A trip to Vienna for a series of meetings. I hadn’t been to the city since my calamitous attempt at waltzing (see earlier posting). My flight landed late and the cab waiting for me took me to the Hilton near Stadtpark (literally “City Park”) a large grey space opposite the hotel. The Hilton is a modern and fairly plastic hotel, and it would be easy to forget which city you are in – it looks much like other Hiltons. I arrived near midnight so went straight to bed. An early breakfast and a taxi to the office. (I mistakenly thought breakfast was included in the room rate so would be upset three days later to find I’d been charged 25 Euros for a croissant and a cup of coffee). I gave the taxi driver the company name and address and we had a short argument. I was visiting the head office otpost in Vienna- he only knew the local subsidiary company so spent a long time trying to persuade me I was going to the wrong place. Anyway I prevailed and we made it.

A long day of meetings with new colleagues, one of whom, a Polish guy called Piotr, had the best BBC English accent I have ever heard. The day over we took a taxi back to the hotel and I complimented Piotr on his accent. When I pad the driver Piotr in turn complimented my German.

We had some time before dinner, so I took a stroll around the area close to the hotel. It was a beautiful warm evening and I stopped at a small café for a cool drink. It was great to sit out in the sun and watch the world go by. Looking up from my book I saw a lady who obviously worked in the kitchen of the café. She had come out to get rid of some waste food and at the instant I looked up she was bent down scraping it into a bin. Because of the heat she was wearing only a baggy T shirt, and I saw a lot more of her than was meant to. Back to the hotel to get a cab to the restaurant. Piotr and I met up with the others at a restaurant in a park. This time the taxi driver complimented my German- I’m on form today. We met with two colleagues, one a Polish colleague called Irmina. She had ordered a salad, and when it came complained, as she had a ordered a vegetarian version and they had brought one with bits of meat. The waiter suggested that she just put the meat pieces to one side. Irmina rightfully wanted one with no meat to remove. It all went badly wrong when instead of bringing a fresh salad they went back to the kitchen and tried to pick out the meat themselves. It’s almost a law of physic cs that you will inevitably miss a piece and sure enough, when it came back the meat that got away was only too evident. This dampened the experience for all of us so we paid up and left.

The next day another cab driver who claimed that his meter wasn’t working. I was in a hurry so didn’t argue. When I arrived I offered him the same fare I had paid both ways yesterday, and he trierd to claim it was five Euros more plus a tip. I really hate being ripped off in this way so refused point blank to pay more, showing him the receipts from the previous day. In bad grace he gave up.

The second night dinner with a colleague, this time in a trendy restaurant close to the Hilton. I wasn’t that impressed by the menu (or the exorbitant prices) so defaulted to Wiener Schnitzel (has to be done).

Back to the hotel ,and I decided another stroll would be in order. I walked all around the area, and called in at a snug bar for a nightcap.

This was definitely a locals bar and off the beaten track. I did struggle to follow their German as they spoke a highly local dialect. However this is one of the joys of traveling. Although I struggled to communicate, they were delighted at my efforts. Immediately they started producing plates of sausage, bread and cheese, and were actually slightly offended that I didn’t eat more despite my protestations that I had already eaten dinner.

I had to call time as they opened a bottle of schnapps on the house- I had to be compos mentis for work next day.

My final day and this time the taxi driver was honest. A useful morning and then a colleague drove me to the local subsidiary where I met the team. Their office is rather in need of renovation. That day in Vienna the temperature was 35C and the air conditioning wasn’t coping. A sweaty afternoon ensued, and it was nice to get into an air-conditioned car for the ride to the airport.

One final twist. When I arrived the driver insisted on seeing me to the check in desk, and was mystified that there was no flight showing. On further investigation it transpired that my assistant who booked the flights, had translated 19.00 and put it in my schedule as 5pm. I was facing a long wait to even check in.

I have to say that Vienna airport is not the most interesting of places to kill four hours, even when you try to work. Anyway when I finally got a way, we returned uneventfully to Athens. One thing about Austrian airlines- they have a corporate livery that includes a bright shade of red which the airline inflicts on the cabin crew. The service wasn’t bad, but you have to admire their courage to walk around dressed like that.

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