Travel Notes
I did my usual thing of typing up some notes about each day on my old computer and saving them in a .txt document on my USB stick, so I could more or less just transfer them over to Livejournal now. The TL;DR version is that things went well.
Mon 14/04
It was a warm and sunny day in Leigh when we left. We arrived to grey skies, pouring rain and cold winds. At least the flight experience was smooth, unlike last time, when the electronic check-in system went down and all flights were massively delayed until they could get a manual replacement service going. We went to bed extremely early due to travel fatigue.
Tue 15/04
We slept for ten hours, though not very well, mostly due to not being used to the bed (anymore). During the day we walked around the inner city a bit, but the cold weather made us return home early. We considered visiting a museum, but Mark was appalled by the entry fees (compared to London's many free museums) and found it not worth the money for a brief visit (and we didn't have time for a long one). We were fed a home-cooked lunch by my mother and slept some more. In the evening we went out for dinner and ice-cream (despite the cold) with my brother. He and Mark seemed to get along surprisingly well, sharing stories about funny experiences with chemistry. In the evening, Mark felt ill. I played Hearts on Frankenputer, as has slowly become a tradition, and won on the first try.
Wed 16/04
Definitely allergic to something in the air here, as I keep waking up sneezing. We decided to take it easy during the day due to Mark still not feeling so great. Due to the weather still being cold and unpleasant, we eventually settled for strolling through some shopping centres: a compromise that allowed us to leave the house without constantly being exposed to the cold. We even found some English books in a big book store. Met up with Chrisi and Lutz at a restaurant for dinner. Mark continues to be amazed by the Austrian tendency to water down our drinks, to the point where "watered-down" is an option on the menu and something you can buy pre-bottled. Mark and Lutz had a grand old time talking about chemistry while Chrisi and I watched on with a certain bemusement.
Thu 17/04
Had a bit of a lie-in by not getting up until 9 o'clock. Got a takeaway from Schnitzelhaus for lunch. Natascha visited in the afternoon and we had a nice chat. Mark was a bit shy at first, but getting him to rant about his work quickly brought him out of his shell as usual. In the evening we went to see a concert/ballet with my mother. Not something I'd ever done before, but we somehow got roped into it when I first mentioned to my mother that Mark liked classical music. Felt very posh, wearing a dress and everything. It was very nice.
Fri 18/04
Had another nice home-cooked lunch courtesy of my Mum. Went to the cemetery, and at last the weather had turned nice and warm, at least for our last full day in Austria. I thought it was a nice stroll, but Mark seemed a little disturbed by the way we treated a visit to the cemetery like a happy walk in the park.
Sat 19/04
We completed the flight part of the return trip without any issues, though things were slow once we were back on the ground. We spent about half an hour queuing for a train ticket at Victoria station, after our first attempt at one of the self-service terminals just resulted in error messages. There was also a planned disruption on the train line home, which required use of a replacement bus service. It wasn't really a problem, but made that part of the trip feel like it was longer than it needed to be.
Mon 14/04
It was a warm and sunny day in Leigh when we left. We arrived to grey skies, pouring rain and cold winds. At least the flight experience was smooth, unlike last time, when the electronic check-in system went down and all flights were massively delayed until they could get a manual replacement service going. We went to bed extremely early due to travel fatigue.
Tue 15/04
We slept for ten hours, though not very well, mostly due to not being used to the bed (anymore). During the day we walked around the inner city a bit, but the cold weather made us return home early. We considered visiting a museum, but Mark was appalled by the entry fees (compared to London's many free museums) and found it not worth the money for a brief visit (and we didn't have time for a long one). We were fed a home-cooked lunch by my mother and slept some more. In the evening we went out for dinner and ice-cream (despite the cold) with my brother. He and Mark seemed to get along surprisingly well, sharing stories about funny experiences with chemistry. In the evening, Mark felt ill. I played Hearts on Frankenputer, as has slowly become a tradition, and won on the first try.
Wed 16/04
Definitely allergic to something in the air here, as I keep waking up sneezing. We decided to take it easy during the day due to Mark still not feeling so great. Due to the weather still being cold and unpleasant, we eventually settled for strolling through some shopping centres: a compromise that allowed us to leave the house without constantly being exposed to the cold. We even found some English books in a big book store. Met up with Chrisi and Lutz at a restaurant for dinner. Mark continues to be amazed by the Austrian tendency to water down our drinks, to the point where "watered-down" is an option on the menu and something you can buy pre-bottled. Mark and Lutz had a grand old time talking about chemistry while Chrisi and I watched on with a certain bemusement.
Thu 17/04
Had a bit of a lie-in by not getting up until 9 o'clock. Got a takeaway from Schnitzelhaus for lunch. Natascha visited in the afternoon and we had a nice chat. Mark was a bit shy at first, but getting him to rant about his work quickly brought him out of his shell as usual. In the evening we went to see a concert/ballet with my mother. Not something I'd ever done before, but we somehow got roped into it when I first mentioned to my mother that Mark liked classical music. Felt very posh, wearing a dress and everything. It was very nice.
Fri 18/04
Had another nice home-cooked lunch courtesy of my Mum. Went to the cemetery, and at last the weather had turned nice and warm, at least for our last full day in Austria. I thought it was a nice stroll, but Mark seemed a little disturbed by the way we treated a visit to the cemetery like a happy walk in the park.
Sat 19/04
We completed the flight part of the return trip without any issues, though things were slow once we were back on the ground. We spent about half an hour queuing for a train ticket at Victoria station, after our first attempt at one of the self-service terminals just resulted in error messages. There was also a planned disruption on the train line home, which required use of a replacement bus service. It wasn't really a problem, but made that part of the trip feel like it was longer than it needed to be.