(Five pretend bucks to anyone who can explain that song to me... who are the junior birdmen? Why are they up in the air, upside down?)
I am leaving for Europe in one (1) week. That is seven (7) days from now, but really not even that, because my flight leaves mid-afternoon, so it is actually less time than I thought. I had the urgent need to touch my passport today to prove that it still existed, because I didn't really remember bringing it back from Canadia. It still exists, and is good until Oct. 17, 2010, in case you were concerned.
We will be going to four (4) (is that annoying yet?) (it is annoying to me) cities in less than two (ha! not doing it anymore! i am free from its clutches) weeks. I don't really know anything about these cities, which seems like something I should correct. Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, in that order. Ideas welcome.
7 comments:
Junior Birdmen first -- the song (and the accompanying hand gestures) used to be sung during some sort of children's show in the 60s, I think. I don't get it, either, but I know that the Air Force cadets used to sing it as a cadence while running PT, and it dates back to when the Air Force was really the Army Air Corps, which was the 40s or 50s, I think.
Okay, military geek off now.
As for your European adventure: It's been a long time since I've been to Berlin, Prague or Vienna. Get you some excellent pastries or pretzels (you have to have a pretzel in Germany, it's a law or something) from any little bakery you come across, they're all good. You need a jelly donut in Berlin, naturally. They don't taste like donuts here. Also, make sure you see the remnants of the Berlin Wall, and the bombed out churches, and I'm pretty sure the Riechstag is there (but I could be confusing it with Bonn, which is also a good city).
In Prague, make sure you stand on the bridge that separates the old and new parts of the city, and look at the presidential palace. Imagine a sullen, 14-year-old me standing on that bridge, being irritated with her mother for wanting to shop for chyrstal and garnets. Then imagine the president of Czechoslovakia being hung from that flagpole of the palace, before the country split in two.
And then go buy yourself a pretty garnet something.
I don't remember anything from Vienna except pastries and chocolate. That was sort of my whole reason for being when we lived in Europe.
Hm. I want a pretty garnet something....
Todd and I have some books from the trip that never happened last year. I know we have a book on Vienna and one on Prague. They're the nice DK books with pretty pictures. I'll try to remember to bring them on Saturday and you can give yourself a crash course. :)
Vienna, yay! Here's my idea of a perfect day...
Start with coffee and breakfast pastries in a cafe in Innere Stadt (1st district), somewhere near the Opera House. Try to avoid secondhand smoke. Walk the length of the Ringstrasse (it will take a couple of hours, but it's well worth it) and take lots of artsy pictures. Visit the Rathaus and laugh at the fact that this is a name for a government building.
Stop for lunch at a pub and treat yourself to a glass of wine from one of the local vineyards. Again, avoid secondhand smoke.
Then, take the train out to Hietzing (13th district) and spend your afternoon exploring the grounds of Schloss Schonbrunn, one of the most gorgeous palaces in the world. Try to find a heisse maroni vendor outside the gates so you can enjoy warm chestnuts while you walk (and maybe share some with the birds). Stay until dusk and watch the crows gather in the trees and then fly off in a giant black flock, as if on cue. Magical.
For a fun, cheap dinner, take the train to Josefstadt (8th district) and find a place to eat near the University of Vienna. Pretend you're still in college. Avoid the secondhand smoke. Then, head over to Leopoldstadt (2nd district) and challenge your friends to whatever crazy arcade games you can find at the Volksprater. Ride the ferris wheel and then find a biergarten and reasons to laugh. End your night the way the locals do -- standing on a street corner, lined up for the sausage stand. Ask for a kasekrainer (sausage stuffed with cheese) and enjoy it with brown bread and plenty of spicy mustard.
Prost!
lol. I definitely want you to stand in line and ask for a sausage stuffed with cheese. ;)
Yay! Thanks for all the comments -- all of that sounds so fabulous (except the sulking, Shannon, I might skip that. But garnets are cool).
Lauren, did you go on AMA? Schonbrun Palace is literally the only thing I remember from going to Vienna on that trip. That, and getting drunk for the first time in an outdoor beer garden, and I'm not even sure that was Vienna.
And Alissa, I just might do that -- I have decided that in the interest of cross-cultural discovery, all food restrictions I respect in my normal life are 100% off when I go to another continent. Sausages stuffed with cheese, look out...
On the junior birdmen... I think it was a derisory song by the Air Force about pilots in units like the Texas Air National Guard which (in the '60s) would let any coke-addled alcoholic fly a plane.
Nope, I lived in Vienna for a couple of months here and there while I was dating an ex-pat professor at MIT. I even learned German so I could communicate with his family. All I can remember at this point is "Ich habe eine katze" and "Eine grosses bier, bitte." But I figure that's all the German I really need to know, right?
And seriously, even if you don't eat the sausage yourself, I still suggest ordering one. It's just what you do in Vienna. You can always hand it off to the cop/hooker/Japanese tourist standing behind you in line.
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