Everyone has been asking for a long time: “So how was Vienna? Tell us!” And I still could not make myself start sorting through three gigabytes from the cameras; without pictures it would be unclear.
November 2011
Yes, it all began in November, when Marita was guessing pictures. The pictures were a Groupon contest: you had to match fifteen countries to fifteen photos. Marita matched them, and we forgot about it. We had to remember the contest when they called and told us about a trip to Paris. Yes, yes, we had won a trip for two to Paris, but we exchanged it for Vienna.
Honestly, I believed in all of it, that you could just win something like that, only when I was fastening my seatbelt on the plane.
The Road to the Airport, December 29
The departure was from Moscow. In the four years since my first encounter with it, the Domodedovo Aeroexpress had noticeably improved. Now it generally resembles European trains: comfortable seats, wide aisles, space for luggage, drinks and food brought around.
The “Vienna Express” inscription on the menu amused me greatly. At that moment, I repeat, I still did not believe we would actually fly anywhere.
Vienna, First Impression
We arrived in Vienna when it was already getting dark. The first thing that struck me was that it was warm: about six degrees and a clear twilight sky. Compared with the cold winter grayness of Petersburg, it felt as if we had returned to autumn. A bus took us to the hotel and we checked in. Motel One is a pleasant hotel, with a very cozy lobby and fairly comfortable rooms.
It was already dark when we went for a walk, and nothing was really clear. A city is a city.
City Tour, December 30
Our trip included two free excursions: one overview tour around the city, and the second a trip to the town of Baden in the suburbs of Vienna.
Graffiti on the wall of some drained canal, with a metro line nearby.
In the metro, above the line map, there is a funny inscription.
Vienna has a great zoo. The flamingos especially impressed me.
Trip to Baden, December 31
A happy moment against a background of carpets.
On the way back, Vienna spread out beautifully below and ahead.
New Year’s Night
In the evening we went up the Ferris wheel. Even though midnight was very close, the line to get in was impressive.
The metro operated all New Year’s night.
The fireworks were stunning.
In the center, where the pedestrian streets are, several stages were set up on New Year’s night with different music for different tastes. We stayed near “Barbara Helfgott & Rondo Vienna».
Overall, the European way of relaxing made a very strong impression. Everyone is friendly and cheerful. There is no tension. There are practically no people made inadequate by alcohol, though alcohol is being poured right there to the side of the stage. After this New Year, I do not really understand how, and more importantly why, one should celebrate this holiday outside Europe.
Trip to Bratislava
Actually, we wanted to go to Salzburg, but tickets there cost 40 euros one way, while Bratislava was 15 euros round trip.
I still remember the steak with beer in some ordinary little cafe. It was that tasty.
Bicycles
Bike stations with the same symbols were noticeable around the city. We walked up and took a brochure. It works like this: you register on the website, they give you a login, you walk up to a station, enter the login on a special terminal, and take one bicycle. If you park the bicycle at this or another station within an hour, they do not charge for the rental. That is, you can ride to the next place in the city, hang out there, then get on a bike again and ride for another hour. Registration requires a card, from which rental money will be charged. http://www.citybikewien.at. And yes, the bicycles are in good condition, and the city is prepared for riding. Pleasant overall.
Before the trip I asked clear and unambiguous questions: whether we had to pay tax on the prize and whether it would be 30 percent of the prize value. Verbally, they said the tax would be 13 percent and that it would somehow be processed in a clever way. There is also a fragment of an email:
Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:31:06 +0400 from ...
13 percent of the received amount
Later it suddenly turned out that we had to file the tax declaration ourselves.
\nFri, 27 Apr 2012 12:40:06 +0400 from ...\n I apologize for this situation. Accounting clarified that you must go to the tax office yourselves and file a declaration. You do not even need an act for this, just the name of the received product and the amount.\n
Note the date of the message: April 27. The 27th was a Friday, then there was a working Saturday, April 28, and then three days off: April 29 and 30 and May 1. And the declaration had to be filed before May 1. In other words, the explanation arrived a day and a half before the filing window closed. There is no need to explain what happens at the tax office at such a time.
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At the cost of enormous effort by relatives, we still managed to get an appointment for Saturday. Tip: if you win Groupon contests, stock up on connections at the tax office.
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What did we get in the end? Correct: a demand to pay 30 percent tax.
Then we received this comment:
\nTue, 3 May 2012 21:08:00 +0400 from ...\n According to paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 224 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, as well as Federal Tax Service letter No. 04-1-03/115 of March 2, 2006, prizes not related to advertising or promotion of goods are income subject to personal income tax at a rate of 13%.\n The contest was not related to advertising.\n
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Another trip to the tax office to rewrite the declaration.
