2014-10-06 48 16

Location

The hashpoint, with Micsnare and Patrizius in the distance.

In the Middle of a field outside Bruck an der Leitha, surrounded by wind-turbines.

Participants

Plans

Jack had read Patrizius and B2c's time-traveling exploits, and when he realized they lived in Vienna where he was going to be visiting during his travels, he figured he should try to geohash with them. Emails were sent through the wiki and the Viennese hashers told him to meet at 4:30pm at a certain bakery in the Kardinal-Nagl-Platz U-Bahn station, and that Micsnare was also coming. The plan was to proceed to the hashcave (Jack didn't know quite what that was yet) and then to the point by car.

Expedition

We made it (easily), and then made it to a cafe and a pub afterward! More funny details when I'm awake. -- OtherJack (talk) 19:01, 6 October 2014 (EDT)

Field report

"Micsnare was rather annoyed that the hash was so easy to grab and rather unspectacular ;)" -- Micsnare (talk) 18:35, 7 October 2014 (EDT)

Longer and more optimistic field report, in first person

I (OtherJack) already wanted to wander around in Vienna that day, so figured I'd arrive at the bakery by foot, rather than coming out of the u-bahn. After accidentally discovering the Hundertwasserhaus and a giant water tower, I arrived at the station at precisely 4:30, nervously wondering if I'd find the bakery. When I recognized it I immediately made for it, only to hear a shout from my left. It was the other geohashers! I'd been walking directly towards them but didn't realize who they were. :>

As the four of us made for the mysterious hashcave by foot, my next surprise was that Patrizius and B2c had somehow gotten twenty consecutive hashes while I was busy failing to pay attention to the wiki for the last month! Congratulations again to you guys! Normally I would notice stuff like this, but I've been traveling and so haven't really needed an adventure generator as much as I thought I would.

The hashcave turned out to be a large black and yellow painted parking garage where the hashmobile (B2c's BMW) was one of many cars parked. This made a lot of sense in hindsight... I had been picturing more of a small, hi-tech underground control room with maps and GPS and md5 calculator displays all over the place, and no vehicles. The latter may have been cooler but the former is much more useful.

The drive was fun and straightforward via a motorway to Bruck an der Leitha, a smaller road to the tiny village of Gerhaus and then some gravel farm roads. I tried very briefly to navigate B2c at the beginning, but he and Patrizius had Lower Austrian car-hashing down to an exact science by now. It was one of the easiest hashes I've ever done. Except for the constant threat of wind-turbines.

Once we had parked at the optimal point on the road closest to the hash, the Viennese immediately changed out of their business shoes and into specialized hashboots. I only had one pair of all purpose shoes with me on this trip, and I steeled myself for extreme muddiness. Luckily, the field turned out to be quite dry after all. Patrizius and Micsnare excitedly ran into the field and easily found the hash, and the rest of us followed shortly. Our first intercontinental geohash meetup! Lots of photos ensued.

At Micsnare's urging, the Austrians tried for a Tron achievement on the drive back, but the Danube got in the way and we were eventually forced to go back on the same motorway. We still saw some interesting and different scenery as a result of our attempt though, I guess that's the idea of geohashing.

After the Beemer was returned to the hashcave, the Austrians invited me to come drink and eat with them at an "old Viennese cafe" downtown. I hadn't actually done this yet, so was excited to try. When we arrived, I saw that the name of the place was actually something like "Alt Wien Cafe" ... so they were not just describing it but referring to it by name! Micsnare duped me into drinking a "Radler", which turned out to be the austrian version of a shandy. But the menu had changed and they preferred another place. So, we walked to a very non-old non-Viennese bar where we got pulled pork and burgers. However, I still got to enjoy the odd Austrian custom of (repeatedly) drinking dark beer and light beer mixed together. It was quite good actually. We had excellent conversations about life, places, geohashing, and so forth, and I even got to briefly meet the third time-traveller, Patrizius' girlfriend. Was great to meet all of you, and if you're ever in 40,-73, food and drink are all on me! :>

-- OtherJack (talk) 07:33, 8 October 2014 (EDT)

Tracklog

Photos

Photo Gallery
OtherJack struggling to overcome the wind turbine. B2c cautiously standing back, covering Micsnare.
Stupid grin (tm).
Proof.
More proof.
Crazy Hundertwasserhaus
The hashcave!!!
micsnare tries out a new camera app
B2c and patrizius confer intently about the route
Windmill shot
More windmills
Boots
Still taking pictures
Hashers return to hashmobile...
...and hashmobile returns to hashcave