Hit by a Bus

Finally the scenario I've always worried about comes to pass; I got hit by a bus this morning! Actually I was riding the tram at the time, watching as a bus tried to squeeze by us in a very narrow lane. The bus got closer and closer as it passed until the rear end scraped the side of the tram, not a centimeter from my elbow leaning on the windowsill! What's odd, everybody was aware and yet no one, not passengers, the drivers, NO ONE paid any attention. Like this happens all the time. But at least they gave me a good story to tell.

There are some really odd things about Austrian culture that I feel the need to share. They have food stores every couple of blocks- not huge supermarkets but small cozy ones. And the fridges are small, so you have to go shopping every few days. It's not unpleasant at all until you get to checkout, when suddenly the race is on: you bag your own food in your own bags while you are trying to pay. The clerk goes on scanning the next guy's items and flinging it down the same counter into your pile, as if you'd gone. This is universal!

Photo: This tower down by the Danube hosts Europe's longest bungie jump; the sign below it, however, actually refers to slippery sidewalks!