Born In The U.S.A.

The other week Kathi and I received some birthday money from the Gottsch family. We decided to put it to good use by buying Bruce Springsteen tickets (he will be giving a concert in Vienna on July 5th). We are by no means the world's biggest Springsteen fans but are still excited to see The Boss in concert and experience a little bit of Americana here in Europe. It will also be a good opportunity to check out the big stadium here in Austria and properly celebrate the 4th of July. Thanks Gottschs for the excellent gift!

Runzas

A new attempt at making Runzas took place last night and this time I ended up with a winner. Phil passed along his family's recipe to help me out and it seems to be exactly what I needed, I expected this though after years of field testing (eating) at his house. For those of you don't know a Runza is to Nebraska what Kärntner Nudel is to Carinthia, we even have a fast food restaurant named after the product in our state. Runzas are bread dough pockets filled with beef, onion, cabbage, different spices and possibly cheese. Even as a kid when I didn't like anything remotley related to green I would eat Runzas because the cabbage is so well disguised. Anyways, I feel like a champ today as the meal turned out even better than I imagined.

Amalienbad

Last weekend Kathi went to a swimming hall that is a few minutes walk from our flat with a friend and had such a good time that we decided to make it our new Saturday morning routine, swimming followed by breakfast at a local bakery. Amalienbad was built in the 1920s by the between wars socialist government. It's still run by the city and I really enjoy the design of the swim hall and building in general. This morning after we woke up we headed straight for swimming and did laps for 45 minutes. Hopefully our skill improves over time as we were exhausted at the end and had originally planned on doing an hour of laps. The next time any of you are visiting Vienna and are interested in a swim bring along your swimsuit. Also, spring seems to have at least temporarily arrived (again) today so now we have all the windows open and Kathi is reading in the sun out on the balcony. It's starting off to be an excellent weekend.

Dunkin' Donuts

A few months ago I heard someone say that Dunkin' Donuts was going to open a location in Vienna. Since at the time I couldn't find any information to back this up I dismissed the idea as a rumor. That is until last week when I found a few articles related to the story. It seems Dunkin' Donuts plans to open 100 locations in Austria with the first opening sometime in 2009 in Vienna. I am not exactly sure of the opening date or where the first location will be in the city but I like the idea of yummy donuts being available here, and as an American I am sure I will have no problem tracking them down. Prepare your self Austria, it's donut time.

Cuckoo's Nest

Riding the subway everyday allows you to see some interesting people, and by interesting I mean crazy. Every weekday morning a guy gets on the U1 at Reumannplatz (our subway station) and rides to Karlsplatz. He has the same routine where he randomly asks people if his head is still attached to his shoulders. After an unknowing person politely answers "yes" he continues to ask the same question over and over again until he reaches his stop. Kathi and I see him maybe one or two times a month and are currently in the habit of avoiding him by getting on a different subway car. I have yet to see someone answer "no" which leaves me curious about what his opposite reaction might be. On the way home from work every once in awhile I see crazy yelling lady on the U4. I can't understand her accent very well but you get the impression that she might have turrets, though I am quite sure it is actually all controlled and she is only looking for attention. While people such as these do provide a little entertainment they mostly just interrupt my reading routine. I hope they are finding the help they need while I am at work during the day. By the way, today was the first time I had the pleasure of seeing both on the same day. I was thinking maybe I should set the two up on a date?

Hanging On

For those of you who don't know our living wall is pretty much all windows from floor to ceiling. During really windy days the wall makes a terrible rattling sound leaving the impression that all of the windows are about to fall out, turning our living room into one giant balcony. Last fall I learned that the sound was simply being made by a loose piece of trim on the outside, so for the past few months we've been trying to schedule an appointment to have the problem fixed only to have each attempt canceled because of bad weather. Finally this morning the workers declared it a proper day for fixing windows even though we were experiencing winds of 30 - 40 mph. Hours of quiet reflection later I am no longer sure if we met window repairmen or circus people today as one of the guys climbed right out of our living room window and onto the glass roof of our neighbors balcony (remember we are several stories up here). Out into the wind he went with only his trusty caulking gun (he had no use for a harness or any other form of safety precaution). Kathi and I watched in awe as he hung one foot over the edge of the balcony roof, with the other on our window ledge and one hand on the glass. Right before our eyes a guy was risking his life simply so we wouldn't have to listen to a rattling sound on the four windiest days of the year. We didn't dare take a picture afraid that we would capture a shot of the man in his last moments on Earth. At the end Kathi suggested offering him some schnapps for the effort but we decided this would be counterproductive for his second appointment of the day so he will simply have to settle for being my hero of the week. I hope such a profession pays well.

Biscuits And Gravy

I experienced some southern home cooking this morning with biscuits and gravy. This was always one of my favorite breakfasts growing up but I hadn't experienced it since the last time I was in Maryville more than a year ago. I'll be honest though, my version of biscuits and gravy wasn't 100% authentic and definitely not made from scratch, but I did the best I could mixing together the few ingredients I had from America with what I could find here to fill in the rest of the blanks. It turned out to be an excellent meal, though not as good as my mom could have made it.

Spring Tease

Well it seems when the birds were singing the other week it was just to set me up for the big tease. We woke up this morning to snow, a cold breeze and me wanting to stay inside eating pizza all day. Hopefully this is just winter squeezing in one final day of fun before calling it quits for the next eight or nine months. Results pending.....

Green Beer

We drank some Guinness and green beer last night with Elli, Maria and Gerald in honor of Saint Patrick's Day. Unfortunately the cheeseburger and chips I had at Johnny's filled me up so much that I was unable to continue with the group for more beer at a second pub but I had an excellent time and hope to make reservations next year so we can stay at the same location all night long.

Gerd's Tal

On top of one of the mountains at Nassfeld I wanted to take a picture of Gerd so he requested one of him with his home valley in the background. The Gailtal is where he grew up and where I had the pleasure of experiencing a few Kirchtags. I suppose in Austria they will continue to always call the area the Gailtal, but in America you can call it Gerd's valley from now on.

Mountain Weekend

Kathi and I spent the weekend in the mountains with Elli and Gerd to get in one last day of skiing this season (unless of course we get another urge). The weather and slopes were perfect for mid March but it was interesting skiing all the way back down to the valley at the end of the day as the temp was 50 degrees at the bottom of the mountain so the last few meters of afternoon skiing included slush (making that 1 of the 110 km of Nassfeld ski area the most entertaining).My stomach left Kärnten very satisfied also as I had pizza and wine in Italy, beer and Kärntner Nudel in Austria, and two bosna in Villach for good measure. And just to make sure I was fully topped off, Anna and Fritz provided a dessert of apple cake along with more beer and Kärntner Nudel for us to take home. It looks like I will be eating good this week. Thanks to everyone for a great weekend!

Pommes Sauce

I seem to be part Canadian as every once in awhile I like to dip my fries in mayo (or perhaps a ketchup / mayo mix). Kathi and I were extremely excited last night when we were at Metro and found some Pommes Frites Sauce, which is basically a light and creamy form of mayonnaise designed specifically for french fry dipping. Johnny's introduced us to the sauce last summer but has discontinued offering it over the past few months so we are happy with this new alternative. Now if I can just find a place that carries the right kind of ranch dressing over here then I would really be in heaven.

Loggia Flooring

Last summer I promised to buy a wood floor for our balcony in 2009 and since spring is just around the corner I went ahead and got it done with right away. Hofer had what we needed yesterday so we showed up at 08:00 and cleaned them out. After work I put it all down and now we have what you see above (including sofa #2 in winter-mode). Hopefully it makes us treat our little balcony more like a room so get a little more use out of it in the future. Either way grilling outside will be excellent.

Movie List

It's a great year for movies. This weekend we watched Gran Torino and The Reader; both were excellent. Hopefully our streak of choosing great movies for our viewing pleasure continues. In past years simply choosing a movie based on its award nominations did not always guarantee entertainment according to our tastes, but 2009 has yet to disappoint. Gran Torino had old school Clint Eastwood badassness mixed with his more recent knack of excellent story telling. In The Reader we got the question "Why?" in a place where it is not often asked. Both left you entertained, educated, and yearning for more.

Merrell

A few days ago I realized there was a hole worn into the side of my favorite pair of shoes. I was quite depressed because they are a design from two years ago and no longer available. Kathi suggested a trip to the outlet mall at Parndorf before giving up complete hope so this morning we headed out on a quest. Our first stop, Stiefelkönig, produced immediate results and left me ecstatic as they still had five pairs of my shoes available in two different sizes including my own. So now I have a new set of Merrell's and can remain happy as I will share the load between several sets of shoes and keep my feet satisfied in the years ahead.

The Birds

Spring is on its way! Ok, so today was not the best example as it was rainy and shitty outside but earlier this week I noticed that the trees were full of singing birds during my walk home from the subway. It was an odd realization as I haven't experienced such a thing for probably four months now. I just better hurry to the mountains so I can get in one more weekend of skiing before everything starts turning green. Though with all the snow they have gotten in Kärnten this winter they might still be trying to melt off the last of their piles of white into June.

Frozen Pizza

When it comes to brands of frozen pizza, not all are created equal. On a day to day basis in the states I survived off of Totino's Party Pizzas which have been replaced by Dr. Oetker's Ristorante pizzas in Europe. If I felt like spoiling myself in college I would buy a Red Baron hamburger pizza which has been taken over by the high class Big Pizza Texas in Austria. Luckily now that I have a real job I no longer need to eat $0.99 pizzas every day but they have become so much a part of my personal culture that I still like to have one a week. It's seems that every Monday when Kathi is at the gym I am at home eating a frozen pizza, watching a movie, and possibly drinking a beer. I wonder which of us is living the healthier lifestyle... What is your favorite brand of frozen pizza?

Missing Out

As a high school boy there was nothing worse than receiving a reading assignment in English class. Then college came which meant there was only time for studying, work, and the bar (not always in that order). When I finally completed the schooling part of my life I learned to love reading for pleasure. My latest book, To Kill A Mockingbird, kinda brought me full circle because it was required reading in high school. If I only knew then what I was missing out on I might have put the CliffsNotes away and learned this whole art of reading for pleasure much earlier. Great book, real life, check it out.