GMC in Europe 2008

Me again…the one NOT going and wishing she was… I want details…DETAILS ladies, and/or Colin (I know you have a sweet tooth). Wondering what to eat?

• Austrian Apple Strudel with vanilla sauce, Sacher Torte, rich chocolate cake with thin layer of raspberry or apricot jam served with whip cream.
• Linzer Torte, the famouse fruit tarte but not like we make.
• Damf Nudeln with plum filling and Vanille sauce—this big lump of steamed dough with a filling, usually plum or mohn (poppy seed) sometimes displayed in a tiny oven (if they have that up there)

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Hello everyone! Boy was that hard staying by last night knowing I would be missing SOooooooooo much fun with you wonderful people. Then all that Cake and wonderful bread and rolls you will be eating without me! 

I just wanted to chat about a few things that I thought could be useful when out and about. We are amid a bunch of savy experienced travelers so some of  you may know this already. 

There are some big differences with eating out in the States and in Europe. Firstly (and I am mostly speaking from what I remember from living in Germany- and being on tour), the service is slow—waiters and waitresses do not work for tips. So when tipping, you round off to the nearest Euro or giving a Euro is acceptable. Or, two or more if you feel like it was exceptional service.

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Well, I must tell you that connections are everything!  As it so happens my partner’s college-age daughter spent considerable time in Prague last summer and was kind enough to pass on her impressions.  Her report was most enthusiastic.  The following are some verbatim excerpts:

Language:  “Most people speak english, though knowing some czech is nice”.  Some suggested key terms spelled phonetically: 

“Dob-ry-den” means “good day, pardon, excuse me”.

“De-koo-yoo” is “thank you”.

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Well, believe it or not I have come across yet another patient who is well-connected to Vienna.  She is an American native who spends the better part of each year in the city and she recently offered the following recommendations to us as it pertains to working the muscles of mastication and ambulation:

Consumption:

1.  DeCapo restaurant, in Schulerstrasse district.  A “European” Italian as opposed to “American” Italian place which is known for taking full advantage of seasonal foods, e.g. asparagus (”spargel”) and pumpkin, in order to always keep the menu fresh and interesting.  This is her favorite place in Vienna where she swears she has never had a bad meal.

2.  Cafe Demel, near the Hofburg.  A “MUST” for the best pastry.

Observation:

I personally don’t know what the following sights are, yet anyway, or what they signify, but these are what she recommends.  Some of you I’m sure are familiar with these places.  Please feel free to comment:

1.  Hofburg Palace

2.  Schloss Shonbrunn

3.  Stephansdom-a “Must See”.

4.  Kunsthistorches Art Museum- “Absolutely fabulous”.

5.  There is also a music museum, just off Kartnerstrasse, and a Freud museum (Rich, this one has your name written all over it.  I’d love to check it out with you).

There you have it, from someone who knows. 

Cheers,  Adam

I have the good fortune of having as patients a lovely couple who are native Austrians.  They have graciously forwarded a list of the best in Viennese dining establishments.  Here is the list complete with websites for some advanced reconnaissance if one so desires.  All of these places are in Vienna’s “inner city”, the Innenstadt:

Restaurants:

1.  Figlmuller- A Viennese tradition.       www.figlmuller.at

2.  Gusshaus- Viennese cuisine.    www.gusshaus.at

3.  Plachutta- Viennese cuisine.   www.plachutta.at

4.  Julius Meinl- A Viennese tradition for fine coffees/food

Wine cellars:

1.  Zwoelfapostelkeller- great wine/good food.   www.zwoelf-apostelkeller.at

2.  Augustiner Keller       www.bitzinger.at

3.  Melker Stiftskeller      www.melkerstiftskeller.at

Cafe:

1.  Cafe Landtmann beim Burgtheater    www.cafe-wien.at  

There you go.  As the Autrians say  “Wien, Wien, nur Du allein”.   

Enjoy,  Adam

So far we have had pretty good advice sent our way by John Coghill about notifying credit card companies about your planned travel, finding out which bank ATM’s in Europe will not charge a service fee for use, and info from Casterbridge on how much to budget.

Two more ideas (travel debit card and pre-purchase of Euro’s):

You can go to any AAA store, there is one in Cromwell I use, and purchase a VISA travel debit card (just use it like a credit card abroad and not a debit) that you pre-load money onto before you leave.

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I checked the websites of the three hotels where we will be staying, and they all have hair dryers in the rooms.  Fewer electrical doohickeys to worry about!!

Hi GMC Tour Participants,

A couple of people have shared some hints which I will now share with you as we get ready to roll two weeks from today.

• Hint #1 from Paula, our wonderful GMC Treasurer, who says if you buy some Euros now to have with you at the beginning of our trip, you’ll maybe save some money as the value of the dollar continues to decline — that hint pleases my Scottish blood!
• Hint #2 from Margaret Tyler, our fabulous contralto, who says, scan your Passport and any important medical cards you never want to lose and e-mail them to yourself. Even if you do lose them, you can visit an Internet Cafe while we’re away and you can get copies if needed.

I’ll be updating information as soon as I get it from our contact in the UK and in reading the Casterbridge Leader’s Book, I have come across several pages of valuable information which I’ll send along to Participants as soon as I figure out how to do it!

One big travel tip is—PACK LIGHTLY! Please save me any nightmares by promising to be sure to have your airline tickets and Passports with you when we leave for Boston as I would hate to leave anyone home!

I’m down two of the twenty pounds I wanted to lose before leaving — Aargh! Jelly beans and chocolate bunnies — why do they appear every year?????

14 days and counting! Cheerio!

John, the Virgin Blogger

You might be asking, “But…where are we singing?”

We now have a page for each of the three concert venues on this blog-site.

Some of the information is still preliminary, and all of the venue pages will be updated as we get closer to the tour.

The easiest way to get to the venue pages is…to look up and to the right. There is a link called “Venues” at the top of the page.

You can point your mouse at that word, and a menu will drop down showing our three tour cities. Click on one of them, and it will take you directly to that page.

Or, just click on the word “Venues” to see a directory page with all three venues listed.

The pages will be revised as we receive more information.

How do you plug anything from home into those vaguely exotic electrical outlets in Austria and the Czech Republic?

Disclaimer: I’m not an expert, but I have a vested interest in making sure my camera and laptop work while we’re on tour. I’d hate to run out of battery power halfway through our stay in Salzburg and end up with no photos! So, I’ve done some basic research, and I invite those who have been there or lived there to add to it in the comments. 

For those of you bringing digital cameras, laptops, or other battery-operated devices, this may not pose much of a problem. Modern gadgets tend to have what’s called a “switching power supply,” which means that the power transformer brick can adjust to the different voltages and frequencies of European current. For reference, that’s 230 Volts at 50 Hz (or “cycles per second” for us old-timers!) for both Austria and the Czech Republic.Look in your owner’s manual, or at all that fine print on the adapter itself. You may see a statement like “120~240V, 50~60 Hz”. That’s an indicator that your adapter can handle different voltages. An even better indicator is to consult the manufacturer’s Web site for advice.

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