You got to walk that lonesome Valley

Eurohash minus 131 days. Reminiscing about runs in the past up on the Gießhübl I hold fond memories about the Millenium Bug run way back in 1999 (you can still find the old writeup somewhere -> none of us are getting any younger -< ) and another run from January 2005 where the unforgettable Minute Man presented me with special souvenirs from one of his trips to Japan and a visit to one of those 100 Yen Stores. (Explaining pic to follow).

CoHare TwoBob and yours truly set out with no real concept apart from vague memories of that run in late 1999. The Snow and cold have thankfully retreated (just the wind felt a bit chilly) and a very nice group of 30 hounds found their way up to the carpark where even Richard Kopf gave in and paid the obligatory fee of 4 Euros for 6 hours of parking. Speaking of free parking (being of Scottish origin Richard Kopf sent me a text message trying to avoid the payment), the free parking outside absentee Tickpleasers house a a bit further down the hill was that little bit too far away to use.

With returnees Scarlett Pimpernell, The Famous Pimpsqueal and Double Oh Seven (GREAT Chinese army coat!) amongst the fold it was on down the hill for a bit (with some passing through the thick underwood) until there was a drinkstop (pure water only) at the Schneerosenbründl, lovely place.

Kann Ihm jemand das Wasser reichen? / Can someone hold a candle to My Pint?

Further on and after a check for quite a while uphill, a path that made Fallen Angel grouch we reached the Höhenstraße again (the main path through the forest is called just like that remarkable road within Viennese city limits which leads to the Grüß-Di-A-Gott Wirt) the last part of trail led by a huge local stone pit and eventually up a glorious hill with magnificent views and a compulsory Song Stop, with a rousing renditon of The Good Ship Venus. On After at the nearby Bärenhütte Gasthaus, a place to be recommended.

A bench in the park!

This is what we're here for

I just learned that Al Jarreau has passed. RIP and thanks for the music. This song covers some of the core and the deepest meaning. This is what life is all about.

Mystic Voyage

Eurohash minus 145 days. Another bit of Ostrich history, preceded by an important day of Hash History to remember. The Ostrich historic occurence happened just four years before the Mother Hash got started in KL in 1938. Looking up an old blogpost from 2010 shows a reused location that probably no-one remembers anymore. Except for the main Hare Casting Couch (with CoHare TwoBob) and yours truly, that is. Nothing had changed over the past seven years in the mystic village of Hafnerberg (and why, anyway?) apart for a bit milder temperatures (-1 degree Celsius) and a little less snow. Lots of lovely blank ice made up for that in plenty and made Richard Kopf ("I got lost and found an alternative fact - I mean way - back to the carpark!") and Nail Me turn round and avoid lots of slip sliding away. You're realizing that you're no further away from the city centre of Vienna than some 40 or 50 kilometres and you're coming across these godforsaken places, even a Rin Tin Tin impersonation came along out of nowhere, a lovely long haired dog accompanied the Hounds, especially O Sodomia and her doggie for a bit. The only thing I was missing were the tumbling tumbleweeds.

Tumbling along with the tumbling Tumbleweeds

At first it was downhill for an icy bit, then further on a longish flat way through depressive-looking winterland and then a long way on uphill again (Weitwanderweg to Hafnerberg) and towards the end downhill again alongside the stations of the cross back to the cars (I only slid out thrice close to the carpark). A pleasant not-too-long circle in the cold, featuring returnees the Famous Pimpsqeuak and Scarlett Pimpernell concuded the proceedings. All the best from this point to our great and glorious Grand Meister who had to undergo urgent medical treatment. And lastly, greetings to our friends from the Zagreb Hash who held their annual winter weekend over the last three days.

Six Cold Feet of Ground

Eurohash minus 159 days. Outside temperature minus 8 degrees Celsius, the longest uninterrupted cold period in Vienna in 30 years they said. The thing here in Vindobona very often in winter is weeks and weeks of high fog hanging in the air, which freezes anything on the ground and the classic inversion weather presumbaly makes skiing up the hills a pleasure. But I am not a skier. This is probably why I came up the Ski Week Solidarity Hash all those years ago. Lonesome Cowboy (another old faithful) invented the term "Solidarity run" and Mind the Gap crafted those golden words that "it ain't fair to be excluded from a run just 'cos you ain't gone skiing". The next edition of the Ski Week Solidarity run will take place on 8th of March. Be there and abstain from the Ski Week. Just this one time (of course I am just kdding here :-) .

Speaking of Mind the Gap, as a Hash Lash with time on his hands and no-one willing and able to set a run he revisited a popular location again which is the Strebersdorfer Friedhof behind the Bisamberg, with lots of Heurigens and lovely Kellergassen. Whenever there is a run out there I envision this must be how Vindobona might have looked like, in the so called old days. Just 14 brave ones made their way and after the usual short pre-run explanations it was off up the hill and into the vineyards. Up the Senderstraße passing by the Hash carpark where Richard Kopf ran his automobile over the Hashshit Trophy the Se* Energy and I gloriously had stolen from the Paris Hash (all this happened a long long time ago) it was on to cobblestone and lots of ice. I took the very slippy way downhill easy and enjoyed a nice chat with Slush Puppie. Cardinal Munk, OVH met his old partner from his so-called "Eat and Run club" by sheer coincidence and thankfully the circle lasted shorter than usual. No whimps here, yet it was really chilly.

Today marks an important date in Austrian History if you're interested in these things. Kisspeptin had also been on the news radar recently, then there was this mention about high tech toilets in the Far East, and a hermitage somewhere in Salzburg looking for a new tennant.

All this happened after a month that saw several passings, various illnesses, the usual silly amount of workload and the initially mentioned bad weather. But at least they're having a Heatwave down under, n'est pas, Se*-o-Phone and Mindphuck?

Learn to do the strut

January Cold. Huge pots of steaming and tasty Chili. Schnaps (Kirschwasser) during the run. What seems to have become a tradition up at the Tirolerhof over the last years in early January had been carried out again. 200 vertical metres in the southern area of Vienna make all the difference and so sufficient snow was ensured on the run, in stark contrast to several mudbaths in previous years. The main aim was to get to the promised Schnapsstop and down the hill again without slding out, I was carrying an upcoming flu infection with me that grounded me for the better part of the following week. But kudos to the generous hosts for allowing a seemingly chaotic supper to happen every year. Have I mentioned the tasty Chili?

Those pots of Chili smelled a lot better

Nicer doggies(?) or trendier jumper?

We shall go on to the end

Eurohash minus 180 days. (I shall try to start all blog posts leading up to that event with a countdown.)
So this is the last evening of the Christmas Holidays (I hope yours was a real good one) and tomorrow it is back to le grind. On Epiphany 15 years ago and following an idea by my beloved wife we started a Non-Hash walk on January 6 each year. In the south of Vienna where we live we are fortunate enough to have plenty of forest paths, hills (the Anninger being the highest with a bit more than 670 metres high) and and an abundance of Heurigens to rest our weary bones after some hours of introspective walking.

20 stalwarts (including 6 kids) did not mind neither the clime of -6 degrees nor the wind, starting from Pfaffstätten we made our way uphill through the vineyards and steadily further uphill. I wanted to visit the Gumpoldskirchner Veiglhütte, unfortunately this establishment was still in hibernation.  The following way uphill to the Annninger Schutzhaus was a comfortable one and Lady Luck smiled on us when there was a whole room with more than enough seats waiting for us. Perfect service, good food and drinks and one decent walk back downhill through the Siebenbrunnengraben brought us  back into Pfaffstätten before Darkness was setting in. Spontaneous On After at the very old-fashioned Heurigen Schwarz.

Look up the chapter about this Hash Chapters active social life (Eurohash/News/Who are Vindobona H3?) Come along and be part of it.

Vindobona Hashers on a Non Hash Tour

Prosit Neujahr

I sure liked todays New Years Day Concert by the Wiener Philharmoniker, traditionally watching from home with a glass of sparkling wine in my hand. Having said that, many Ostriches are fond of skiing. I do not belong to them. Music is certainly more up my sleeve. For a very long time now I have been fortunate enough to be able to watch and listen to the Wiener Philharmoniker with subscriptions that include 10 concerts annually, standing room for a single ticket price that equals a pint of Guinness in nearby Flanagans Irish Pub. Standing room ticket means standing for up to two hours in a crowded surrounding. But, I am talking about sometimes exceptional performances.  Classical music is not really your cup of tea I hear you say? The very first piece I heard live way back in 2003 featured electric bass and congas. It all comes together. There should be no clichés. Either it sounds good or it sounds bad to your ears, no matter what the labelling says.

Can we pull this off?

But that is not the main topic of this post. Again, while awaiting the official Moronic (they have duly arrived now) pics from yesterdays Red Dress run (?) with some 20 partakers amongst the 4500 official runners at the LCC Silversterlauf the old Hash routine of "cling yourself to the climbing rope and pretend to run even if you can't" applied again, with the same embarrasing result as during the last 5 or 6 years. Meaning that an unfortunate few that included yours truly, Barefoot (lots of sarcastic wit during the run) and Primadonna tried to pull the rope with the pack as hard as we could in the forward direction with Richard Kopf (and a few more) being the main culprit who put in all his weight as Religious Advisor to pull against us. This must have looked quite funny for bystanders as we were a) outpaced by stout-looking females with their walking sticks and b) we had to try VERY HARD to overtake baby prams with their parents in comfortable walking pace. And all this accompanied by constant RA requests like "NOT SO FAST" HOLD IT", would we have done so the red caravan would have come to a standstill. Ice Queen, Slush Puppie and The Blessed Saint Norman, OVH jumped ship and ran off on their own. My strong plea herewith is to devise a new system for the next Red Dress Run!


via GIPHY


Things got much brighter eventually when we lost Richard Kopf/he lost the grip to the rope nearby Urania and we were free to entertain a light jogging speed towards the finish line. Circle outside Flanagans with tasty Bloody Marys courtesy of Cardinal Munk, OVH and OnIn inside at the Post Office. Visitors from Ireland and Newbies Just Flora and Just Florian from Vienna. Warm feeling as ever.

But, even hogs have their bad days, and, a fellow living in Tyrol invented a system to produce artificial snow coming out of your garden hose. And lastly, does Alcohol kill our brain cells?