VIENNA, January 20

Walked to Schönbrunn Palace. The amount of graffiti on buildings continues to amaze me. Also the presence of Middle Easterners is clear. We walked by a number of middle eastern restaurants and saw a number of women and girls with their headcoverings. At Schönbrunn we needed to use the restrooms. Finding clean ones is sometimes a challenge and when you do, you have to pay—but it is worth paying because they are so clean. I have this from an excellent informant, but in the ladies room they have a toilet with a toilet seat that swivels back through a cleaning solution so that it comes out disinfected for the next person. Where have American engineers been? I am sure there is room for a senior-design project somewhere in all of this. Of course, I am not sure what would happen if the occupant somehow moved and the toilet seat started to swivel. I can only imagine what the next step in this technology will be. While I was waiting for this miracle of technology to allow my better-half to come out (maybe I should have her take the camera next time so a similar contrivance could be installed in Heath-Hardwick Hall), I had an interesting talk with the Austrian man responsible for taking the money and keeping it clean about the use of pronouns in the German language. Obviously as soon as I open my mouth, people know I am not a native German-speaker, but I try. In the stores I try to be friendly (people here tend not to be). Some will respond in English and I tell them they speak English very well and try to continue in German. But I am not ready to have a discussion on the metaphysics of Karl Marx. However, while I was purchasing tickets in the underground, I did have a German or Swiss older woman come up to me and ask directions. I had to tell her I was an Auslander and did not know. Did some grocery shopping for the weekend. Bought a piece of Maronischnitte for tonight’s desert. It was a chesnut-flavored desert: on top of a thin slice of delicately flavored chocolate cake there was about an inch of whipped cream (somewhat firm) topped by another thin-layer of whitish cake topped by some more whipped cream which was flavored (Watson-style) and had finely granulated nuts sprinkled on it (this is the best I can do). I did wonder whether I should try to have a different Viennese dessert each day while I am here, but I don’t think 4 months is enough time to sample everything. For dinner stopped at a kiosk and got two Dürüm—paprika seasoned chopped chicken (can’t figure out the other spices) put in a big tortilla with lettuce, onions, tomato, and a kind of yoghurt sauce. It was very tasty (geschmeckt). I will put on Mozart’s Don Giovanni and get to work.