Sunday, August 06, 2006

The Vienna Connection Part 1 – A chaotic start

At 6:30 am on Saturday, the alarm went off. Damn! Only 4 ½ hours of sleep? Oh yeah, we came home at 2 am from TBF’s and we still had to pack and clean up a bit before leaving for Basel Airport to Vienna. We were vising our very dear friends, Pinki and Andrea and were going to have a blast at their annual summer party.

We arrived at Basel airport and looked at the departure screen. What??? Where’s the flight to Vienna? We checked the printout of our e-ticket to see if I hadn’t made a mistake when I booked. Date: July 28. Check. Departure time: 10:45am. Check, we’re here on time. Look at the electronic board again: No flight to Vienna.

So we went to the Swiss information desk and asked what was going on and showed our E-ticket to the lady at the booth. She made a quick check in her computer, frowned and said: “I’m sorry, but that flight has been cancelled… since June 26th. You mean you haven’t been informed?” By then, I was fuming! Double WHAT??? June 26th? That was over a month ago!! And NO, I received no information from Swiss. The friendly lady behind the counter shook her head in disbelief and started looking for alternative flights for us. The next flight from Basel was at 6:40 pm! No way! We had friends on their way to pick us up at the Vienna Airport and they had already driven 3 hours to make it to Pinki’s party. We ended up having to drive to Zurich to catch the 12:40 flight. We thanked the nice lady for her efforts and she promised to file a report about this and told us to send a complaint to Swiss in writing as well. You bet we’d do just that!

So off we were to Zurich, called Ernst to tell him that we would be arriving approximately 2 hours later, then informed Pinki of our delay. No problem, he said. The summer party starts around 4 pm, so we wouldn’t miss anything. We finally arrived in Vienna and were happy to see Ernst and Helga, who greeted us with hugs and kisses. These two are absolute sweethearts.

We arrived at Pinki’s in Bad Fischau around 3:30 pm and he, Andrea and his mom were already waiting for us to arrive. We were so happy to see each other again! It had started to rain, but that is not a reason for Pinki to cancel any party. His basement is one big party room and the grill and a few tables could be moved to the garage. Although Mama Pinkernell and I saw that the skies were clearing up, but the boys started to take the grill, tables and benches from the terrace to the garage anyway. Half an hour later, the rain had stopped, we had blue skies again and the sun was quickly drying up the terrace.

Ernst, Helga, Pinki mom and CS

Great! The party would take place outdoors after all. Soon after having moved everything back onto terrace and garden, the guests started arriving. After a few drinks and meeting a lot of new people (all in all 58 adults and 14 children!), Pinki started the grill and little after, the scent of grilled sausages filled the air. The guests seemed quite famished, because the 100 sausages we gone before you knew it! Later that evening, Pinki contacted a friend – who just happens to be a caterer – and ordered some pork chops for the hungry guests.

I hope he won't turn the sausage with that thing!

Andrea takes over the grill.

It was a great party with lot’s of music and a variety of interesting individuals ranging from artists/musicians to top management; exactly what we love. Around 2am, OrangeX and I could hardly keep our eyes open any longer and decided to call it a night. Just then, three musicians arrived and took out their guitars and played all night. We thought of staying up a bit, but then again, the need for sleep was stronger. I must say that whether Orange nor I heard anything of the loud music although they were playing just above our bedroom and our window was tipped. We slept through it like babies and woke up to find… Well, more about our trip to Wiener Neustadt and Vienna will follow shortly.

You'll find the first set of pictures here.

17 comments:

Bobby The C said...

CS, I am jealous of all the great parties you get to go to. I am also jealous that you get to party with TBF and Mrs. TBF so much. Thanks for the advice on my blog, you will see I republished it minus a few things.

CanadianSwiss said...

TMS: I have to take advantage of it before we return to Canada next summer :-)

Fab: Ok, ok. I'm quite happy with the title, too. I wonder why it took me so long to get it.

Mrs. TBF said...

CS and OX,
Glad you made it to Vienna after all that! Yet another reason for me to boycott Swiss! They are so incompetent.

The Dog of Freetown said...

That sounds like a fantastic party. When three men with guitars turn up, it's guarenteed. And that grill looks impressive. I envy your Central-European travels.

CanadianSwiss said...

Mrs TBF: It's a pity, since they used to be very good. We've already sent our letter of complaint. I wonder what they'll answer.

Kieran: Ita WAS a great party indeed. I just wish we had stayed up a while longer.... But there's more to come... :-)

Rob7534 said...

Nice, more food, more fun, and more pics!

By the way, I love your new Avatar Pic CS!

Anonymous said...

I hope we will see the coments from
Swiss Airlines on Your Blog.Dad

CanadianSwiss said...

Rob: Thank you. You're always so sweet. Glad you like it **blushing** :-)

Dad: Oh, I will definitely post that, whether it's positive or negative. But up to now, no reply from them. I wonder how long it will take.

Colon Blow said...

CS,

The party looks like it was a great time and worth the challenges it took you both to get there.

Actually, I think it is impossible not to have a good time when grilled sausages and beer are involved!

Mark said...

Hi colon blow, nice to see you pop up here. My God, you are Mrs. TBF's brother?? Looking at the haircut I would have guessed TBF is the lucky brother :-) Anyway, the party was great and we were already asked by Pinki to come back ASAP!

Unknown said...

LOL - and 11 comments later I'm finally back to reading blogs...

Sounds like a lovely time but my heart felt that stupid drive and hurry to Zurich airport. Ouch!

Love your hair CS!!! That bbq is huge!

Xmichra said...

I LOVE YOUR HAIR!!!! And hi!

Miss Kim said...

I agree- the new photo is beautiful!
Can't believe the story about the cancelled flight!!
Waiting for the Wiener Neustadt story- I NEED to go there- apparently there's a statue of one of my ancestors somewhere in that city!

CanadianSwiss said...

ET: Yes, that drive to ZH was really unecessary.

Xmichra: Thanks. That pict was take at one of TBF's dinners last March.

T-One: Thanks. You'd love Wiener Neustadt. It's got a lovely market square! I wonder which statue you're talking about.

Unknown said...

I'm going to throw up, I'm so jealous. After all you went through, it is good you had a nice time. Kiss the OX, Please??

Ginnie Hart said...

You two are party animals, that's all there is to it. We could NEVER keep up with you :) However, I must say that when our family gets together, we have almost as many people, but at least that's only once or twice a year. Party on, as long as you can! You only live once (or so they say).

CanadianSwiss said...

Bab: Oh-noooo! Not all over my blog! ;-) Id did kiss the OX this morning, but won't see him until Friday evening late :-(

Ginnie: Sometimes, I wonder how we keep up with ourselves! :)