Belated Diwali wishes to everyone! Hope you all had a great Diwali at home with Crackers & Sweets!! Thanks for all of those who sent B'day & Diwali wishes to me!

     For us, poor souls out of India, it may not be a great day like in India. How would it be, when you get to office in rain with temperature swinging between minus and plus, with a hot Monday meeting at the first hour, and evergreen "Puliyogirai" for lunch (especially that you cooked in a hurry in the morning!!) and out of office at 5 PM and its already dark, and its still raining!! 

         To top it all, you find in the evening, CNN, the only English Channel, has changed the news-ticker running at the bottom, from English to German. With no shopping to do because of rain, you end up with "Upma" for dinner! Very Very Happy Diwali! 
 
     Firecrackers are banned here normally. Even you can't crack a joke loudly!! :-) 
 
Austria, once a key political player in Central Europe, has unrivalled musical tradition. Also has few peers as a year-round holiday destination with plenty of winter sports in the Alps. We will limit our story with Vienna. 

          My first impression of Vienna was that it was not a city but a collection of Castles, with normal shaped houses hard to find. Not surprisingly, Vienna is voted as Second Best City to Live in the world, behind Zurich. (It indirectly means not many people live since cost of living is high, but am afraid, not many people live here, everybody here looks like a tourist! :) 

            OPERA - kinda theatre for large audience with live performance incl. drama, musical etc. If you have seen "Dil Chahtha Hai", its the place where Preity zinta will take Amir khan to show what true love is all about (It was Sidney Opera). I had a trip inside the Viennese opera and man! What a wonderful interior, with capacity of 2000 seats. The stage is 50 meters long and 30 meters wide. Check out the interior. 
 

             I couldn't find Crazy Mohan's Drama in the list. There is a king's room where, to have tea, you should pay 1820 Euro, roughly around 90,000 Rupees.(Pagal Kollai!) Ofcourse, Tea is not included in the bill, so you should bring it by yourself ! Very Funny!! (Alpam!!)

Not so funny is the tale of the builders of this opera. Critics (there are always someone) have mocked this Opera saying that it is ugliest of all buildings in Vienna (No, they were not blind!), when it was built in 19th Century. Seriously offended, one of two builders committed suicide. (Kavari-maan family pola!)

Look at the collection of Castles that punctuate Vienna: Belvedere Palace, Parliament, Hofburg Palace, Mayor Office etc. Looks like, the king had a big family, and built castles for each of his family members. Ofcourse due to lack of time, I could not visit few other castles. 
 
 

               But, the castle that takes the cake is Schonbrunn Castle! A beauty that could rival France's Versailles Castle & Gardens. I just love this place. 

 Vienna was also the birthplace of Psychoanalysis, Zionism and Nazism. A museum for Sigmund Freud (Father of Psychology!) is also there (Displaying what?) Another interesting news is that Adolph Hitler is from Austria.

Since Vienna was the gateway to East, Spies were all over the city during cold war. Two decades back, everyone you bump on in Vienna could have been a spy. Though few people believe the situation has not changed, it is not true anymore.
 
Mozart is Back

          Yes, the same Mozart who figured prominently in Salzburg. The fact is that Mozart left Salzburg at the age of five to Vienna and lived here influenced by the beauty of Vienna. (so does Beethoven, Schubert, Strauss etc)

In Schönbrunn castle's Mirror Room, Mozart gave his first concert at the tender age of Six. Vienna deservedly takes a major share in Mozart's Name. Mozart lookalikes are all over the place selling tickets for concerts every evening (much like Black tickets in our Theatres!) "Evening Concert Sir!! Mozart Special Madam!!"

You know how much Vienna is identified with Music!

Attached Kitchen

     Attention Please!! The (attached)"Kitchen" design (that was shown last week) is for the purpose of efficiency & maximum usage of space and not because of "Vaashtu Shastra". 

     I am afraid some people are spreading rumors that the Germany is well developed and rich because of this 'Kitchen Design' which complies with Vaashtu Shastra. Its not true, and don't believe in such false information. There is no such things like that or Atleast not yet!
 

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Quote for the week

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go."

-Oscar Wilde
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That's all folks!! Adios!

Your Friend,
Chandru
Editor, 
Euro Times
http://eurotimes.50megs.com