Mixed Results

[MiniRock]

My fianc?e was here last week and suggested we do some shopping...yippee! She chose me a nice top and a suede skirt in the sale (very cheap) and I picked a lovely fur-look coat. We got her a very sexy dress and some heels so she was content. So that evening, it just had to be done: she made up my face and I put on a pink dress for some reason, not the skirt. Leaving at 9:30pm, the earliest ever, I felt so confident in my appearance I walked the length of Mariahilfer Strasse, not really attracting much attention from the many people I passed...super enjoyable. This photo was somewhere else but you get the idea:

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I then walked through the Weihnachtsmarkt (christmas market) at MuseumPlatz through, again, hundreds of people. I so wanted to stop for a Gl?hwein (that's mulled wine in English) but unfortunately couldn't pluck up the courage. However, arriving at the Rathaus U-Bahn (subway), I decided to steel myself - I'd seen a "very tall woman" there only the week before. So I rode three trains back to my own station of Thaliastra?e. The first to Schottenring was quite empty but it took me far enough from home that I had no choice but to take the next two much busier trains! To my surprise, hardly anyone looked at me and nobody took a second glance. Wow.

I'd been out a while and was getting really comfortable when my fianc?e called to see if I was ok. I was at that time contemplating entering a bar for another first and I asked her if she'd like a beer with me. I should have chosen my words better because, only later after I'd removed my makeup did she tell me she'd have gladly taken a coffee, but not a beer. Grrrrrrrr!

Anyway, alone again yesterday, I decided to try to repeat the experience. I left at 9:00pm but early on, I was somehow discouraged by the number of people who took a good look at me while waiting for the Volkstheater U-Bahn. I thought maybe my makeup was looking terrible, but on reflection, the shorter skirt might have been the issue. I got a very dirty look from an older woman, the first time that has happened :) In the end, I decided to carry on walking.

I passed multiple bars but just couldn't bring myself to enter. Maybe next time; I'm still expanding my horizons after all. I thought to myself, there's a suitable bar I could try near Urban-Loritz-Platz but arriving there, the only denizens were right by the door and again, I demurred. However, my arrival had not gone unnoticed and I saw a little Turkish chap regarding me from across the road (please don't call me a racist, it happens to me every time I go anywhere near the Gurtel; another one had previously sidled right in front of me in order to steal a sideways glance). Finally he made his decision and walked straight up to me. I think he was somewhat surprised by the male voice that came out of this big blond, even though she was a foot and half taller than him! Anyway he left and I started walking home, only to have another one walk right alongside me on the pavement until I turned towards him, whereupon he asked for a cigarette. I gave him short shrift too.

Anyway, the story of my latest adventures. Whatever happens, it's been exciting and I think that's the main driving factor for me. As ever, I made a couple of souvenirs:

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I hope by adding pictures, my post won't get relegated to The Picture and Video Gallery.

[GretchenM]

I think you look quite nice. Perhaps in Vienna at that time of the evening a more seductive appearance makes it look you are looking for some action in the eyes of the more conservative folks. Hard to say, but here in Denver that appearance is often interpreted that way by some, but not all. Personally, I see nothing wrong with the look for a younger woman out on the town. Please don't take that wrong. It is meant as a compliment.

[MiniRock]

Thank you Gretchen, huge compliment taken. Because I'm cetainly not young, almost 57!

Actually, I like the look myself. And it's not too dissimilar to the great majority of women in Wien at this time of year, namely black tights showing beneath a coat (often as not the skirt or dress isn't showing). Possibly one doesn't see so many high heels but I have seen women in them. And very few (probably none) are as tall as me. I don't think my hair's outrageous. I guess I could wear a hat. But the colour's almost exactly my natural colour (without the grey) and I feel comfortable with it.

I did reflect that perhaps they were trying to decide - as though it were not obvious - whether I was a man. Although when I looked at myself upon my return, I could believe that the men who approached me were looking for women, not transvestites. I remember taking quite a few beers once with an American tourist I met in Paris. Afterwards, I escorted him back to his hotel because he had lost his whereabouts. On the way, we passed a real prostitute and he decided to go with - ahem - her. "Ok" I said, "if you want, but you do realise she's a man." He said, "yeah, yeah, yeah, just stick around 'til I'm done." I didn't think he'd fully comprehended, but I didn't know him well, so I thought, ok whatever. Ten minutes later he returned, looking most flustered saying, "THAT WOMAN WAS A MAN!" I had to laugh.