. Which is why I’m cowering. It’s just that Viennese coffee is too strong for my taste, coffee wimp that I am. I actually like bland American coffee, even though it’s just a fraction of a flavour removed from water.
Meanwhile, I had a look at a newspaper and noticed SAS has had yet another Dash-8 accident and all of a sudden, I’m wondering whether any of my flights tomorrow are with Dash-8s. Just idly wondering, you understand.
Back to Vienna, I adore it, as always. I’m staying at Pension Nossek, one of my fave lodgings. Mozart used to live in this building. Can’t get much better than that.
Oktoberfest is on – with beer and wine(!) being drunk all over. But civilized – with proper glasses, no cans or plastic cups. Leave a 2.5 euro deposit and take your wine glass along as you plan tomorrow’s shopping along elegant Graben:
How about a Persian rug for the study? At Adil Besim, the Rubia Kairo is only 4 300 euros. A bargain. Or an Orchid ring for 6 000 euros at Cartier. They do look good in pairs, don’t they? And perhaps a watch to go with them? Could that Ballon Bleu de Cartier be something? It’s only 18 000 euros. Oh, and a few of those chubby pens at Mont Blanc.
Luckily, tomorrow is Sunday. Also, I really only wanted the pen. Perfect for travel writing. And just the fact that I’m talking about pens and not laptops, warms you to me, right?
Meanwhile, I had better get me some more of that wine. Just to allay my idle contemplations about defective flying machines, of course.
