Well, a new version of AMT Mobile will soon be finished. Once submitted, it should hit the App Store in a couple of weeks. The next version will bring even more features and ease of use.
In the meantime, a new domain is now available, the whole project will be available through www.amtmobile.ca
Didn't take long, AMT Mobile is available on the App Store.
I have created a small landing page with the application details. I will add support and FAQ soon to that page, as well as the French version of course.
After a lenghty process, AMT Mobile will hit the Apple Store in the next hours.
If you take the train in the Montreal region and you want something to track the schedules, or even know when the train is out of service (believe me.. this happens quite frequently), go grab a copy, it's just 99¢
Am I working for the AMT? No.. Do they know about this iPhone App? No.. Why did I do this? Because I was bored back in March and some people were insisting on me putting this on the App Store.
By the way, between the time I submitted the App and the actual launch date, someone has released a global public transportation mobile app. I think it's something like YUL Mobile or something (not to name it!). Of course, my app is better, faster, more efficient and saves the environment, but feel free to try both, I'll read the comments and improve as necessary.
7th day in Wien and since this number has a strong religious meaning, what a perfect day to go see inside Stephansdom cathedral, the katacomb and the rest.
But first, let's go visit a museum. We decide to go at the Natural history museum, since they are supposed to have specimens of dinosaurs. When we get there, we quickly realize that it is closed on Thursdays. We can go to the building on the other side, which is the Kunsthistorisches Museum (or Museum of Arts).
Once entered, we can appreciate the architecture of the building. Looking above, we can see a large painting on the ceiling.
First exhibition, coins from around the world. We go through rooms, seeing different coins from different time spans. Last room we enter, we come accross a enormous coin, from the Canadian Royal Mint. This pure gold coin, is at the moment the largest coin ever made. Worth over $2M, it weights 100kg. Not very practical if you want to use it and carry it in your pocket though.
Next rooms, paintings from the 15th to 17th century. Not being very informed (or educated?), we quickly look at all the paintings, mostly religious or related to suffering (plague, wars, etc.)
Last rooms, artefacts from Egypt, pyramids, etc. Very interesting indeed. It is amazing looking at all those little hieroglyphs, not just on tablets but everywhere. They even had a mummified crocodile, which is odd at first looking at the shape.
Museum tour is over, getting back outside, it is still raining. We decide to take the subway to go to Stephansdom. Basically, this means taking the U1 after streetcar #2 (sorry, no U2).
Inside the cathedral, the humidity is strong, making it very cold and wet. Except for some plasma TVs on walls, original architecture has been preserved. Not much light inside, but just enough is coming from the outside through the large windows. Having looked around, we wait for the next Katacomb tour to begin.
30 minutes later, the guide arrives. Unfortunately, we won't be able to take pictures downstairs. Too bad, the visit is still worth it.
Going underground, we didn't really know what was there. We then learn that the katacombs contain graves of thousands of people. In each rooms, we can see piles of bones. In certain rooms, piles represent a certain era with the Black Death. Bodies were not burned as it would have destroyed the after-life of the victims. We are even told that at a certain point, the cathedral had to be closed due to the smell. Creepy.
Out of the katacombs, we head back to the hotel, and take a shower... just to be sure we're not infested. No really, we went for dinner instead.
Now time for the Sesame Street Moment: nicht verfügbar. It means not available. We had a hard time understanding what was wrong with the TV at the hotel, every button we used gave that message on the screen. It seems the hotel was doing a remote update of the system and it failed. Back to normal now.
Plans for day sixth were simple: try to visit places Talie would not be very interested to see. Let's try to visit the Freud Museum, take streetcars and go see Naschmarkt. With the GPS turned on, this is mostly where I went:
First stop, the Sigmeud Freud Museum. As it seems, Mr. Freud lived most of his life in a house in Vienna that is now hosting the museum. It sounded exciting at first, but after entering the museum, you quickly realize he moved back to London at the end of his life with all of his belongings. The museum is hardly empty rooms with pictures on the wall and text about his life. Next time, I'm reading Wikipedia instead.
Exiting the museum, it is time for a quick lunch. Picking up a sandwich at Billa, I continue my journey walking towards the Donau Kanal. There, walking on the bridge, you have a good scenic view of Vienna.
Time to go back on the streetcar. Taking the streetcar #1, I transfer to #2 at Stubendring. Then, passing our hotel, I go west to Karlplatz. Exiting there, I am only a couple of steps away from the Naschmarkt.
Once I enter the market, you can smell (at first the fish) different odors and spices. It is filled with small merchants, selling fruits, nuts, fish, meats, spices and candies like the wasabi sugary thing. As I approach the Kettenbrückengasse U-bahn station, rain starts. I go inside and take the subway go to back to Karlplatz.
Now back on the ring, I take back the streetcar #2. I then enjoy the view from inside while travelling all the way to the end of the line. After a while, I'm back at the hotel, not so wet.
As for the Sesame Street moment, today's sentence: Nicht malen unsere Zimmer, während wir weg sind. If Google did this right, it means: Do not paint our room while we are away.
Although it's been raining quite a bit since we arrived, this time, getting out was almost impossible. It was dark all day long and it never stopped raining. Plus, Talie was working all day so I ended up doing Sudoku and watching CNN... yeahh..
Positive outcome, I had time to plan what we should go visit, and how to get around using as much as possible public transportation (using a car is a mess).
The day is quickly over, and it's time to find a place for dinner. Let's try to see if we can find a nearby coffee with good food. It is still raining and getting soak is not my intention. As we walk, it seems everything is closed. Of course, it is Sunday after all and most little places don't open.
Still, walking on the ring, we continue up to Schwarzenberg street. Longer walk than expected, but the Cafe Schwarzenneger (err... Schwarzenberg) is open. Good, we won't have to cross the street and go to McDonald's.
Entering the restaurant, we can hardly see if tables are still available. Walking around, we find one spot, near a piano. Well, I don't want to exagerate here, but near is not strong enough. We were probably more eating on the piano itself. We start looking at the menu, while enjoying the music (not like we could ignore the sound getting out of that piano!)
We order and enjoy our meal. Good food, respectably priced (although the bread is not free). Now, time to pay, using the beloved kreditkarten. The guy comes back, with the credit card in his hand and a question mark on his face. He then asks: "erm.. you're not from France?".
Well, of course we're not from France, we explain we're from Canada. Usually, people tend to say: "Ohhh... Canada... good", and then stop talking as they just know we are a quiet northern country somewhere and don't know much about it. This time it's different and the guy wants to know more.
Discussing with him, we discover that he went three times to Montréal. Last time he went to the city, he took a car from Halifax and drove all the way there. He told us one time he had a hard time getting understood as no one was speaking English. Turns out, he was at Rivière-du-Loup and most people were only speaking French. He trully knew where Canada was.
As for the Sesame Street moment, today's word: Brot. This is bread my friend, and if you see it on your invoice, I hope you ate it and I hope it was good, because you just paid €3,40 for it.
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