Cool Dude on Graben, originally uploaded by scottpartee.

I met this cool guy on Graben. I’ve seen him around before, and even have a shot or two of him wearing Lederhosen in my photostream somewhere.

Anyway, I finally chatted with him and he told me some awesome stories about the buildings around Graben. He told me how, as a boy, he and others used to follow around the Fiakers (2-horse-drawn carriages) and collect the manure to sell to people who wanted to grow mushrooms in their basements.

He said that the police didn’t like them running around in the streets and would beat them on sight with sticks.

He also said that there was a military mess hall where Meinl is now and the soldiers there would spit on him and his friends and demand that they said "thank you, sir" after they received some spit on their heads because "those were different times."

The "brush" on his hat is actually a mountain goat’s beard(Gamsbart) and cost "3000 Schillings".