David Siskind | Sunday, 21 September 2025
We’re on the second leg of my big bye-bye, visiting my son and daughter-in-law in Vienna. We took a train to Salzburg to look around and found to our surprise and delight that it’s a big week here, the celebration of St. Rupert - the Salzburger Rupertikirtag. Rupert, who lived in the seventh century, was the founder and patron saint of Salzburg in both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions, and was known, among other things, for establishing the salt mining industry here (hence the name Salzburg). He’s often depicted carrying a bucket of salt. Last evening the crowds were huge. There’s kind of an Octoberfest vibe. Lots of beer and trad wear, Dirndl and lederhosen - the general term is tracht. Lots and lots of tracht. It seemed like half the women wore dirndl. And they were young. It seems like everyone has some. When do they buy these clothes? How often are they worn? There’s no real equivalent in the US that I can think of. I suppose there’s trad-wear within various ethnic communities but these are fragmented and smaller groups - not a national uniform. Rupert’s celebration will last all week. People were having fun and as of 9:30 last night, it looked like good family fun beer- drinking not withstanding.
We did find some rowdiness down by the Salzach River, where some noisy lads with a boom box were skipping stones and hurling 10 kilo rocks into the water and shouting joyfully. They seemed harmless. They were on a rock and gravel bank that formed a shallow shelf as it extended toward the main channel. The Salzach is a big urban river with a strong current and looks fishy, but no-one was fishing it. It’s funny how that varies from place to place, country to country. I can’t imagine a public stretch of water in NY, LA, or any other city without people fishing the banks. I understand that even public water here is managed privately and that day-use permits are generally required. Maybe that’s why. Apparently there’s some good water on the Salzach south of the city. I’ve seen some pretty pictures.
I heard from the new buddy I met on Block Island last week. While I was catching my ferry off, he was out fishing the coastguard cut and hooked and landed a nice bonito (see pic above). He sent me a short video taken by a passerby watching the fight. We will be in touch, and if we can hang in there, will fish together next year. I can’t wait for him to show me the ropes and tell me what’s what.
Update: I’m sure it hasn’t escaped anyone’s notice that the US corporate media, news outlets, and universities are all knuckling under. Just this morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that they would be suspending reporting of inflation data. The President has also opined that he believes corporate quarterly reporting is too frequent. The Center for Disease Control is now led by skeptics who are looking, without data, to change public vaccine recommendations. And throughout Europe and Asia, there are now efforts to lure American scientists and mathematicians to distant shores. We’re flying by the seat of our pants. Not good.
David