Hi lovelies,

if you know how bureaucracy works in Austria, you will probably get a splitting headache immediately even before reading this story. And for those who do not know, just imagine this: try to solve a Rubik's Cube while blindfolded and with your hands tied behind your back. 

If you need anything from the magistrate, you must personally go there and register instead of doing everything online. Some things did improve during covid (yes, I also need to talk about the good points here) and they added a few online services. Plus, they managed to switch to appointments only instead of just going there with 100 other people and wait in line for hours. Literally. Thank you covid, for improving Austrian bureaucracy.

But don't get me started if you only have limited German skills, it's like trying to solve a math problem with letters instead of numbers. And don't come alone if your German is not great, there are people working there who refuse to talk in English with you. 

My big adventure started on a rainy thursday afternoon, on the 13th of April 2023. I was finally ready to register Royal Duck as a small business and for that I got an appointment at the magistrate at 3pm (you need to go to the one that's in the district of your shop location eg. I registered in the magistrate of the 15th district because the shop I rented is in the 15th district but I live somewhere else) And the good citizen I was, I was there 10minutes early. The woman at the counter sent me up to the 2nd door, 2nd floor. And there I waited. And waited. 

The room was big, empty and grey, an ugly mix of Gründerzeithaus (built around 1900) and 70s interior design, freshened up with a few plants near the window. After 20 mins a woman came out to ask for my business, she then sent me away to the other room which was at door 3 (thanks again to the nice woman at the counter for the wrong door :) )and there I encountered another civil servant coming from the bathroom who took me in. 

She was super kind but when I told her I do bead embroidery, have jewellery made out of Plexiglas and also stream and get money from ad revenue and donations she was a bit overwhelmed and kindly asked me to go to WKO - Wirtschaftskammer Österreich (Austrian Chamber of Commerce) because she didn't know the exact category in which to put me in and even asked if I would like to register two businesses’. And no, I do not. 

WKO

WKO has their seat in the 2nd district next to Praterstern which is only a few stops from my work, and I could go there without an appointment, so off I went.  

Apart from the three receptionist there was no one around and it was eerily quiet. I didn't wait for longer than 5 minutes before my name was called and I entered a glass room office that looked so uninviting and uncomfortable, especially as the window overlooked the train tracks. But apart from that, I had a friendly woman who took care of my registration. 

In Austria, if you want to open a business, you must bring the following: yourself, and a passport. You also need to swear that there are no reasons of exclusions from opening a business (as in, signing a sworn statement rather than do it orally) and that's it.

Now that you registered your business at WKO, there are two others one needs to register at:

• Finanzamt 
• SVS 

Finanzamt

Fill out form Verf24 on their website. Trust me, that's the easiest way because they don't have an email address and if you don't want to do it online, you have to physically go there. Before you go to their site, you need an ID Austria (a kind of mobile signature -> you can get this at the Municipal court or online)

Fill out the form and hope it's correct. I got my tax number on my online tax inbox at finanzonline a few days later so I think I filled it out correctly. Fingers crossed!

SVS

This is the insurance company - as a small business you are not obliged to pay pension- or health insurance, but you must pay for an accident insurance (which I thought was insanely funny. I am working at home on my sofa and desk, what was the worst thing that could happen there? Fall of the sofa? Get attacked by my cat?). The insurance is 10,97 a month if you don't earn more than 35.000€ a year and is mandatory.

While Finanzamt was quick, SVS took ages to reply. And in ages that is more than two weeks. But I finally got my papers and the confirmation, that I really only needed to pay the 10,97€ a month. Lucky me. 

If you expect to earn more than 35.000€, you need to pay for health insurance and a pension fund which is so much more: 

Beiträge zur Sozialversicherung

Es wird zwischen dem Beitragsprozentsatz und der Beitragsgrundlage unterschieden. In der Krankenversicherung sind 6,8 % und in der Pensionsversicherung 18,5 % der Beitragsgrundlage als Beitrag zu zahlen.

Beitragsgrundlage sind die Einkünfte aus Gewerbebetrieb. Basis ist der Jahreseinkommensteuerbescheid. Für die Unfallversicherung ist ein fixer Beitrag (unabhängig vom Einkommen) von derzeit € 10,97 monatlich (€ 131,64 jährlich) zu entrichten. - Gründerservice

This means that health insurance is about 6,8% and pension fund is about 18,5% of your expected earning. For the sake of the calculation, let's say your expected earning is exactly 35.000€ 

Health insure 6,8% of 35.000€ is 2380€ a year or 198,33€ a month

Pension fund is 18,5% of 35.000€ is 6475€ a year or 539€ a month

Accident insurance is always 10,97€, no matter what you earn. 

Firmenbuch (company register)

Now that everything was said and done, I had to think about getting my business registered in the company register entry (Firmenbuch). It's not mandatory for small businesses that earn less than 35.000€ a year. But the only benefit I saw is that no other company can bear the name you chose for the company. And even if you have a name registered, you always also have to put your real name underneath it: My company is now registered as my Name and Surname. With an entry to the company register, I could have a company name but still have to put my real name on documents. If you know me, I hate to put my real name on anything on the internet. It does not feel safe at all, but here I am, trying to earn some money and therefore need it plastered to everything I sell with Royal Duck. Where are the times when everyone was saying that you do not put your real name on the internet?

I tried calling Handelsgericht Vienna, but they just reconnected me three times until I came to a person who asked me to call again as she was not on her desk at the moment. I did say it was easy, wasn't it? 

After an hour I finally reached her at her desk, and she checked my chosen name. It was still available, to no surprise. All names have to be unique and therefore there must be a short check in the database. Afterwards I could register the name online (hooray!) and then I waited again. Allegedly, one can register for free at Handelsgericht if the company is less than a month old, which mine is. But I am pretty sure they will conveniently forget, and I need to pay. The information on where to register was quite hidden but I found it! You can register at justizonline 

• Fill out the form with your data. 
• But be aware, email adresses were not able to have a _ (underscore) in their name?? The form just deletes it. 
• Fill in the rest and send it. A few days later, you'll receive an electronic message that the company is registered. To access it, you once again need a digital or mobile signature.   

Edit:  

well, it has been a few days later and I got 79€ deducted from my account for the registry. So I checked and justizonline.gv.at is not the correct way to register IF you are a new business. New business have to register under: https://www.usp.gv.at 

Bombastic side eye.

The GISA number (GewerbeInformationsSystem Austria) arrived a few days later on my company adresss. It's the unique number of your business. Not sure what I need it for though.

Addendum: Grundumlage

More information at Wko.at or download the pdf from 2022 directly to see all the fees.

it's been a while since my last Interrail post. And to be honest, writing about it is a bit bitter-sweet. Remembering all the great places I was makes me want to hop onto the next train and go somewhere else again.

Day 15

I got up at 5am and departed with the first Eurostar from London Pancras to Paris. My body still felt week and I was constantly sneezing and blowing my nose. A few people probably thought that I had covid and wore a mask after hearing my loud concert. I can't blame them. I myself did wear a mask though except for when my nose wanted attention and for the breakfast they served in the train.

Breakfast consisted of a bread roll, a croissant, jam, water, orange juice, and bottomless tea. It was not bad. I was too weak to open the water bottle and the friendly waiter/train attendand opened it for me. Bless them.

The train arrived on time in Paris an 10am but I had a huge problem: there was a super long queue at the ticket machine and I needed to take the train asap so I could get my connecting train from Paris to Narbonne. You see, I arrived in Paris at Gare du nord but needed to go to Gare de lyon for the next train and only had an hour time. I decided to skip the queue and pray that there was another one along the way. There was, luckily, one, but the people infront of me took ages. AGES! I was already so worried about not getting the train as time was ticking mercilessly. Then I finally got my ticket, took my heavy bags and carried them to the platform. I really hate how inaccessible most station in Paris are, there is just no lift - compared to Vienna where every station has at least one lift. I stood at the platform and found out...I was at the wrong plattform. So guess, who could carry all her luggage back up the stairs and then down the stairs again to the correct plattform? Yeah. Me. In my weak state, everything felt heavier too. I was really close to tears by then, especially when a train came and decided to not go any further and everyone had to get out at wait for the next train. So the plattform was full of people and I only had about 15mins left until my train left. It was not a great day. 

A new train arrived at the station and everyone pushed to enter the train. I was stuck somewhere at the entrance in a really hot train with only a minimum of people wearing masks. I arrived at Gare de Lyon exactly the time when my train was supposed to leave. There was another train going to Narbonne but I had to wait about 4 hours. I went to check the trains and lo and behold, my train had a 10mins delay and was still standing on the plattform. I took my bags, ran to the ticket barrier, up the stairs, run to my wagon number and jumped in. I was sweating, I was shivering, I was close to passing out but I made the train. I can't believe was so lucky. With the last of my energy I pulled my bag to the top deck where my seat was and the handle broke. I couldn't care less and was just happy I could sit and make my way to the south. Then, as I took out my phone, I realized I had cracked the protective film of my screen. No idea how I did this but I probably knocked my phone into something in my bag as I ran for the train. Never mind that, it was just the protective film. (That I didn't change up until today. Oops).

The landscape looks so dry, no wonder with the drough Spain is experiencing for years now. I was just not prepared for it.

To be honest, the 4,5h train ride passed along so quickly, probably because I was zoning out most of the time. I arrived on time in Narbonne around half past three and made my way to the hotel. 

It was a mistake to trust google because google maps took me through small streets with broken concrete, and rough roads. It was just peachy going through those back alleys with a big suitcase and the broken handle. But I managed to arrived at the hotel, carry my luggage to the second floor without a lift and then just fell into the hotel bed and took a nap. The room was pretty big, as was the bathroom but it was really cool too because of the AC. It was also a self-check in and out, so I never saw any staff.

After the nap I roamed around the old city. 

The floral decoration on the tower reminds me of some kind of sixties party. 

It was a quaint little city with a small centre.  A river divided the city into two and my hotel was on the south bank. I decided to get food and more rest and do most of the sightseeing the next day as I was not only famished but also tired and still felt a bit sicklish. 

 You can see the river on this picture just next to the houses. It looks so green and can be easily confused with the green grass.

At the supermarked I got a pasta salad, sandwiches, cup soup, and cut pineapples as the restaurants were not open yet or, if they were, had no one who could speak English. Of course my French was fine and I could understand most dishes on the menu but I was just too tired to really think properly, and the food from the supermarket was definitely fine too.

I went to bed very early but couldn't fall asleep as I had difficulties breathing and had to couch every few minutes. It was a really horrible night. 

Day 16

It's still a mystery how I could get up at 7 am to see the city. I actually felt fine again, apart from a bad cough which had gotten worse. My nose was red and rough but I felt fine again. I had some tea, yey for my own electric water kettle in my room, pushed make-up on my face and then it was carpe diem time. 

As soon as I stepped out of the hotel, I was taken aback at how busy the street was. There suddenly were small booths and vendors along the river bank. Turns out, that every Thursday was market day and this Thursday was no exception. Bye bye quiet sightseeing day. I went to St-Just-St-Pasteur but it was closed. I made my way back, visited the Roman road and then crossed the bridge to the other half of the city. 

 The houses were old and some were in really bad shaped, they looked like a bad tooth in a beautiful mouth of teeth. I found a church I wanted to enter, I think it was Collegiale Saint Paul but it was closed and only opened at 10am. By then it was around 8am. Just my luck as all the other places were closed too. I could have slept for a much longer time but I didn't check for opening hours. Peachy. 

There was nothing really I wanted to see anymore and decided to go back, take a one hour nap and then come back to the church. And that is what I did. 

I came to the church at 10:10am and as soon as I stepped in I realized there was a mass. In all of my Interrail and all the churches I have been, that was the first and only time that I had witnessed mass. I tried to quietly sneak around, be as considerate and politly and just sneak some pictures with a quiet shutter. Most of the video and pictures were sneakily made behind one of these big pillars so that the priest and the worshipers would not see me. 

I left the church quickly after that and roamed around the north side of the riverbank somemore. I came across cute but very thin cats. Look at those cuties! I would have adopted them all, if I could.

Afterwards I finally went to the cathedrale sain just et saint pasteur. It was breathtaking from the outside. The gothic architecture is one of my favourite with all the small gargoyles. In the courtyard was a small rose garden and it looked and felt to serene. Anyone else get beauty and the beast vibes everytime they see gothic architecture in France?

 The inside was great too but what struck me was weird was that the cathedral was warm? I just couldn't wrap my head around that fact. I only know churches to be places that are freezing cold. 

 Afterwards I decided to eat something before entering the museum palais des archevêques and went to the Italian restaurant which was just next to it. The waiters were really nice but boy oh boy were they busy. The service took ages but the food didn't, but even the small wait for it was not worth it as the food was just bland and not good. Meh. 

After this very unsatisfiying meal, I went to the palais musee des archeveous. Entry was only 6€ and it was really ok for the price. I saw some nice paintings but and wonderful fresco, when they were conserved.

A painting of three woman, one spining, one weaving and one doing bobbin lace.

The last room in the museum had a kind of oriental style:

I also climbed the tower and came out on a platform that overlooked all of Narbonne. And of course, I forgot to take a picture of the most magnificent view.

After the museum I roamed around the inner city, got myself a new pack of mask and cough drops as I had finished the stash I brought. I had also run out of neo citran but didn't get a new pack. 

I check out and then went to the train station, it was a long walk back with my heavy luggage in the heat but this time I took the road which didn't make me curse with all the broken concrete  as it was more of a major street. I was about two hours early because couldn't store my bag but had to check out already. The train station was old and reminded me of an old 19th century train station. The waiting room was "modernized" though and thus, didn't look that nice. I bought water and some snacks and waited and waited. At least the train was on time and I went off to Barcelona around 5.30pm.

First class was filled quite well again and the seats were soft and made out of leather. I must have zoned out again because the 2,5h went by really fast. 

I arrived in Barcelona and funny enough, I went down the wrong platform at the metro again. At least they had a lift this time which made changing plattforms much easier than in Paris. The metro was cool but very bright and, like in Vienna, they still had a compulsory mask mandate. I didn't have food and almost nothing to drink and all of the supermarkets were closed. I got a cool coke at the reception, washed some of my clothes in the bathtub and then fell into bed. 

And that was Narbonne! Next will be Barcelona. 

All the best,

Auris Lothol

Hello lovelies,

It's time for a bobbin lace update - My own journey with bobbin lace started in June 2019 when I attended my first class. I fell in love with the craft right away, or at least, it was a kind of love-hate relationship as I made so many mistakes at first, but unfortunately, Covid hit in 2020 and all classes were canceled as Austria went from one lockdown to the next.

As time went by, online classes became available, but I didn't enroll - don't ask me why. Finally, in April 2022, I was able to attend my first class back. I took a break again and resumed my classes in December of the same year. Since then, I have been attending every month, and I am continually amazed at how much I am learning and improving.

My teacher, Emma de Ro, is a wonderful and kind old woman who has been making lace for 40 years. She has even published three bobbin lace books and is the inventor of the Graz lace (Grazer Spitze). 

https://www.buecherquelle.at/shop/kloeppeln/

Emma's expertise and passion for the craft are evident in the way she teaches, and I am grateful for her guidance and encouragement.

Attending monthly classes has been an excellent opportunity for me to practice and hone my skills. Due to only having one class a month, I hadtime in between classes to work on my lace and finish projects. Bobbin lace-making is a time-consuming craft, but the satisfaction of completing a project is well worth the effort. And even though I swear a lot or complain a lot about it, it's truly a magnificent craft that is just worth it.

If you're interested in learning this beautiful craft, I highly recommend finding a local class or an online teacher to guide you. The world of bobbin lace-making is waiting for you, and I promise it's a journey worth taking.

Check out my lace work from my post back in 2020 but without further ado, here are some pictures of my lace making journey.  

I started 2020 with the spider and left it at that. When I continued again last year, I re-did it as my teacher was not sure if I remembered it. (She was right, I did not :D)

Afterwards I jumped right into doing a small doily. It was so much work...

It started out small. I used linen stitch for the right side and plain hole on the left side. 

After I threaded this doily off, I got to know the secret of keeping the lace stiff and tidy. Spray it with huge amounts of hairspray on both sides. Mind-blown!

And that's the finished doily! Cute, isn't it?

The next lace was one with a whole stitch on the round edges and plain hole on the left edge with a linen border.

And then came another doily. To be honest, it's still a work in progress. The edges are linen and the round arches are whole stitches again and in the middle is a hole ground. (At least, that's what I think the stitches are called? Tbh, I just know the words in German)

And this half finished doily didn't deter my teacher to teach me a whole new technique and give me another doily as homework. Now I really need to finish one because I can not get a third pillow. Or can I? Insert ominous music. 

In German this new technique is called "Flechter" and I could not find a suitable translation in English. It's actually pretty easy, the complicated part is to connect it with the rest.

All the best,

Auris Lothol