We flew Bristol to Vienna which was super quick and as we arrived in Vienna we could see our one suitcase on the carousel - Guy hurtled and got it, we got a taxi and were taken straight to the hotel. A grand total of 35 minutes from landing to sitting on the hotel bed. Phew! The hotel (Holiday Inn Vienna City) was great, very handy, and placed between a vegan ice cream shop and a vets…
We phoned Gerhard to let him know we were at the hotel and he arrived within 5 minutes - the hotel was very close to the museum, literally 300 yards away, and he took us back for a private tour before we went for dinner. His lovely wife Karin joined us later after finishing work, translating for a Japanese conductor. The plan was for filming to be done on the Sunday morning.
On Saturday morning we wandered happily round the local flea market in beautiful sunshine which was fabulous -we very nearly bought a four foot long pendant lamp but didn’t because we couldn’t figure out how to get it in the suitcase. We should have tried harder - it was a BARGAIN and would have been perfect for the refurbished cottage! We’ll just have to go back…
We bought lunch in the market - falafel, some sort of meat (I’ve no idea what, it was just ‘meat’), tomatoes, cheese, warm figs. It was delicious. We couldn’t find any benches so we sat on the plinth of a statute in the sunshine and watched the traffic. Eventually we figured out we were in the middle of a large roundabout…
By this time we’d had a phone call from the BBC saying that as it was such a lovely day, they’d like to film that afternoon, not Sunday - could we join them at the Prater (the iconic ferris wheel location from the film) which is now a pleasure park.
This was 1st October. It was Oktoberfest - the traffic was bonkers and there were people in lederhosen and dirndl skirts everywhere. Some of them really should have looked in a mirror before venturing out… Our taxi driver (straight out of ZZ Top) sensibly took us to the back entrance and told us how to walk through.
When we arrived at the Prater Guy looked up at the giant ferris wheel and said ‘Cor, you wouldn’t catch me up on one of those things’ - he’s not great at heights. Guy reckoned the Prater was the Austrian equivalent of Barry Island on speed. Because it was Oktoberfest there was a strange smell of sickly sweetness, chocolate and beer…
The first thing the BBC guys said when they met us was ‘that ferris wheel is great so we’d like to film you on the cable car’. Guy went slightly pale but said he could, and up we went - we bypassed the extensive queue due to the power of the BBC and I was allowed to carry Gerald, the furry sound boom thing - he was very cuddly.
Getting into the cable car was interesting - there was a sliding ramp which, as you trod on it, shot you towards the cable car door. Interesting, but not elegant! We did two revolutions which took about half an hour - an interview with Guy first then generic pointing and smiling with both of us. We’ve seen Homes Under The Hammer, we can do pointing and smiling. There was a great view from the top! Guy didn’t look down…
When it was time to leave (the BBC boys stayed on to get some more shots without us) they told us we had only one shot at being filmed getting out and told us ‘don’t trip up’ so I for one was concentrating very hard on (a) watching out for the sliding door (b) saying thank you to the nice man standing on the outside to pick you up if you did fall over and (c) wondering if my bum looked big from behind, so when the door opened I marched out and shot off, leaving Guy trailing in my wake. I think we were meant to walk off into the sunset holding hands. Or at least vaguely in the same shot…
We made our own way back to the museum - this time we had a female taxi driver who was the same age as us but funky and drove like a maniac - there were slidey leather seats in the back and before I had my seatbelt fastened she took off like a rocket and went round corners so fast I whooshed all the way along the back seat into Guy’s lap. Still, because she was so fast the fare was minimal! The BBC boys arrived and did the first bit of filming which was interviews with Guy and Gerhard pretending they’d only just met. They wanted me and Guy to come in through the door but gave up after the door kept sticking and I fell through it twice - they won’t use that bit. You might then be able to hear me trying to shut it very quietly in the background while Guy and Gerhard do the ‘hello how nice to meet you’ bit despite the fact we’d already been out to dinner with them the night before so actually knew them quite well…
The filming was done with different angles as there was only one camera, so we did a bit (e.g. Gerhard opening the parcel filmed from the front) then they wanted the same thing again from over his shoulder.
We were all hopeless - we kept forgetting the order we’d done things the first time.
The BBC boys were starving and had had a long day, so we decided to troop across the road for dinner then return to the museum for more filming. Dinner was lovely (a traditional Viennese restaurant) and wine was consumed - you may be able to spot the ‘before dinner’ and ‘after dinner’ pieces…
Gerhard showed us where he was going to put the exhibition of Joy - it’s going to look really lovely.
Guy did a bit to camera at the end about it felt like the script was coming home and it was the right place to be - I was sitting in the corner and got quite emotional at that point, but not very loudly as I was still attached to my microphone.
Gerhard finished each bit of his filming with ‘and it’s thanks to the Antiques Roadshow and the BBC’ - I think most of those will be cut out.
While the BBC finished off their filming by doing shots of the museum Guy and I put on headphones to listen to some of the FOUR HUNDRED versions of the Third Man theme that Gerhard has in the museum. Some of them are so bad they’re really funny - we stood there mostly getting the giggles. My favourite was the Ricky Martin soundalike - sounded like Ricky Martin but not very much like the Third Man theme…
Vienna is shut on Sundays - when we, of course, chose to go shopping. The cafes and souvenir shops open, nothing else. As we didn’t want souvenirs we had to make do with chocolate cakes and wine. It was a tough day.
We found two iconic locations - the doorway with the cobbles where Harry lurks (which looks totally different in real life) and we found Josef Platz - very cleaned now, it’s a huge square, strangely much bigger than it looks on film.
Public transport in Vienna is fabulous - 15 Euros for 24 hours for the two of us so about £5 each, which covers every bus, tram and train. Not only is it excellent value and runs on time but everything is spotlessly clean - they even had magazines hanging on the metro carriages by the seats!
On Monday we went for a very long bike ride with Gerhard - he took us all around the city and took lots of photos, stopping at every tourist destination.
We cycled back to the Prater which was deserted, very different (and much nicer) than the Saturday. Cycling in Vienna is great - there are cycle lanes everywhere, cars are very respectful and even people aren’t allowed in the cycle lanes. Buses stop for cyclists. It feels really safe. In a 3 hour ride we were only on proper roads for a tiny fraction of the time, but even then everyone gives way to the bicycle. Even on narrow streets cars don’t rev up behind you, they just wait patiently for you to get to where you need to be. The bicycle really is king - apart from the trams - keep an eye out for the trams. And it’s flat. We cycled a long way on the side of the Danube, across it on a cycle bridge then back along it. You can take bikes on the undergound too so if you get caught in a rainstorm (as we did) - you can just whip underground and catch it. People didn’t mind the bikes in carriages either - nobody was cross or said ‘tut’, they just managed. So unlike the Valley Lines. Guy and I had never taken bikes up an escalator before - how hard can it be? Gerhard went first and made it look so simple. As I started to push mine up and it went backwards at an alarming rate he shouted ‘put all the brakes on hard’ which did help but by then my bike had gone down two steps and I was still in the same place so I had to decide whether to go down two steps to join it and risk everything falling over, or stay put and very probably put my back out. I decided to risk it and negotiated my way back down the moving escalator, luckily without knocking everybody else over like dominos, but it was close. Phew. Gerhard said he wished he had had a video as we were both so inept - apparently it was very funny…
We didn’t travel on the metro for very long - just 3 stops - but when we got out there was no rain at all, the roads were dry, there was bright sunshine - and we were all still sopping wet. It seems the weather in Vienna is as localised as it can be in the UK. After a quick change in the hotel into something dry we realised we hadn’t eaten and it was 2pm by then. We headed back into town and wandered about until we could smell the horses. The Spanish Riding School is based in Vienna and is, oddly, smack in the middle of the city near to some of the smartest shops. The smell really does hit you when you least expect it, but it quickly became our method of navigating…
We ended up at the most touristy Café Central, which has an amazing traditional décor and grumpy waiters. We had apple strudel and fizzy wine then another glass of fizzy wine, some chocolatey things and probably more fizzy wine. Guy had a long espresso (with froth - like a cappucino but in a small cup) and I had a hot chocolate with whipped cream. Which would have been nice except it tasted exactly like Cadburys and cost about 7 Euros. As if we hadn’t had enough chocolate, we then found the most amazing chocolate shop - we didn’t know what half of them were but we bought them anyway.
‘Going for a penny’ can be interesting - most public loos have to be paid for, and on almost every occasion I was escorted to my cubicle by the (often male) assistant! Quite often the doors were glass too… Guy also had to pay. He didn’t get the same personal service, but his did have the advantage of being called a Pissair…
Gerhard and Karin were amazing hosts - Gerhard explained the history of Vienna and why things were built the way they were. He used to do bicycle tours which he doesn’t any more, so we were incredibly lucky to have him give us such a personalised tour. He says he expects the same when he comes to the UK which could be a problem in Catbrook - we’ve really only got the Parish Hall and a couple of footpaths.
That could be tricky.
No comments:
Post a Comment