Wien Stadtfest - Vienna City Festival

Today, a minor miracle happened: it was sunny! The whole day! 

This worked out great, as I had made tentative plans with friends to hang out at the Wien Stadtfest, the Vienna City Festival, basically a street party for the city.

We met at a stage in front of the Hofburg Palace, and watched a Balkan jazz trio perform.  Seems like a strange combination of music styles, but it was really quite excellent!  When they were done, we moseyed to another stage a few blocks away at a location called Am Hof. I'll have to go back there, nice architecture, etc. There was als a tall slightly disturbing statue, topped with an animal (dragon?) with an arrow through it's neck and spewing fire (or vomiting) and flanked by 4 soldier-cherubs attacking snakes with their swords.

Anyways, we ate some of the lunch we's packed while listening to a mediocre classic rock band.  Really, the only interesting thing about them was that their stage costumes consisted of white shirts and neon orange overalls. On the way to the various venues, we came across some excellent street artists, apparently hired for this festival (meaning they were not collecting money).

There were giant butterflies,

Stilt people and their "queen" (looking like they came straight from the Venice Carnaval)

a devil on spring feet,

and a British (?) trio playing entertaining music on toy instruments.

Later, we headed towards the Burggarten park for more music and to meet up with another friend.  We settled on some blankets on the big lawn in front of the stage and had a picknick.  The music here was more or less rock, and more or less good.  But we mostly chatted and people-watched.  Towards late afternoon, I left to fetch a sweater at home (just 3-4 blocks away) and detoured on the way back to the park to pick up a bottle of wine at the supermarket.  After another hour or so, we went to have dinner at a nearby organic restaurant called "Wine Embassy".  (Needless to say, it has an excellent Austrian wine selection.) 

After dinner, we went to Stefansdom (St Stefans cathedral) to see the Longfield Gospel Choir.  We got there about 10 minutes early, to realise the gates to the inner church had not yet opened, and people were massed in front of them.  When the gates finally opened, a tidal wave of people carried (ok, pushed and shoved) me into the church.  There were so many spectators we ended up standing in the main aisle to watch the concert.  And what a disappointment that was! I knew there was something fishy when the choir came in and they were all white-skinned.  And then they started singing: the first song was tolerable, but then came The Circle of Life (i.e. The Lion King intro), complete with slightly off-pitch soloist.  And in between each song the choir director felt the need to talk for a while.  After about 10 minutes, we looked at each other and walked out of the cathedral.  We knew this was going to be a popular show, and somehow thought it would be an American choir.  But it turns out the name of the choir is kind of misleading: the choir is actually local to Vienna.  And not gospel so much as sounding like a group of people who once went to New Orleans, heard gospel music and thought "hey, bet I can sing like that too": there was no real heart or excitement in it.

But the evening still ended well: to cheer ourselves up we went to a fabulous gelato place and got huge ice cream cones.  What a great day!

Weekend in Germany

This Monday was Whit Monday (the day after Pentecost, a Christian holiday), and we had the day off. So on Friday evening I flew off to see my aunt Gisela in Germany for the weekend. This is a luxury I was previously never able to do, but now I’m on the same side of the ocean, so it’s very easy to just jump on a plane for a quick flight.

I went to a region east of Cologne and Bonn called Bergisches Land. Now, “Berg” means mountain, and the area is in fact composed of rolling hills, so you might think “Bergisches Land” means “mountainous land”. But you’d be wrong: in fact, the area was named after the dukes of Berg. And if this was not linguistically silly enough, one von Berg built a castle which in the 15th century was given the name Schloss Burg. Linguistically, this would translate into “castle castle” or at best into “castle fortification”.

SO: the Bergs of Bergland lived in the Castle castle…!?

Anyways…

My visit with my aunt and uncle was wonderful. First of all, it turns out that the sun that never seems to be in Vienna has been hiding in Bergisches Land. The weather was perfect: 25oC, full sun and a light wind. We spent our days outside and chatted until midnight each evening.

On Saturday, we drove to the Eifel region for a gathering of my uncle’s family. When we started off, we noticed a little rumble coming from the car, but disregarded it. About 25 km later we got off the Autobahn and took to secondary roads to enjoy the scenery along the Rhine river. Another 50 km went by, and by then the little noise had turned into a loud rattle and the back of the car was shaking. So we drove into a tiny village where my uncle knew there was an auto mechanic. Turns out the noise was coming from one of the rear wheels, which was missing 3 of the 5 bolts that held it in place. The bolts did not seem to have broken off, nor was there damage to the wheel. But the mechanic said that had we stayed on the Autobahn and driven at high speeds (which is a given with my uncle’s lead foot), the remaining 2 bolts would have broken very quickly, the wheel would have fallen off and we’d have had a major accident. Thankfully, the repair was excessively simple: put in 3 new bolts, tighten all the others, and off you go!

We got to the party about an hour late, but had a great time anyways. I spent some time talking to Marita, a nice lady in her eighties. She had Alzheimer’s, though not too bad yet so while she did tell me the same story twice, she still recognised most people. We ended up speaking in French, which she had learned during and after the 2nd World War, and she was still very proficient. The funny thing is that 80% of her family had no clue she knew any French at all, and when they first heard her speak their jaws collectively dropped and they just stared. Just like in the movies! It was hilarious, and Marita was so proud of surprising them all!

On Sunday, we lounged around, played with the horses, read a bit, and also visited an open-air museum and nature park in the vicinity. Again with the wonderful weather, just a perfect day. On Monday, we visited Schloss Burg and also a watermill that used to produce very hard steel.



And then, sadly, it was time to hop back on the plane and go home to Vienna… where of course it was raining!

Bus "trip"

I had a nice evening with a bunch of expats. We had all been invited to one Polish woman's home for dinner, featuring traditional Polish food.  It was really good, and the company was exellent.

As midnight approached, we all headed off for home before our coaches (or in this case our subways) turned into pumpkins.  I had to take two relatively short wubway routes to get home, but one of the group recommended I take a bus instead of the first route, a supposedly quicker option.  He told me which stop to get out at, and not to worry if I missed it because the bus line ended at a subway station.  The subway system is very straightforward: basically if you can get to any station, you can find easily your way to your destination.

So off on the bus I go. My stop is coming up, and I get up and go to the door... which does not open automatically as it should. As this is my first trip on the bus, I don't know what to do to convice the door to open... And then the bus drives on. Uh oh!  Ok I think, no worries, I can just ride the bus to the end of the line and then hop on the subway.  The bus has a display indicating each stop coming up. I don't recognise most of the street names, but one or two seem to indicate I'm going in the wrong direction. Uh oh again! 

Up comes Panic street - precursor? No, no, it's fine, I can always find a taxi.  A whole bunch of stops later is Money Pennny street (loose translation):  maybe James Bond will come save me?  Finally I get to the end of the line and sure enough, I'm at a subway station.  But I'm at the end of the U6 line, about 10 stops from home, and the next-to-last run is not for another 10 minutes.  So now I'm standing at the station, one of the few that is partially open to the elements.  And those elements are definitely unfriendly: cold rain outside and a nasty wind blowing through the station. It's now almost 12:30 and the place is deserted.  I'm a bit uncomfortable but not really worried, as Vienna is a very safe city, safer than most. Then some people start to drible in, "normal" looking ones (not teenagers, scruffy-looking men or crazy old ladies) and finally the subway train arrives. 

I'm home by 12:50, fine except I'm wet and tired.  Not exactly an easy ride home.  I should have just followed my original plan and taken the 2 U-Bahns home...

Food festival in Vienna

Saturday afternoon, my friend Mark and I went to the Genussfestival, a food festival.  It consisted of over 50 booths lined up around the Vienna city park, highlighting local specialties from the various regions of Austria. 

A few differences from the food festivals I've been to in Canada. First, there were free samples at about 75% of all booths.  You could also choose to purchase larger portions to eat on the spot, and also to take home.  Another difference (which seems to be common to all the outdoor festivals/gatherings  I've been to here) is the attention paid to alcohol consumption.  Not only could you purchase wine by the glass at about a third of the booths, it was encouraged: there were several stations whose sole purpose was to lend out glass wine glasses (for a 2.- Euro deposit).  This translated into a whole crowd wandering around the park with a wine glass in their hands, having it periodically refilled at whichever wine booth struck their fancy. 

The white wines were predominant, and every single one was chilled and ready to be enjoyed.  I thought I didn't like wine, but had one glass to taste an Austrian riesling.  Mark assured me he wouldn't let the wine go to waste if I didn't like it!  Turns out I was wrong:  I didn't like 90% of the wines I have had in the past, but that's apparently because I wasn't drinking the right ones (and possibly they weren't chilled enough, there ones were almost ice cold).  I discovered that Austrian rieslings are particularly light and fruity, and just wonderful.  Just to be sure, I had a second glass from another booth.  Yup, still good!

The food itself was quite varied, ranging from salmon to jams. Not a veggie in sight! (This is not abnormal here, it seems). Overall, 4 products dominated the lineup: thinly sliced, dry-cured ham (think prosciutto but better); goat and sheep cheese; green pumpkin products (mainly seeds and oils); and, strangely enough, flavoured vinegars. 

My favourite food of the day was mangalitsa ham.  The mangalitsa, or "woolly" pig is an extreme lard-type breed, meaning it produces high-quality fat and very marbled, juicy and flavorful meat. Mangalitsa fat is more unsaturated than normal pig fat, so it tastes much "lighter", "cleaner" and melts at a lower temperature. The ultra-thin slices quite literally melt in your mouth!

The worst food I saw at the festival was also a dry-cured meat product.  However, in this case it was dry-cured fat.  Think of the white fat sections in a slice of bacon.  Now magnify that into a pure white, hard slab, which is then thinly sliced (of course) and heaped on fresh bread.  Absolutely horrible! 

Between the free entrance and samples, the wine and the lovely weather, it was a great afternoon!

Retail Therapy Take 2

OK, you men may be bored silly by this post, although I tried to make it entertaining, but the girls should definitely read on.

I didn't have an easy week, battling headaches and migraines almost every day.  But today I felt pretty good, and wanted to do something after work.  The sun was shining at lunch, and I was planning to go walking in Schönbrunn castle park. Unfortunately, by the time I got home, it was pouring rain. :-(
So I decided to try retail therapy again.

You'll remember the first try was a flashback to the eighties.  Rough start: as I walked into a kind of designer department store, I was faced with a display of hosiery straight from 1985.  (see picture, including leggings and lace ankle socks!)   But then things started looking up.  I wandered into the handbag section, and promptly fell in love with a flamingo pink Hugo Boss purse... with the heavy price tag of 349.- EUR.  Ouch!  Like a moth to a flame, I returned to it twice, but I wisely decided not to blow my whole budget on a single item.  To avoid temptation, I finally left the accessories floor entirely. 

Next, I went to the "trendy designer" floor, and was once again flabbergasted by what is considered fashion here.  Again with the ruffles, oversize, see-through, garish colour, etc. Yuck! But hunting around a bit, I found a corner of the floor with a better selection.  Result: I now own a lovely grey summer-weight designer jacket by drykorn.

Leaving the pricey trendy floor, I completely ignored the "designer" floor. This one boasts personal shopping "assistants" and carries exclusive clothing: a single item can cost the same as my rent! I went to the "regular" fashion floor instead.   At first glance, I felt like I was in the other fashion extreme, a world of drab colours and unflattering styles. (see picture)   So I was very glad to turn a corner and find MEXX (love that brand) and a couple of others in the same vein.  I picked up a a fashion top in tangerine, and a simple but well-cut cotton blouse.  Then I was kicked out of the store because they were closing - it was 8 PM, which is actually late for a Friday!

On the way home, I saw that the flagship Swarovski store was open until 9 PM.  By the way, did you know Swarovski is Austrian crystal?  There is even a theme park of sorts called Crystal Worlds in the western part of Austria.  Anyways, I took my time touring the store.  It covers 3 floors and includes a Moet et Chandon champagne bar.  I wandered around the loose crystal and chandelier designing floor and the figurine floor, seeing nice things but having no impulse to buy.  And then it happened: I went up to the jewelry floor, and my X chromosomes did a happy dance.  I thought I was not super girly, and definitely disliked bling.  Turns out  that's not quite true: I really, really love bling in the form of understated Austrian crystal.  I think I even squealed a little bit at one point.  I semi-broke down and asked to try on a gorgeous choker-style necklace in ruby-coloured and white crystals.  But it was too big and could not be altered to fit (I did ask), which was fortunate for me because the price was similar to that of the Hugo bag.  Phew, close call!  Overall, I saw items ranging from little crystal stud earrings for 10.- EUR to a foot-long Chinese dragon completely covered in tiny crystals with a price tag of 15,000.- EUR.  Needless to say, Mr. Dragon stayed in the store, but being in complete girl mode, I was unable to leave the store without getting something. After many rounds of the floor, I ended up purchasing a small multi-coloured flower pendant on a little chain... And I now have a list of a dozen other things I want. 

And darn it, I live 2 blocks away, and I can see the store every day on my walk home from the metro!

Why aren't Austrians as fat as Canadians?

There are much fewer fat people in Austria than in Canada.  I'm not sure why that is. 

1. Breakfast
If you're Austian (or German for that matter), breakfast isn't breakfast if you can't have bread. 
Example: Every morning at work, we have coffee first thing in the morning together. So far, at least twice a week someone has brought in food, like fresh bread and sausage, or buns, or sometimes pastry or a cake.  There is even a stock of jams in the coffee room, in anticipation of the bread and buns.

2. Lunch
This is the largest meal of the day.  It usually consists of meat (pork is most common) or fish and potatoes or "Klöse", which are dumplings (dumplings are awful, by the way- consistency of paste) .  The meat or fish is often fried, such as Wiener Schnitzel. 
Example: A particularly disgusting-looking meal was offered at the office cafeteria this week: a plate full of a bed of sauerkraut (which in theory is fine, but maybe not this insanely large helping), topped by two dumplings filled with turkey and cheese.  My brain being stuck on silly mode, to me it looked like a beige smiley face - minus the smile.

3. Dinner
The last meal of the day is eaten a bit later than the average Canadian is used to, around 7 or 8 PM.  It's a light meal, often revolving around bread again.
Example: after 4 PM, the meat and cheese counter at the grocery store will prepare a "sandwich" on order, which many people pick up on the way home from work in lieu of dinner.  By sandwich, though, I mean a bun of some sort, sliced open and filled with deli meat, maybe a dab of mayo if you're lucky.  Seriously, that's it: no butter, cheese, lettuce, nothing! (OK, today I saw they had pickles - first time I saw them)

So with all that bread in their diet, how do they not increase in size?  Although, their biggest meal being at lunch does help, as they move around in the afternoon and burn it off more than we do our large evening dinners. Also, Austrian/Viennese do not use sauce as often as Germans do.  

But still, what gives?  And don't say all the pastries, the average Austrian doesn't consume that many.  Pastries and cakes are a late-afternoon kind of thing, and they are all still at work at that time.  Then again, not as many fat kids or retirees either. I'm told that's changing, kids are getting fatter here, but still a huge difference.

It's a mystery...