Sat 30.Jul.2011
Bratislava, Slovakia
The sun broke through for most of an afternoon two days ago, so it
was down to the riverbank mall, to spend an hour or two with a
cappucino and my new Vargas Llosa novel.
Vienna Again
The Bird Man of Neubau district stood in a small square, overlooking
a young
couple on the bench beneath him.
Vienna centers around different places for different people. For
many tourists, that center is inside The Ring - the old imperial
palace perhaps, or the bustling square and street around St
Stephen's Cathedral and the incredible plague column.
Some look for it in the much-hyped "shopping street" of KaerntnerStrasse,
where international chains rub elbows: Tommy Hilfiger, Burger King,
Louis Vuitton, they are all there. As a result, there is little
difference between Kaertnerstrasse and a mall in
Omaha or a duty-free airport lounge, and it is all Overpriced Stuff
That You Don't Really Need.
For me, the central axis of Vienna is Mariahilferstrasse (a
mouthful, no?) . This street runs the two or three miles from The
Ring to the West Station, and bustles with actual people doing real
daily shopping for stuff they actually need. Diabetic supplies? A
good Slovak dictionary? This week's Economist? The use of a USB DVD
deck so your deckless (so to speak) netbook 'puter can read a CD?
Real Turkish ayran to drink on a hot afternoon? Mariahilferstrasse
is the Diagon Alley of muggle Vienna. Even the down home
barber who cut my hair yesterday is near it.
Evening in Bratislava
Two points for decoding this familiar word in a furrin' spelling.
Contents Copyright 2012 Jeff Bulf