from the "our man in Vienna" dept.

Wow! What a long way from there to here. Or from home to away!

After mucking around in Heathrow for several hours this morning, and paying crazy prices for food (coffee 2 GBP, sandwich 3 GBP), my flight to Vienna was called.

I took a few snaps of Hula Girl and boarded the packed and cramped flight. I was surrounded by pleasant Spainards and the flight was relatively short -- about 2 hours.

Upon arriving in Vienna, I felt fatigued. I had not slept much, if at all, and it was taking its toll. Wah!

I hopped on the new train that connect Wien International with Wien-Mitte. From there I took the U4 subway a few stops to the U2, which I took one stop to Tram 34 which I took 3 stops to a point near my hotel. A quick 2 block walk and I was again wondering why I pack so much stuff!

I hauled my crap and my ass up several flights of stairs to my small but comfy room at the Hotel Apri on Kochgasse. Immediately I headed too the shower and then took a several hour long nap.

To my surprise there is wireless internet access available in the room, which saves a few Euros that I would have spent in an internet cafe.

The plan is simple. At 10pm (it's 9:30pm now) I am meeting Peter Hering for a Guinness and dinner. Could be a late night.

Tomorrow, the rest of the gang arrives, and we have to fetch our rental van.

So far so good.

I should file a few more stories before leaving for Budapest on Sunday... but I will be leaving my laptop with Peter's mom in Vienna. Online access will be much more limited.

Well... Vienna calls... and it sounds like Mozart!

Cheers!