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Vienna, Austria.
Vienna
International Airport (Flughafen Wien-Schwechat) is Austria’s principle airport
with two adequate runways, allowing us to operate our 747 in and out of there
with relative ease. The Austrians ran a
clean, tight, aviation operation, which ticked-over smoothly.
As for the city, it’s located in
northeastern Austria, at the easternmost extension of the Alps in the Vienna Basin. The earliest settlements – founded by
the Celts and Romans – were originally at the inner city, south of the meandering River Danube. Today Vienna spans both sides of the river.
Our layovers here were usually one night –
few and far between – preventing me from thoroughly exploring this city on the
River Danube. Plus, coupled with
jet-lag, I preferred not leaving my hotel’s bed. Oh yes, dear reader, pilots get it too...big
time!
Despite this, one foggy, snowy afternoon
does stand out in my grey matter. I was
with an American Captain, and we had just come out of Vienna’s Museum of
Military History, containing amazing, white marble statues of 8th to 9th
Century nobles and knights. The carved
detail of their chain mail, weapons, clothing and helmets were utterly
remarkable. Plus an amazing selection of armor and weapons.
After wandering aimlessly in the snow, we
stumbled onto a small courtyard, where something darkly-massive and menacing
loomed out of the falling snow and mist.
A ten-foot tall WWII Russian soldier in steel helmet, greatcoat and
boots – holding a PPSh-41 submachine gun!
What the fuck, dear reader? This is Vienna, “City of Music and Dreams,“
not Soviet soldiers running around scaring sensitive tourists, such as myself,
shitless! Nonetheless, there the giant Commie
soldier stood, up on a pedestal in grey-green bronze, collecting snow, grim and
determined to do us harm.
Okay, dear reader, lets back up a bit – to
April 1945 – when the Red Army took Vienna away from the Nazis. As you well know, house guests, like fish,
smell bad after three days. What about
after Ten Years! That’s how long it
took the beleaguered
Viennese to get rid of the Soviets in 1955.
Except, before they left, the Ruskys left monuments to themselves all round
the city.
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