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Elissa Reilly Slater Wins Big Brother 15!

Elissa Reilly Slater was evicted from the Big Brother 15 house last night, effectively ending her chance to win half a million dollars, but she kept her morality and dignity intact and that, to me, is more precious than Big Brother blood money, and as far as I’m concerned the real, true, and only winner of BB15 is Elissa even though the show runs for another two weeks.

From the start of the show, Elissa was marked.  Her horrible sister Rachel was a previous winner, and professional whiner, and there are few Rachel Reilly fans in the Big Brother world.  Elissa was tagged by the other houseguests as being favored by the producers — and she was, just because of her shared bloodline with a previous winner — and it didn’t help that Elissa, a doppelgänger of her sister, denied being Rachel’s sister when asked.  A lie from the clean start can never really take you to the dirty end in victory.

That said, Elissa, a premier athlete of a Yoga instructor, bided her time and played the game as well as she could all alone.  She tried to make alliances.  She wanted to team up.  Nobody would have her.  Nobody listened to her insight or wisdom.  She was written off as a sibling airhead by everyone in the house — even her supposed “friend” Helen — who dictated to Elissa without ever hearing her.

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Murano: Island of Glass

We were up, breakfasted and out of the hotel on schedule. First stop, petrol station to fill up the car before leaving it at the airport. Go to the airport petrol station which is unmanned at that time on a Sunday morning and refusing to take foreign cards of any description — which means cash only. One problem with this — it only takes 20 euro notes — the five euro note slot is blocked — wonder if someone else tried to put their card in it?

We are told of several other petrol stations in the area and make our way to the first, the second, the third — all have the same problem — one petrol groups computers have obviously crashed overnight or are off-line for some reason. There is utter pandemonium as people get more and more frantic trying to fill up their cars — at the end there is a convoy of about 30 cars all trying to do the same thing — all of them with flights to catch.

We fill ours up until it will take no more — pass two and a half Euros credit on the pump to the next guy and make our way to the airport — our valuable time is ticking away. We park the car and run for the ferry terminal. The English woman in a hat is about to take on Venice!

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Vienna by Fiaker and the Baron

Mr P loves horses.  He is with horses the way I am with cats — luckily, he has enough common sense to know that, at present, owning even one would be untenable.  We had hoped to go to the famous riding school while we were here but knew in advance that they close for six weeks in the summer and the stallions are moved to a summer camp where they rest from their daily rigors and get some “R & R.” They also get to service suitable mares to provide the next generation of stars.

So instead of watching the horses being put through their paces I decided to offer Mr P his horse fix in the form of a horse and carriage ride around Vienna. I have to say that in the balmy sunshine the whole experience was most delightful.

We chose our carriage with care. Most of them are veteran, if not antique, and offer seats of varying comfort. As most of the inner city is cobbled, and we are both prone to the odd back ache now and then, we looked for a carriage that had well padded seats. Mr P was also keen on choosing one that was drawn by healthy looking horses who were well-groomed. we also wanted someone who looked as though they had made an effort — no jeans and T-shirt for us!

There are standard fares/charges in operation — these were 40 euros for 20 minutes, 80 euros for 45 minutes and 120 euros for 90 minutes.  You also have the option to hire for the day or half day.  Note this charge is for the carriage itself — not per person.  Most carriages will sit four people — sometimes a 5th can sit up front with the driver.  Some only sit two.

Let me introduce you to Wolfgang Fasching or Georg Fasching — otherwise known as the “Fiaker Baron” — our driver for the next 45 minutes.

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Vienna: The Albertina Museum and the Rathaus

It seemed a little sacrilegious to actually walk up the steps painted with Monet’s water lilies.  There is a lift which provides wheelchair/disabled access as well should this be needed and an excellent cafe at street level.

When you get to the top of the steps you are greeted by this statue and a view over the streets around you.

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Vienna on Foot: Stephansplatz to the Albertina

The center of Vienna is a grand place. It has large pedestrian areas, it is clean and tidy, plenty of provision for litter and reasonable public seating.  They have some problems with pigeons but not as much as I expected.  They did have one problem for us and that was lack of directions.  You would get one direction and then nothing!

This is a visual journey of our walkabout — to get the best from Vienna as a sightseer — you have to look up!

Looking back at St Stephen’s Cathedral:

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