Week 166 · Vienna · England vs Ireland Rugby · FBU · OSU & The Mullet
Vienna &
Had a quick trip to Vienna for work — similar to the last trip in January, I went straight to hotel/office (same building) with no need to ever go outside. I did manage to leave work about 8pm and take a tram into the old city for a walk. Not really a true visit, and on my next trip will try to organise around a weekend. Sharon and I went about 20 years ago and the old city really hasn't changed a lot since then (or in the past 100 years).
Vienna's old city is remarkable in that it has been substantially unchanged for centuries. The Ringstrasse — the grand boulevard built by Emperor Franz Joseph I in the 1860s — circles the historic centre with a series of monumental neo-Gothic, neo-Renaissance, and neo-Baroque public buildings. The hotel and office were in the same building which made the schedule efficient if not particularly scenic.
Vienna served as the capital of the Habsburg Empire for over 600 years and was one of the largest cities in the world in the 19th century. The Ringstrasse was built between 1865 and 1900 as Emperor Franz Joseph I demolished Vienna's medieval walls to create a showcase boulevard — the result was an extraordinary concentration of neo-historical architecture that includes the Vienna State Opera, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Burgtheater, and Parliament, all built within 40 years. Vienna consistently ranks as the world's most liveable city, combining its imperial heritage with modern infrastructure. The Six Nations rugby championship — the England-Ireland game referenced in this post — is an annual competition between England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, and Italy that draws enormous pub audiences across the UK and Ireland.
A friend from college came through town on business — so it was good to have a comrade to watch the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the tourney. After the loss, decided to show him and his co-worker around the Richmond area on Saturday via a pub crawl during the England-Ireland game. But our evening was disrupted by FBU quitting (some will understand). It was good therapy to complain in person with someone else for another disappointment.
Even meeting some people from Burnage who went to school with Oasis didn't lighten the mood — one lady claimed to have "dated one of the Gallagher brothers, just not one that was in the band — the unemployed one still living in the council estate."
"She claimed to have dated one of the Gallagher brothers — just not one that was in the band. The unemployed one still living in the council estate."