Day 50-51, Vienna

Hello again, greetings from Vienna! Three countries in three days, hey it's a life. Had a very interesting conversation on the way here from Munich. Met a young fella at my gig who needed a lift, and knowing from previous experience that a conversation with a real person always beats the often fruitless chatter in my head, I was more than happy to help a brother out. And so there we were - a professional musician and a professional online poker player (I had no idea there was such a thing!), each giving the other a window into an alternative existence. And I think somehow both of us were interested in the perceived gamble the other was taking with the lives we've chosen. On surface level, you'd think the stakes were far higher trusting your fate to an online poker table, but after carefully dissecting both occupations for the best part of 5hrs in the driving rain I'm not so sure. I guess risk is a state of mind, each path comes with its pitfalls, nothing in life is guaranteed. Often our expectations determine the outcome.

And so, no sooner had I left my new friend in Vienna, I found myself standing on a stage at The Loft, watching a hat being passed round a room full of people who could choose to throw some money in, or not, depending on why they thought of my performance. Hence the point I was making above... Fortunately in some respects the risk was shared last night, with a nice bunch of fellas from Northern Ireland, More than Conquerous. I was reminded once again why I enjoy the British and Irish music scene, there's something in the songwriting that appeals to me in a different way than that which would be deemed 'popular' or 'successful' in Australia. Not a positive or negative, just a personal affinity I often feel for some reason. The guys last night had some great tunes, it was a very fortunate twist of fate that we ended up on the same bill, not least because I was able to have a good chat with native English speakers for the first time in a while. It's not that I don't enjoy the 'three-quarters' English conversations I've often been having for the past two months but even so it was nice for us to say what we needed to say to each other without the need for further explanation. Genau. Yes I know I should be the one speaking the local language, believe me I've tried, in future I hope to be able to do that. And in fairness to a lot of the people I've met, I actually can't believe how good the general standard of English is in Germany (and Austria for that matter), particularly with the younger generation. It certainly makes things a lot easier than they might have been 20-30 years ago. Amen to that, in many respects it's one of the reasons I'm able to tour here in the first place.

Anyway it was a great little gig, hope to be back another time soon. Not just to play at The Loft, but also to experience the city of Vienna, which is perhaps the most majestic of all the places I've seen this trip. The various palaces/castles/churches are really something to behold. Just incredible. You could say it feels like you're in a fairytale at times if it didn't sound so cliche, but I think you get the idea.... I would have spent more time wandering around soaking it up had I not decided to be an environmental activist for a couple of hours, specifically as part of a human windmill flash-mob for a local organisation called Global 2000, which was promoting clean energy (as an alternative to coal, nuclear at al). There's a good chance I'm in one of the local papers today, I just hope I'm not picked up by some sophisticated online encryption device and banned from travelling certain places as a terrorist threat. But you know, they seemed like a nice enough bunch of folks, I never really felt like an 'activist' in the truest sense of the word, and in any case it was a cause worth supporting, even if I couldn't understand most of what was being said in between the choreography time-outs. And if that all sounds confusing, you can watch it on youtube here... Thanks to Jelena for the invitation, and the brief 'Vienna highlights' tour, pretty impressive indeed.



And you know I could tell you about my busking experience as well, the over-zealous shop-keeper who told me to move because I was annoying, the kind policeman who also told me to move because it was illegal, the Museum Quarter opening I attended last night, a host of other things that happened yesterday really, but it's time to drive to Ljubljana, a city famous for it's irregular use of the letter J, probably a few other things too - I'm looking forward to finding out. A final thanks to Nessa, Clara and Bella for putting me up here for a couple of nights, more great people. I've been in luck with my hosts this trip, really. When I eventually have a place of my own again, I'll have to make sure there's a few spare couches at the very least! Bye for now... x