I started my first day as a product manager at bwin, a huge online gaming company in Vienna. I think this is going to be a great place to work.
I just want to say thank you to all of the people who were so wonderfully supportive when I was jobless. I want to give back a bit now. If you are an English speaker looking for a job in Vienna, post a comment requesting the list of companies that I gathered that operate in English. At the very least it will be a start to your job search. Unfortunately, I cannot answer any Visa questions, because I myself am an Austrian citizen.
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Last night I went to dinner at a place called the Schweitzerhaus. I was informed by some locals that this was a sort of institution in Vienna.
There were many things I didn’t know about the Schweitzerhaus. First off, it is located in the garish Wiener Prater. I simple don’t know why people are so wild about the Prater. It is a never ending carnival amusement park of hell. Loud music blaring from every ride and mixing together in a shrieking mass of noise. Neon lights flashing. Rides looming over you with a feel of desperation cloaking them. I haven’t been to the Prater in almost three years, and yesterday, I sure remembered why.
It seems that the Schweitzerhaus fits right in with the Prater. What a scummy dive. When I arrived at my table, it was sticky with sloshed over beer from the occupants before me. My chair was crammed right up against the person sitting behind me, so I had to hunch over in my seat so as not to bump heads with her. And of course with my luck, the people a table over were heavy smokers. I had a constant halo of cigarette smoke floating around my head for the duration of my stay.
The food was mediocre, the service rough and drunk, and the noise level of intoxicated people yelling at each other unbearable. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.
So here’s a tip. If anyone ever mentions the Schweitzerhaus, slap ‘em upside the head.
I for one need to settle my nerves after last night’s experience. You’ll be seeing me at Hotel Imperial’s restaurant, Which is my secret little get-away, sipping a cappuccino in the air-conditioned, cool, and quiet coffeehouse of elegance.
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Doctor visits are different in Vienna than they are in Los Angeles. It comes back to Americans being prudish in comparison to Europeans. Here are two quick examples of what I mean.
Last year I went to the doctor for a general exam. I was led into his office and we sat down and chatted for a few minutes. How was I feeling? Anything abnormal? Anything that he should know about? Usual questions that I answered easily. He then told me to go over into a side room, get undressed, and then meet him at the examination table. Okay, I could do that. I went into the side room, which was really small, and looked around for my paper gown. None. The doctor really meant it. I was supposed to strip down, then waltz my naked self across a room, and plop down on the examination table.
I was a deer in headlights for a good three minutes. What was I supposed to do? The longer I stood there, the further away the examination table seemed from the little side room. Finally I walked out and ask the doctor for a paper gown. He looked surprised for a moment, but then said, “Ah yes. I have an English patient as well. I’ll get you a gown.” Apparently, only this one other patient and I had a problem with the long naked walk to the examination table.
Today is another example. I went to my yearly dermatologist appointment. I walked into the examination room and the dermatologist greeted me. As she chatted with me, she reached over and helped me take my shirt off. I know she was just being helpful and nice, but I was thinking I could manage it on my own. She continued to chat as she looked at my skin. She then grabbed my by my shoulders and turned me around to examine my back. Then she snapped my bra open, turned me around again and pushed my bra aside to exam me from that angle. I was a bit flustered to say the least. Again, I was turned around by the shoulders, and the doctor snapped my bra back in place. Well I guess that’s service, right?
What a difference from American doctors who don’t even want to breath wrong, let alone touch you unnecessarily in case of getting sued. The dermatologist from today was just being friendly, nice, and professional. She did what she thought was nature and right. I wasn’t uncomfortable, just a bit startled and amused by the cultural differences of something as simple and routine as a doctor’s visit.
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One of the greatest pleasures of Vienna is the fact that the city is almost 50% green. There are forests, parks, gardens, and trees everywhere.
Since everything is closed on Sunday, except for eating establishments and museums, going out to enjoy the green parts of Vienna is ideal. Yesterday my husband and I went for a walk at the Lainzer Tiergarten.
Lainzer Tiergarten means zoo, but there are no cages here. The animals that are natural and wild to the Vienna woods are free to roam here in the over 6 acres of land that is reserved for the Lainzer Tiergarten. Can you image! In a major city over 6 acres of land is reserved for wild life and nature. It’s really incredible.
The clean, easy paths that you can follow really take you deep into the woods. You see only forest, creeks, and the wild chirping of all kinds of birds and crickets. It was perfect for a city girl like me. God knows that I do not own a pair of tennis shoes, let alone hiking boots. My little ballerinas were just fine for this walk. I got to enjoy nature while still keeping my shoes clean! Now that’s practical.
Different paths take you different places, but the one we took was a little over an hour walk in one direction to get to a restaurant. There we could rest ourselves, have a snack and a drink, and then continue back to where we came from.
This was a really relaxing Sunday for us. We got out of the apartment, drove for 10 minutes to get out into the wild nature. It was hard to believe that we were technically still in a city. I would definitely recommend the Lainzer Tiergarten for a wonderful Sunday stroll. If you are interested, they offer a number of tours as well.
Map of Lainzer Tiergarten
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According to Mercer, Vienna is the #1 city in the entire world that offers the best quality of life.
http://www.mercer.com/qualityofliving
Mercer evaluates:
Political and social environment
Economic environment
Socio-cultural environment
Health and sanitation
Schools and education
Public services and transportation
Recreation
Consumer goods
Housing
Natural environment
Vienna expats, what do you think?
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Biking in Vienna is so easy. There are bike paths everywhere, and when the weather is pretty, it’s a real pleasure, even for a non-biker such as myself.
What’s really great is the city has what is called CityBike Wien It’s a program with over 25 bike stations throughout the entire city which allows you to rent a bike at a very low cost. All you do is find a station on the very easy-to-navigate website. Go to the station (usually near an U-Bahn), register at the station, pay using credit card or ATM card, pop the bike out of its docking station, and you are on your way.
The bike condition isn’t bad at all. I thought they were going to be beat up and abused, but both my bike and Paul’s were fine. We started out in the 12th district, which is more on the outskirts of the city, and rode the bikes into the Inner City.
Finally we have something else to do on a boring Sunday other than just go to a coffeehouse.
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On Saturday a group of us went to Stift Melk, an hour drive from Vienna. This monastery is so breath-taking! This is definately a must-see for anyone who is spending an extended time period in Vienna.
http://www.stiftmelk.at/englisch/index.html
We took the tour and it was pretty crummy. I would have had much more fun, and had probably gotten more information, going through the museum and the rest of the monastery myself.
We went into the town of Melk for an early dinner. We found one nice restaurant after another and since it is a pretty sleepy town, no reservations needed.
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