A DAY IN VIENNA

                                 Stay Awake on Arrival Day

   One of my trips to the Balkans and Eastern Europe started in Vienna. Being a  favorite European city, I had a fit when I learned I was booked on a circuitous route arriving in Vienna very late in the afternoon. I wasted no time getting on the phone  requesting to speak to the travel department. I was informed that was not possible and after arguing, I finally said, “Lady you do not understand. Vienna is my favorite city. This is my fourth visit to the city and I know what I want to do, to see and where to go and I do not want to waist most of the day in an airport. I will call you every day and pester you until I can talk to the travel department.” 

    When I was connected to the travel people the gal was sweet as can be.I got the routing I wanted without difficulty. I, along with a half dozen other people on the trip, were actually at our Vienna hotel a little before 9:30 AM on arrival day! Of course our rooms were not ready. Everyone else wanted to lounge around the lobby trying to sleep. I checked my bag at the desk, asked for a map with the hotel located on it and was off. We had had a hotel change and now were located a bit farther from Stephenplatz than originally planned. It was good to stretch and to walk at my own pace on a cloudy overcast day.

      I almost never sleep on planes, but I do resist the temptation of wanting to nap on arrival day.If I stay up and active and then go to bed early I have no problem with jet lag after a good first night's sleep.

     On a previous visit, St Stephens was covered with scaffolding and closed. This time I was happy to get inside this lovely Gothic church. Afterward I hit the stores on the plaza for the couple of items I wanted and to especially buy a good supply of my favored Mozart balls. By the time I finished with my errands I realized I was actually hungry, even though it was not quite lunch time in Vienna. I did not want to take time to find and eat in a restaurant. I remembered having seen a McDonalds on a previous visit, so I scooted down a side street to use the restroom and have a quick bite to satisfy my hunger pangs.

            Then I back tracked a short way to make it to the Anchor Clock. Ankeruhr,  built between 1911 and 1917,  is situated at Hoher Markt, the oldest square in Vienna. The Art Nouveau designed clock forms a bridge between two parts of the Anker Insurance Company buildings. The clock itself is adorned with mosaic ornaments. In the course of 12 hours, twelve historical figures or pairs of figures move across the bridge, Joseph Haydn and Empress Maria Theresa among them. Music from the various eras accompanies the figures. At noon each day all the figures parade by. It started to mist but I made it on time with only a 3-4 minute wait for this tourist spectacle which is a special kind of Viennese High Noon! 

  Happy with my morning’s progress I sauntered back to the hotel got my room and off loaded my purchases. It was not too long a walk  to see the Hudertwasser House, built in 1985. The unusual building was then and still is a bit controversial. The 50 social apartments range from 300-1000 square feet. Each apartment is individual in design and the exterior of each is painted a different color creating a patchwork effect. Planted on top of the roof in three feet of soil are 16 gardens. The architect believed buildings displaced woods and gardens and that something should be added back. Not a bad concept!

    Before returning to the hotel to await my LA buddy’s arrival I scouted out the immediate neighborhood looking for a restaurant for dinner.

    We chose a nearby Italian restaurant where we enjoyed a wonderful and leisurely meal. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a street vendor for ice cream. The vendor understood little English. I opted for what looked maybe like micro chocolate chip ice cream. As we walked away, a young man standing behind us who had overheard my attempts to learn the flavor started talking to us. “That is opium ice cream,” he said.

    In unison we exclaimed, “What.”

   “You know from the poppy, like they grow in Afghanistan,” He continued.

   Then the light went on in our heads, “Oh. You mean poppy seed.”

   “Yes, yes.”

    Sure enough that is what it was. Laughing I said, “Now I can go home and tell everyone I ate opium ice cream!”

             

GALAPAGOS TORTISE AND MARINE IGUANA

                       Giant Tortoise and Marine Iguana
    Galapagos means giant tortoise. A island province of Ecuador, it is 600 miles west of the mainland and is home to 30,000 human animals. It is an ecosystem—a fragile one—to many unusual animals, birds, flowers  and insects.

Tortoise          

 Lonesome George is the last surviving Pinta Island giant tortoise. He was discovered in 1970 when the species was thought to be extinct. He is one of 13 species of tortoises in the islands. Sailors nearly decimated the tortoise by the 1920s. The survivors were taken to Santa Cruz Island.

Lonesome George

  Espanola Island has tortoises but they live high in the mountains so are relatively safe from sailors and fishermen.

  Isabella Island had 15 tortoises—3 males and 12 females in 1920-- and are now a healthy population.

   In 1989 fishermen started harvesting sea cucumbers and nearly wiped out that population. They were marketed to Japan. Lobsters suffered a similar fate. Eventually the Government of National Parks set restrictions on fishermen. Unfortunately it is difficult to control. Now sharks are being fished for their fins, again to be exported to Japan. All such activity endangers the marine life and ecosystem.

  Goats and pigs were introduced which not only threatened the ecosystem but also threatened the tortoise. They multiplied rapidly so sharpshooters from New Zealand were hired to ride helicopters and shoot the animals that then mounted to 100,000. The goats and pigs on Isabella Island aregone!

Marine Iguanas 
  The marine iguana is the world’s only living swimming lizard and it inhabits the Galapagos Islands. They inhabit the volcanic chain of Islands that has been a great breeding ground for millions of years.

 The animal’s broader tail aids in swimming while the dorsal spines on its back help to stabilize the animal—acting similar to the dorsal fins on a fish. A gland in the nasal area removes excess salt by expelling it through the nose and can give the appearance of white frosting on the face after a swim. I was intrigued the first time I saw it.

   Being cold blooded, marine iguanas warm by sunning on the rocks and we saw many of them doing just that. Since they are black, they blend into the volcanic rock, so it is imperative to watch where you step. We tried hard not to disturb them. They reminded me of a prehistoric creature. They can grow up to four feet long from nose  
  Biologists believe millions of years ago both the land and marine iguanas evolved from a common ancestor. Land iguana look very different in both build and color. All 7 species of marine iguanas are classified under Amblyrhynchus cristatus. The color of the iguanas varies from island to island.

  In the water the iguanas are agile and swift, but on land they languish and move slowly, although I did see a couple scamper pretty quickly into the water.