Hustle and bustle

Old habits die hard, so Saturday morning meant a lie-in. Having dragged myself out of bed, I headed into the city centre to see what happened to the streets of Vienna at the weekend. Landstrasse Hauptstrasse, the street on which Wien Mitte train station is located, was full of stalls selling fresh meats, cheeses and pastries, while the flier and brochure hander-outers were out in force, just as in any town or city. Weaving my way along the street to avoid them, I walked without any real purpose until I came to another U-Bahn station, from where I headed to Lugner City, a large mall and cinema complex which lies at the other end of my own street, Gablenzgasse.

Here I was to put my German oral skills to the test, heading for the nearest store of a certain mobile phone network provider. Two days ago I was given a free SIM card upon joining the ESN (Erasmus Student Network), but it hasn't been working in my phone. I explained my problem as best I could, and the assistant responded by looking up the SIM's serial number. His computer informed him that this particular SIM card was inactive, and I was left to walk out of the store, puzzled. The situation is easily fixable - I'll just walk into any old network provider's store and buy myself a cheap SIM card. The upshot of it all was the opportunity to speak some German and continue to attune myself to the Austrian accent.

Tomorrow sees my first taste of Austrian top-flight football - excited!