Mercer's annual survey of the world's cities listed in order of quality of life was recently released with Vienna coming in as number one this year. As I previously noted the city has steadily moved up the rankings since I've moved here, solidifying my theory that a place immediately becomes more awesome once I am there. I haven't lived in many cities but I can definitely say that Vienna is a nice place to call home. Thanks for the reminder Mercer.
After our visit to the Prater on Sunday we stopped by Peter and Magda's to visit the little ones. Johanna was a little cutey who just slept and ate during our visit. I hope she is always so quiet and will be a relaxed baby for Peter and Magda's sake. Little Peter greeted us with a surprise by displaying his new walking skills. I was really amazed at how good he is at keeping his balance. As you can see the picture is of the big brother standing guard and was taken last week by Peter.
Yesterday we met Michi and Ivana at Schweizerhaus for some stelze and beer (yum!), and after our meal Kathi took me to a haunted house that you ride through on a little roller coaster. It was just last Friday that I told her how I've seen such rides in movies but had never actually been on one so she decided that since we'd be at the Prater on Sunday it was time for me to finally check one out. I chose the Geisterschloss which is the oldest Geisterbahn in the Prater. The design was more for scaring children but I enjoyed the ride and the fact that my wife was clinging to my arm the entire time.
Here are a few more pictures from Palfau.
Spring is an excellent season to spend some time in the mountains, but with how much they feed you it is necessary to take it easy for a day or two in order to let everything digest.
Today we visited Kathi's grandparents in Palfau to celebrate her grandmother's birthday. They live in a little village up in the mountains so all us grand kids wear traditional clothing when we drive up for a visit and of course there's a lot of beautiful scenery for the American to enjoy. As normal we left the area late in the afternoon full of good food and fresh air. Right now you just get a couple sample pictures and tomorrow I'll post a few more of the whole group.
Kathi and I like to go on vacation for our anniversary but I couldn't take off for an extended period of time this year in May. Therefore we decided to do our large trip in June and spend our anniversary weekend in London. With our hotel being located near the West End I deemed it necessary that we attend a show, so today we booked tickets to Thriller Live. It's a musical celebrating the songs of Michael Jackson and the The Jackson 5. With so much singing and dancing I know I'll be entertained. All that's left to decide is if I should be part of the performance...
Oriole Park at Camden Yards is the home ballpark of the Baltimore Orioles. It was the first of the new retro styled major league ballparks which means it provides a more classic feel in a downtown area with a fan-friendly atmosphere. If I could visit any stadium in America it would be this one as the Orioles have been my favorite team since I was a little kid. Unfortunately they are having about their tenth down year in a row (as Martin got to experience when he watched a game with me last night), but I am confident that in a few years their young talent will turn into a respectable ball club... And someday I will finally pay a visit to Camden Yards.
Elli and Gerd came to Vienna this weekend to meet Johanna and since the weather was nicer than expected we headed out to the Wachau for some fleischknödel and weiß gespritzt yesterday. Other than that Kathi and I have been having a rather relaxed weekend. On Friday night I played a little PS2 and watched a movie in order to test out the new television. Later that night I found a piece of free software on the internet for organizing movies (MeD's Movie Manager) and so I spent some time entering the names of all our DVDs into it. Now I can easily search through what we have, including the supplementary info from IMDb.com for each. Today is a normal spring Sunday for us with cleaning being accomplished in the morning and the rest of our time spent reading on the balcony or relaxing on the sofa. It's a rough life we lead.
It's been an excellent week for new things. Yesterday Magdalena gave birth to a baby girl (Johanna) so congratulations to her and Peter, and of course to me too for getting my first niece! Then today Kathi went out and bought me a new LCD television. I must have been really good or she in a particularly loving mood because the idea came straight out of left field, either way I approve. Therefore, during the next few weeks you will be able to find me on the couch watching sports or playing PS2. Danke schatz, I owe you one!
As you've noticed I pretty much never talk about work on here so I thought I would provide a quick employment update today. A few years ago I did have a short 'meet my work' post that you can first reference for the basics. I still work for an Austrian company named Frequentis where I test software. In the summer of 2007 I switched projects though and since then I've been a part of Team EAD. EAD stands for the European AIS Database which is the world's largest Aeronautical Information System and is contracted by Eurocontrol. Every once in awhile I also provide limited support to other projects so besides testing air traffic control software at times I am clicking around new creations for different police and fire stations around the world. It is interesting to walk up the hall some days as it is likely you will hear conversations in several different languages by the time you reach the closest cafe.
Today is the first full day of a long holiday weekend and since the weather continues to be a perfect 75 degrees and sunny we decided to have a picnic at Lake Neusiedl with Stefan, Sona and the boys. It was my first time visiting the lake and I am thinking I might need to go back for a swim later this summer. Also, the opening week of the American baseball season put me in the mood to throw a ball around so I got Maria and Sebastian gloves so they could help me practice. They are very enthusiastic about the sport so I see many continued outings in the future.
Lake Neusiedl is the second largest steppe lake in Central Europe and sits on the border between Austria and Hungary (about an hour outside of Vienna). The lake is 22 miles long and between 3 and 8 miles wide but I believe it never gets deeper than 10 feet so it is mostly used by windsurfers and small sailboats. I've also read that it is home to different migratory birds so I will have to find out if it is worth a visit in the fall for a bit of bird watching.
With how often I post about food and alcohol some of you who I don't get to see very often must be wondering how big I've gotten since graduating from university. Lucky for me I am blessed with a high metabolism and still weigh 155 lbs. For a reference, my senior year of high school I weighed 165 lbs during football season, wrestled in the 145 lbs weight class that winter, and balanced out at around 155 lbs in the spring; though I should note that I am now a lot softer around the edges then I was at that time. While eating and drinking are two of my favorite activities I believe in moderation, so I don't drink to get drunk and rarely eat till I am full beyond comfort (slowing down would be a good addition though). Now let's just see how much longer I can hold on to this high metabolism lottery ticket!
It's cherry blossom week at Monte Laa and this year I finally took a few pictures of the trees in front of our flat while in bloom. We have no cool 
festival here like they do in Washington or Japan so Kathi and I settle for dinners out on the balcony during this, our prettiest week of spring.
...and pretty soon it will be time to pay a visit to the Wachau too!
After our morning swim and breakfast routine on Saturday, Kathi and I drove Maria to the airport which is located just outside of Vienna in a town called Schwechat. This town is home to the Schwechater brewery which makes a Zwickl that the two of us really enjoy, and since we were already in the area I decided it was time to finally visit the brewery's store. Unfortunately we quickly learned that the store is closed on Saturdays but we still made excellent use out of the stop by meeting one of my work colleagues at the Brauhaus. After a few hours of chatting in the garden we proceeded to make our way home, each happy with a newly acquired tan and the knowledge that spring is officially here.
Yesterday Kathi and I each took the day off from work so we could take Suzi in to get a little warranty work done in the morning and visit a new city in the afternoon. Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and only 37 miles from Vienna, making it a city that Kathi and I should have visited much sooner.
We really enjoyed Bratislava's old town and it was made all the nicer by the perfect spring weather we are currently experiencing. As you can see the Danube runs right through the city with an excellent view of the river provided by the grounds of an overlying castle. The only thing we weren't the biggest fans of was the local food. Though it would be filling on a cold and rainy day, bryndzové halušky was not our favorite dish. I am sure we will be able to find something more along our tastes during our next visit to Slovakia.
I was talking to Kevin the other day and he suggested that I check out the book (or at least the website) Stuff White People Like. I clicked around just to get a sample of the writing and realized that I've had a stalker as the author was definitely talking about me at times. If you are not white but would like to gain a few white friends then it's also worth a read as several of the articles contain tips on how to deal with white people. The book was written for a North American audience though so you Austrians will have to decide if any of this applies to you.
Growing up on a farm just outside of Omaha I always thought that the Woodmen Tower was the true definition of a skyscraper. At 30 stories it towered over the rest of downtown and on a clear day you could see it from at least 20 miles away as there was nothing on the plains to obstruct its view. A few years have passed now, the Omaha skyline has made some improvements and my definition of a tall building has changed a bit, but I can't help wondering what my reaction would have been if someone had told me that by age 23 I would live in Vienna and have a 20 story building in my backyard. My parents enabled me to dream big so I think I could have pictured it, though I would have needed to pull out the encyclopedia first to find out exactly what was this place they called Vienna.
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