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Having a dog in Vienna (1)

18 Feb

Well, I have finally done it. After several years of talking about it I have finally adopted a dog, Mylo, who was rescued from a killing station (Tötungsstation) in Hungary and has been with me for two weeks today. (This means he–and I–have already survived 10 of the coldest days in Vienna this winter.)

It’s a valid question whether it is fair to have a dog in a big city, especially when you live, as I do, in an apartment without a garden. And yet, to condemn everyone who lives in a city to a dogless condition also doesn’t seem fair. It may not be in the UN Declaration of Human Rights that people have the right to a dog, but a good dog can add tremendously to one’s quality of life–provided, of course, one likes dogs and walking (in all weathers)! And Vienna is not at all a bad city for a dog to live in.

Most newcomers notice very quickly that the Viennese very often are more open to dogs than to children. This means that even a badly behaved dog might get a smile on the street where a badly behaved child never will. It also means that it is still possible to take dogs into some shops and many restaurants. For example, Mylo and I had coffee together last week in the Roth Bar and did some errands together this morning–we went to the newsagent’s for the Saturday paper and my weekly instant lottery ticket and then on to the pet store for a few things.

There are dog parks (not unique to Vienna, I know, but I have two within 10 minutes’ walking distance). Dogs are also allowed on public transportation, although Mylo and I haven’t tried this out yet. He’s still adjusting to life in the big city. But I fully expect to be back in the Vienna Woods, from now on with my dog, taking the tram out of the city, in the next week or so.

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The BBC visits two Viennese coffeehouses

26 Jan

They even mentioned one of my regular coffeehouses–Café Weimar, which has, in my opinion, the best Apfelstrudel in Vienna (which is saying a lot!).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16538189

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“Ihre Fahrscheine, bitte” (“Tickets, please”)

24 Jan

The public transportation system in Vienna works, one could say, on the honor system. You do not need to show your ticket when you get on but you do need to have one in case you encounter a Fahrscheinkontrolle (ticket inspection). Surely one of the less popular jobs in Vienna is that of “Kontrolleur” (ticket inspector), mainly because they are subjected to a fair amount of animosity.

Very early on I noticed how the atmosphere in a tram would change for the worse as soon as the (in those days) two middle-aged Austrian men stood up and asked to see tickets. The first time I experienced it I saw how a dog who was peacefully and happily sitting next to his master’s leg slunk under the seat and cowered there as if in fear of great evil. (Yes, dogs are allowed on public transportation in Vienna–but they, too, need to have tickets.)

It doesn’t happen often, but today I heard the dreaded phrase, “Ihre Fahrscheine, bitte”. And immediately noticed something different. The voice that spoke had a distinct foreign accent. Turkish, perhaps. And I thought, “Ah, one more unpleasant job the Viennese have outsourced to the Gastarbeiter.”

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For those of you who don’t know, Gastarbeiter was the term used to refer to migrants who came to Austria and Germany, often from Turkey or then Yugoslavia, to work and then return to their countries for their retirement. They usually took over jobs the Austrians and Germans didn’t want to do like sweeping the streets. These days the fastest growing group of Gastarbeiter in Austria–who often work as waiters, for example–is the Germans!

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Taking care of trash in Vienna

14 Jan

I’m thinking of starting my spring cleaning early this year. Why spend the first beautiful days of spring shoveling out your apartment when you can be out in the Vienna Woods?

With this in mind, I have spent some time online this morning straightening out in my mind what kind of trash goes where and have found that the City of Vienna has a clear and well-organized system of recycling and trash disposal. (No surprise there. From my early days onward I have been impressed with the Viennese awareness of what is environmentally friendly.)

Before we go any further I would just like to clarify for those who don’t speak German that Mist is what informally is called a false friend. It sounds like the English word that means fog but in German means rubbish or trash and also manure or other animal droppings. You’ll see why this is important in a moment.

What I have found out so far is that, on top of the recycling program in Vienna, there is a difference between Restmüll, Problemstoffe, and Sperrmüll and that these go to different places.

Restmüll is your basic household trash after you have separated out paper, glass, and plastic for recycling. This is the stuff you put in your house’s trash container.

Problemstoffe include things like old ink cartridges from your computer printer, old medication, leftover oil and other fats from cooking, and batteries. For this there are fixed spots where you can drop off your problem trash as well as trucks that travel around Vienna on a schedule collecting these items (see http://www.wien.gv.at/umwelt/ma48/entsorgung/problemstoffsammlung/ for venues and times).

Sperrmüll includes items that are too big or problematic in terms of their materials to go into your household trash or the Problemstoffsammlung. This can include old mattresses, broken furniture, certain kinds of treated wood and so on. I’m assuming that this is where I should be taking my big old suitcase that didn’t survive its most recent trip. These items should be brought to a Mistplatz (for information about Mistplätze see http://www.wien.gv.at/umwelt/ma48/entsorgung/mistplatz/index.html).

What I’m planning to try out this year is the 48er-Basar (48 because that is the number of the magistrate’s office responsible for waste disposal), a kind of flea market or bazaar organized by the City of Vienna. You can drop off old but still usable items at any Mistplatz and they will be sold for a minimal amount at the ongoing flea market (current opening hours: Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) in the 22nd district.

The great temptation will probably be to buy some things there myself but that, of course, might defeat the purpose of spring cleaning!

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