Vienna

I had a hankering to start up the blog again. Who knows how long it'll last but here goes.

I'm in Vienna for a couple of days. They're really into some guy (? - hard to tell for sure from the portraits) named Mozart here. You literally can't walk a block without running into something Mozart related. It's like with Starbucks in the US, except they have just as many Starbucks (Starboxen?) here as we do at home, so there's really not much room for anything else. The "anything else" is quite beautiful though. Walking around old European capitals always reminds me that the most historically-significant building in my neighborhood is the art deco Sears-Roebuck store from the 1930s. Apparently it's the 250th anniversary of Mozart founding the city or something, so they're really going all out. Mozart must be some sort of mythical city-creating hero in Vienna, like Paul Bunyan in Brainerd or Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia.

I'm here to moderate a panel at the Global Security Forum. It's been a worthwhile experience. One of my panelists, Aldo Agostini from Venice, made a fascinating point about the different meanings of "privacy" between the U.S. and Europe. According to Mr. Agostini, the American concept of privacy is rooted in the goal of "freedom", while the European definition centers around "dignity". I'm not entirely sure what "dignity" is, but the Europeans seem quite attached to it. It might somehow be related to the Japanese word, "shame", but that's a concept as strange to Americans as anthropomorphic panda bears riding in giant-panda-shaped fighting robots. Except less cool, like Brainerd.

Anyway, I'll take freedom over dignity any day. I'd take happiness over dignity. I've even been known to take a nice big steak over dignity.

Speaking of which, I've yet to eat any of the famous Viennese meat products so when the conference was over I headed back to the Radisson with the plan of changing clothes and then hitting a restaurant. Once in my room I flipped open the hotel-provided Vienna guide book and read the very first sentence in the "sightseeing" section:

"Even though we are facing an economic slump, terror threats and cost reduction measures: Vienna is still one of the most popular places for outings and holidays."

Way to go for the hard sell! Now I see why our idea of marketing isn't centered around "dignity", either.

Under the guidebook was a brochure for the fancy hotel restaurant. The pictures looked appetizing until I saw this one in the corner:

Ok, seriously, I'm thinking of calling the cops.

Back to the guidebook, randomly flipped open to page 41:

"Would you like to discover Vienna in a special way? Would you like to discover Vienna in a very-special way?"

No. I'm going to bed hungry.

[Update: Two people have already accused me of "name dropping" Brainerd. Yes, I've been there. Any place that has Jello in the all-you-can-eat salad bar is OK in my book.]