day 34 - Europe 2011

Day 34 - Monday, June 27,2011 - Vienna - No Cycling

I slept OK through the night until they came to empty the bottle bins at 7:00 AM. One for green, one for brown and one for white. What a racket!!!
Martin was up early and left for work at 7:10 while I had a leisurely b'fast, a bowl of cereal with a banana.
I decided I would focus on getting my blog up-to-date so started typing Day 32 of my adventures. I also needed to do another load of laundry i.e. trousers, shirts, T-shirts, etc. Also checked my RBC bank account and noticed that two goverment cheques had been deposited that I was not expecting. One Federal for $237.++ and one Provincial for $100.00. I'm not sure what that's all about - will have to figure it out when I return home.
I was on a roll. Got the laundry hung out on the drying rack and started on Day 33 of my blog. After that was done I checked on directions for getting from Martin's place on Gassergasse to the start of the Danube bike path at Hauptallee. It was a fairly complicated route but between Google Maps, my cycle guide book and Martin's map of Vienna I was able to work out a route.
It was soon lunch time so I decided to go out for a walk to see what I could find. As I turned the corner I discovered there was a grocery store at ground level. I was awfully tempted to go in and see what I could find for lunch but decided I should do a bit of exploring first.
Before setting off I had decided not to put any plasters on my sore toes, just the ointment I had gotten from the Apoteke. It was much better and I was able to walk for several blocks without any discomfort. I found a Restaurant Sarajevo and the pictures of the food on the menu outside looked very tempting. I went in and ordered the Cevapcici (5 pieces of minced lamb in the shape of small sausages), some bread and a salad for 3.50 E. It was 12:25 PM and I was the only customer other than one other guy watching the "Hit Parade" in Slovakian I think? The restaurant was just a bit smoky from the smell of cigarettes but otherwise it was OK.
I walked back to the apartment. Had to be careful where I stepped as they were putting fresh asphalt on the sidewalks. I went into the grocery store to buy a few things, i.e. apples, bananas, snacks, bar of soap, etc. In the wine section I saw a bottle of Bordeaux for 2.69 E. Well, who could resist a bargain like that!!! Groceries ended up costing me 32 E.
I returned to the apartment and did some more work on my blog i.e. uploaded several photos. It was hard work and by 4:30 I needed a nap.
I got up at 5:30 and uncorked the red wine and had myself a nice glass of Bordeaux while reading up on my next day's ride. Martin arrived home at 6:30. He had to go to the grocery store to get some supplies for the office but quickly returned and joined me for a glass of wine.
Martin offered to treat me to dinner and it was up to me to decide where we should go to eat. I chose Italian. Martin knew of a nice Italian restaurant in the neighbourhood within walking distance and since it was a pleasant evening we decided to walk there. It was several blocks but my foot was doing OK. The restaurant featured a large outdoor garden patio with lots of trees and shade. I had a spaghetti bolognaise while Martin chose to have a pizza.
I had discussed the route I planned to take to find the Danube bike trail with Martin and once we got back to the apartment Martin got on the Internet and mapped out the route for me using Google Maps and printed it off on his colour printer. At the time I thought it wasn't really necessary and a waste of paper but...
Since Martin had to leave by 8:00 in order to get to work by 9:00 I needed to make an early morning departure. Did some packing and was off to bed at 11:30.
Cheers, Roly