Aeroflot.. Thank you... You're cool! ( Start)
I needed to go to Vienna on a business trip and it turned out that it was much cheaper to buy a ready-made excursion tour than to buy tickets and book a hotel on my own. In Vienna, I quickly did all my business, wandered around the city, went on a tour with a tourist group a couple of times. It was quite tiring due to the incessant freezing rain. Walking is too slippery, and staring at Vienna from the bus is a total torment. The bus was a monolithic lollipop covered with ice, and it was possible to look at the beauty only through a hole the size of a pack of cigarettes, dug out in the ice. In general, I spit on everything and went by train to Simmering. I was told that in this town there is the closest ski center to the capital. I planned to rent both skis with boots and overalls. There were no problems with skis, but it didn’t work out with the rental of ski clothing. I did not want to pay 3 prices for a new jumpsuit. I did not find a store with second-hand clothes and, as a result, I bought an imitation of a jumpsuit made from a single layer of bologna. T. e. when I put this something on myself (on a suit, shirt, but without a tie, ) I looked like a ski. Bright and trendy. And no one could have imagined that if this beauty is crumpled, then it fits into a fist. I didn't like the slopes in Simmering. One overly steep mountain for the experienced, and a trail for dummies, which zigzags several times across this downhill. A sort of parody of the Alps. But you can ride. When it was time to return to Vienna, I bought myself the cheapest local wine (I had almost run out of euros) in a liter plastic bottle for my journey at the railway station shop. Sitting in the car, I tried this swill. It turned out that a normal person cannot drink it in principle. It wasn't just dry. It was some kind of brut brutovich. I had to run to the store again, where I bought a package with the inscription “Zucker” for the last cents. When the train started, I opened a bottle of wine and began to open a package of sugar. It turned out that I managed to buy a kilogram of powdered sugar. But there was nothing to do and I began to carefully pour the powder into the narrow neck of the bottle. . The snowboarders sitting next to me looked at my manipulations and frankly had fun. The matter ended with the fact that I sneezed and sprinkled this powder on everyone sitting nearby. Fortunately, the youth turned out to be positive. Nobody was offended. On the contrary, they took away a pack of powder from me and began to sprinkle it on all those present. And me including. Pretty soon everyone was white and sticky. And after some time, and grubby. I didn't look very good to say the least. Coat, jacket, cap, face were covered with a vile, abundant scab of an incomprehensible color. In this form, I went to the platform of the Vienna railway station. And I discovered that I have no money, not only for a taxi to the hotel, but even for the subway. I spent the last change on the damned powder, if it was not right. I had dollars, and I made an attempt to exchange them or pay for a taxi. Figo. The exchangers were already closed, and the taxi drivers were disgustingly law-abiding. The situation was hopeless. I didn't know the way. Wandering in heavy thoughts along the long railway station passage, I saw a beggar who was attached to the wall and bleating something, shaking a cardboard cup. I approached him and asked if he could sell me some euros. He replied that he had just sat down and collected quite a bit of change so far, but if I wait, he will gladly exchange my dollars. We started talking. It turned out that the man was a Serb, a refugee from Kosovo. I sat next to him on a cardboard box and we began to remember the blessed days of united Yugoslavia. They remembered the wise Josip Broz Tito, films with Goiko Mitic and the singer Rodmila Karaklaich. So that I would not sit just like that, he handed me a cardboard cup, which I mechanically shook during the conversation. After 30 minutes, he checked the contents of both cups, seized the coins and bought $25 from me. What was a shame - the bulk of the money was in my cup, and he had no more than two euros. I then analyzed this situation and understood the reason. The Serb looked like an ordinary, average beggar. On the contrary, I aroused interest and sympathy in kind people. An expensive coat, good shoes, a relatively fresh face, but all this has a veil of decline and unexpected need. . Powdered sugar adorned me in such a way that one might think - just yesterday, a successful broker or businessman went bankrupt and now spends the night in a heating main collector. What is most unexpected - while I was sitting with this beggar in the passage, I was seen by aunts from my tour group, who also traveled somewhere by train. They were so taken aback when they saw me in such a guise that they were embarrassed to approach. They can be understood. A few days before, they had watched me, in full dress, get into a Mercedes sent for me by my business partners. Naturally, the aunts talked about this situation to the whole group. And until the very departure, I caught the wild looks of my compatriots on myself and could not understand what was the matter. Either the fly was unbuttoned, or something else. Everything was resolved on the day (night) of departure. After everyone fraternized, I was interrogated and after that everyone laughed. Which is good, the aunts took one (though not very good) picture of my begging. I can't find it yet, but when I find it, I'll post it. If at least someone I cheered up, it was not in vain that I wrote.
