Yesterday, the city of Vienna´s mayor, Dr. Michael Häupl and the management of REED exhibition and conventions group announced their plans for their so called "FAN -CAMP" at the Vienna convention centre in the Prater, just about a 10 min. walk away from the Ernst-Happel Stadium, where the most important matches of the European Championships of 2008 will take place.

The key facts:
- 2400 pax capacity per night
- army fieldbeds (bunks), no matresses, no pillows
- sleeping bags have to be brought or rented at extra costs
- 70 showers and 70 toilets for the whole complex, that means over 30 guests per unit
- seperation by sexes, despite that there will be no seperation into rooms or any other smaller units
- lockers have to be paid for seperatly
- no meals included in the price, and you are not allowed to bring your own food or drink, only allowed to buy of the local catering, and they will not sell any alcohol
- no noise after midnight, curfew 02:00, and plenty of low-paid security to take care of that (including the right to take your match-tickets off you if you show anything they might see as agressive behaviour)
- no party allowed on premises, but if you have any problems, you can contact one of the social-workers at the spot, but again, watch your tickets !
- reservations have to be made until February 2008, and can then only be cancelled at full cost.

Alright, sound like our last school trip when we were teenagers ? In certain countries, prison-inmates would be allowed more freedoms !

And how much would such a bed in this kipp be worth for you ? A fiver a night probably ? Maybe a tenner,´cause everything is more expensive at such events ?
The charging price the city is looking at, is € 38 per person and night !!! THIRTYEIGHT !!!

For comparison: In Viennas most newly opened hostel, WOMBATS - THE LOUNGE on Mariahilferstrasse, the cheapest room will be € 24 in a six-bed dorm with private bathroom, and for comparable € 35,50 , you will be slleping in a double room, no bunks, private bathroom, breakfast inclusive ! And no, I am not getting paid by Wombats, I don´t even really like the place, because I always found it overpriced, but compared to that ...

Now, ok, I understand that this event costs the city, and in this way me as a taxpayer a f.. fortune, and that with all the expected costs for security, damages, roadworks, new stadiums ... the money has to come back somewhere, but this is, in mild words, a f... rip-off ! This is robbing money off people, who probably saved long for the trip and the event of their lifetime, and at the moment, it looks like they will get NOTHING for it !
SHAME ON YOU MR. HÄUPL, SHAME ON YOU !!!

The public mass-service with his holyness the pope at the pilgrimige-cathedral in Maria-Zell in Lower Austria was delayed a full hour, because the pope had to take a two-hour car-drive from Vienna to get there instead of a 40 min-flight.
The reason: The Austrian airforce helicopter which was supposed to take him there cannot fly during "severe rain". I f... went doing my weekend-shopping without an umbrella or anything in this "severe rain" !!!
So, we now have new fighter jets, which costed us 15 bill. €, that still cannot fly during the night, and we got new helicopters for 8,5 bill. €, that cannot fly when its raining ... lets hope that whoever decides to declare war against Austria calls in for a suitable time-schedule first !

I have just checked the traffic-situation via our systems here in the office and they show e.g. that in front of the Katschberg-tunnel on the A10 highway, there is already a 5km traffic jam of holiday-travellers on their way back home north. Its expected to grow to a lenght of ip to 15 km by tomorrow morning ... These are all the nice people from Germany, Netherlands, Scandinavia ..., who thought they can trade in a last relaxed day in their holiday resorts somewhere in Italy, Croatia or Austria for avoiding exactly these traffic jams tomorrow. And, where are they now ?
And I am sitting here in my office, facing a few more hours on nightshift until 07:00AM, and then I am straight off to a 900 km roundtrip through Austria with a critical cardiac patient, who is not fit-to-fly. And guess which highway we will have to use to get there ? ..... I am lovin´it !!!