Early on in the week, I went to a Greek restaurant with Lisa's family, very idyllic, picturesque setting, overlooking the Danube-Oder canal (which connects with neither river, ironically enough...it was begun by the Nazis to connect the Danube in Austria with the Oder river in Poland, but it never got very far). The food was pretty good, the service was excellent Austrian service (pretty slow, but very friendly and personable, and it gives it more of an atmosphere of being there to enjoy yourself, just to relax, because there's no need to rush) and the setting was phenomenal.
 |
| View of the Danube-Oder canal |
After that, Lisa and I got dropped off in Vienna (it's just outside the border), because she had an exam and I wanted to go to the Finanzamt (the Tax Office, more or less) and to do a bit of shopping for new running/sport shoes and some other stuff for Sweden. The Finanzamt was not the smoothest of operations this time; last time, my German was strong enough to get myself a code so I could log-in online, without Lisa's help, but this time, it was a bit more of a struggle. Unfortunately, we weren't able to do it online, and I went to ask why, but they asked where I lived, and when I explained that I didn't live in Vienna anymore, and wanted to use my girlfriends' parents' house as a postal address for my tax stuff, they said I would need to go to the Finanzamt in their district, not in Vienna.
Lisa's aunty has since assisted me, ringing the Finanzamt in Lisa's parents' district and finding out that I hadn't submitted a document detailing my earnings for the year. It is the kind of thing your employer can do, and I assumed mine had, but had not. It's not a problem, my boss did give me a copy when I left, and Lisa's aunty will submit that, and then I should be able to apply for my tax refund. A lot of effort for what I imagine will barely amount to €100, but I am proud of myself for going to the Finanzamt by myself, and at least making myself understood and moving the process along a bit.
After that debacle, I bought some shoes, that was alright, then I went to look for a device I'd send in the window of a store, when I was walking with Lisa, not so long ago. It was the kind of store that sells watches, and various electronics, home goods, odds and ends, but mostly electronic in nature. The item I wanted was a USB energy bank, for storing energy, that was equipped for collecting solar energy, as well as the more conventional USB charging. It was €20, which I judged to be an appropriate price, and I quite liked the idea of buying it at a local, small business. I spent ages in the hot sun looking in the windows, trying to find it again, but I really couldn't see it. I went in to the nicely air-conditioned shop and the owner automatically asked me (in German) what I wanted. I was a bit nervous, made worse by his brusque manner, so I just replied that I was "just looking, thanks". He then told me I could look from outside and gestured to the door.
Although I'm sure if I'd described what I was looking for, he would have assisted me, but my German isn't the best and he didn't seem the most patient of assistants. Moreover, I'd decided that I no longer wanted to support this business, and more specifically, this guy. I'll still be keeping an eye out for this kind of device, because they will be absolutely fantastic for hitchhiking, especially because in today's world, the phone is extremely essential, and if I am stuck somewhere overnight with no power, which happens sometimes, it is all to easy to run out of power. My phone is more than just a source of music (although it is the main thing I use it for), I also use it for navigating (even offline, if you've got a map open in memory already, it will update your real-time position on top of it; fantastic if you have to walk to the exit of an unfamiliar town/city and you don't have access to data or wifi) and as an emergency device (for contacting the police, friends, whomever I please).
I published the first 2 blog posts about my recent hitchhiking trip to the UK...if you haven't already read them, please do! Post #1 and #2. I will continue posting them twice a week, or maybe once a week if I am posting about some current travels.
Speaking of which, probably the most exciting news of the week...the camp I used to work at in Germany has asked Lisa and I to come back for a camp! My favourite camp of last year, the horse-riding/cooking camp. The horse-riding is neither here nor there for me (although I can ride horses both with, and without, saddles; I learnt when I was WWOOFing on a horse farm in Nordrhein-Westfalen), but the cooking camp is amazing. It's a bit of stress for the counsellors, when it's your turn to do a cooking project or whatever, but there is incredible food all week long. And I love food.
I had to write to the farm in Sweden where Lisa and I will be WWOOFing, to make sure they would be ok if I arrived a bit later (and they were), and Lisa had to make sure she would be done at the Lagerhaus where she has a summer job (she will be) but we made it work and we're very excited. And, I have agreed to do a camp the week before as well, which will be nice too.
 |
| Poster for the Seefest |
Lastly, we went to a concert (Seefest) at a cool little pub, next to a little lake in rural Austria, which I've been to a few times with Lisa and her parent. The first band were a cute group of young kids, I'd imagine from about 11 to about 14, singing some of modern pop music, all in English except one song in Spanish.
Overall, a pretty awesome week!
No comments:
Post a Comment