The summary of Vienna. Grandeur. Green. Trust.
Marian had lived in Vienna for a year. He told me that I could get away with not paying for public transport. Apparently, controllers check about once per year. So I bought a ticket but I didn’t validate it. I held it, ready to use if a controller stepped in. I got it away with it. A “Three-Day Pass” for the price of one ticket.
Newspapers are distributed in bags attached to telephone poles. There’s a coin box attached where you can pay for the paper, but there’s no enforcement. It’s a system based on trust.
Possibly the greatest thing about Vienna is another system based on trust. I ate at a Pakistani restaurant. All you can eat. Pay as you wish. This was amazing. Great food. I stuffed myself and then paid 4 or 5 euros. A wiener on the street cost about 3.50. I ate here three times during my stay.
The Viennese people must be trustworthy. Public transport, newspapers, and food. All based on trust.
I stayed with Levent, a Turkish guy working in Vienna. He was great company and very generous. The Turks seem to have hospitality in their blood.
Levent had his friend, Marcel, over for dinner the first night. We talked about their idea for a website, crHappy.com. Basically, they would get vague input on what might make a specific person happy, and they would think of a creative gift and send it to that person. It was interesting for me coming from Badical Industries whose mission was to increase student happiness at Georgia Tech.
Levent showed me the CityBike system in Vienna. Another amazing system. Bike stations all over the city. If you rent a bike and return it within an hour, it’s free, and 1 euro per hour after that. Amazing. We went for a ride.
We went into the center. Beautiful place. Grandeur. Lots of tourists. To be expected.
I got a wiener from Wien. Oh, and it was grand.
The buildings and statues. Very grand. Royal and gold. Most exalted.
Ornate spires. And green space. Lots of parks everywhere. Apparently Vienna has ranked high for quality of living. I think it’s all the green space, the cleanliness, the trust, and the grandeur.
And it probably has something to do with the cycling setup in the city. Bike lanes everywhere, and even traffic lights specifically for bikes.
Another beautiful royal garden. And the Danube. That completed the set of four capital cities through which the Danube flows. Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, and Belgrade. I was thinking I would great at answering that trivia question.
A big palace thing. And a royal garden to accompany it.
As I was on the metro to get a train out of Vienna, I sat across from two middle-aged American female singles. Their voices were horrible. They were talking about their high school days. “Do you remember when Ben put sun-in in his hair!? And it turned ORANGE!?!” “Hahah. He looked like Ronald McDonald!” “He’s so cute. I love him.” “He makes me happy.” I was attracted to their conversation. It sounded so odd. I was almost embarrassed listening to it. It was so loud and their voices so stupid. I was just being a snob, wanting to keep distance from my roots.
