The Neutral Zone

Vienna, Austria en route to Prague, Croatia - I'm writing to you from a train transiting northwest to Prague from Vienna. These are some final impressions of Vienna we wanted to leave you with. Like some other posts, I'm going to use bullet points here because I am unable or unwilling to weave these mostly unrelated points into a meaningful narrative. Frankly, I don't think there's a good way to transition you, dear reader, from say, our experience at the historical art museum, to say, the our experience at various Christmas markets scattered around Vienna. Anyway, here it goes: Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien (Historical Art Museum Vienna) We quite liked this museum. The museum building itself is spectacular. It was built in the late 19th century in the twilight of the Austrian empire. No expense was sparred to prop up the cultural relevance of the nation. The neo-baroque grand entry hall takes you up a stunning marble staircase with neoclassical statuary and ador...

Vienna, Austria - We've been in Vienna for a few days now, and I am here to provide our initial experience and impressions. Food and Drink MAST . Site of our second dinner. I would relay to you in more detail what we ate, but alas, the English menu is not available online, so a rough retelling from memory will have to do: We had the charcuterie plate (H thought this was "really f-ing good"), raw char (meh), carrots with peanuts, miso, and a crumbly feta-like cheese (yum), roast pumpkin with pumpkin seed oil and salty cheese (another yum), venison ragu, and MAST's take on Austrian street food sausage (somewhat more expensive than street food). The waiters wore Christmas-themed ugly sweaters. Also of note, we met again the proprietor of Gamper Bar , Balz, while we were in MAST as he was also dining there. Hannah recognized him from across the room and we stopped by his table at the end of our meal. He remembered us! Offerl . This is a bakery where we ate lunch. Off...

Vienna, Austria - We arrived in Vienna yesterday. The flight from Zurich was short - about an hour. Nonetheless, H was a bundle of nerves in the hours leading up to, and during the entirety of, the flight. We contracted colds over the last week - minor ones, as these things go. But H has suffered severe pain and discomfort in the past when her congested sinuses contributed to her ears popping in an excruciating way during ascent and descent. For years, my dad has also claimed of suffering from this. But he's an old curmudgeon, so to be honest, up until recently, I was unsure which played a greater part in the affliction: an unfortunate and painful anatomical snafu of the eustachian tubes or a compulsion to complain. H's experience suggests the former plays a greater role, but one can never fully rule out the latter. So, we armed H with a variety of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical products (some, with more suspect capabilities) intended to make her flight comfortable and...

Arth, Switzerland - H and I summited Mt. Rigi this weekend. Rigi is among the great peaks in this area, known to some as the "Queen of the Mountains." It's visible from Zug and nearby Lucerne. Starting in the early afternoon, Hannah and I slowly made our way to the blustery and snow-covered peak by 300PM. Our ascent was over 1,200 meters, starting from the nearby town of Arth. As you might expect, there was huffing and puffing and even a bit of rumbling as we chugged our way up, but not once did Hannah and I think of turning back. No, we were committed to riding that train straight to the peak! Rigi is actually something of a landmark in railway history. It was the first mountain cogwheel railway in Europe (though, the title for world's first mountain  cogwheel   railway goes to the Mt. Washington Cog Railway in New Hampshire). Rigi's cogwheel railway was complete in 1871 and it's still in use today. Unsurprisingly, the railway greatly increased access to th...

Zug, Switzerland - Wow. We've had a busy couple of days. Here's a brief recounting of recent things of interest: Susan Susan is the mother of Hannah's coworker, Isabel. Susan is delightful and effervescent. We met her at a Lebanese restaurant called Le Cedre in Zurich's Altstadt (Old City) neighborhood. Susan tossed aside the menu and casually ordered her favorites, which was practically the entire menu - hummus, baba ganoush, muhammara, fried egglplant with yogurt, fattoush,falafel, spiced chicken, and a lamb dish. Throughout the meal, Susan regaled us with her life in Switzerland and many travels around the world. Susan grew up and went to college in the states, moving to Switzerland as a young adult, so she has some idea of what it's like to adapt to European culture. We took home leftovers.  Then Susan took us to a Globus - a large department store with an excellent grocery store. Susan walked Hannah through the various flours and sugars and other baki...

Zurich, Switzerland - Yesterday was mostly logistics. First, we met with a friendly Swiss accountant and lawyer named Patrice in Zurich. Patrice's office is located in a nondescript business park near the airport. Hannah and I were ushered into a conference room, where we were each treated to an espresso, a small Swiss chocolate, and a small biscuit. Patrice gave us a high level overview of how we would be taxed and what information we would need as the occasional plane rumbled overhead. I will spare you the details, except to say that Patrice's nonplussed demeanor reassured us that our taxes were simple and straightforward - perhaps disappointingly so for poor Patrice.  We left Patrice's office and headed to the bohemian Werd district in Zurich for lunch. Before lunch, we quickly stopped in at JB Labat - a liquor store operated by a middle-aged hipster who has resuscitated an older retail space. Hannah and I enjoyed the vermouth selection here and picked out a Swiss labe...

Zurich, Switzerland - We kicked off our Sunday with a lovely run from Zug to the neighboring town of Oberwil, about a 2.5 miles away. Our run took us along the lakeshore where we took in the Alps. Has to be one of the more scenic runs I've done. We had plans in Zurich, so after our run, we made our way to the Zug train station. There we spent time with a delightful ticketing agent, Stefan*. I was thoroughly perplexed by this amicable government employee as my recent experiences at the California DMV had prepared me for a somewhat more abrasive experience. Stefan, from all appearances, could not have been more pleased to help us navigate the Swiss train system. Stefan helpfully walked us though all the options for passes and gave us recommendations based on how we would use the transit system (commuting for me, intermittent use for H). Stefan then recommended we use ticketing kiosks for most purposes and he practically leaped over the counter in his eagerness to walk us through t...