Too French?

Today I am sharing a Daft Punk music video to prove that the French are indeed good at many things... with one of them happening to be making the rest of us think "what the hell?" You have to admit though, that was a pretty addicting video to watch.

Vaccinations

Every few years before Kathi and I take a big trip we stop in to update our vaccinations, including for any weird things that don't exist in Europe or America that could be a problem at our upcoming destination. The last time I went in for such shots was 2005 and since our trip to China will range from rice paddies to Everest Base Camp we decided that today would be a good time to visit the Institut Für Reise- U. Tropenmedizin. The doctor at the institute was tricky and stuck me with four needles at the same time which made everything go by much quicker than expected. Kathi only needed two shots but we have to go back next week for a few more. Unfortunately our insurance doesn't cover vaccinations for exotic vacations so by the time this is all said and done we will have run through €500. A small price to pay though for peace of mind and a healthy return.

Champions League

Last night was the UEFA Champions League final live from Rome. This particular game is the European equivalent of the Super Bowl. I really thought that when I moved over here soccer would grow on me but even last night I could only watch with a passing interest. My best excuse for lack of passion regarding "the beautiful game" is I have nothing personally invested in a particular team. I found Euro 2008 exciting when Austria was playing and the World Cup is always fun to watch even though the U.S. never makes it too far, but as you can see I had a cheering interest in each of those events. Maybe I will just never be ready for the Champions League.

Caffrey's

There's only one way to follow-up a post about schnitzel and that is to post about beer. After work today I met a few of the siblings for a beer at Johnny's Pub. Each visit to Johnny's starts out with a Guinness but these days I like to follow that up with a Caffrey's for dessert. Caffrey's is an Irish ale from Belfast. It comes out cloudy, clears up tan, and goes down smooth. After the previously mentioned stout with dinner it is best to lay off the bitter and move on to the slightly sweet ale. Yum!

Schnitzelhaus

Schnitzelhaus is an Austrian fast food restaurant that specializes in different kinds of schnitzel and is a place that I have been meaning to eat at for the past three years. Well today after work I finally got around to crossing that "to do" off my list (no worries Martin, we can go there again sometime if you want). The delay was largely caused by a concern that the restaurant would be dirty and the food not so great but I was actually impressed as everything was freshly prepared right in front of me and the portions were quite large for a €5 meal. With two locations less than 500 meters from our flat a Schnitzelhaus meal might become an occasionally reproduced dinner for this American.

Serbian Renaissance

Last night we went over to Michi and Ivana's to checkout the changes they made to their balcony and join them for dinner. I requested Yugoslavian food since Ivana is originally from Serbia so she provided three different types of burek (cheese, beef and cabbage) prepared in a Bosnian way and served with yogurt on the side. The food was excellent and there was so much waiting for us that I was even allowed to bring home a few leftovers :). For dessert Kathi tried her best to put herself into a coma via strawberry crumble. Luckily she was revived after a bit of schnapps. I imagine some crumble will be made at the Gottsch residence in the near future.

Today we made a quick pass through the Böhmischer Prater with Stefan, Sona and the boys because there was a Renaissance fair going on. Is it common that such fairs always draw a large goth crowd?

London 4 - Final

I really don't have any more stories to share as we just woke up on Sunday morning and caught a flight back to Vienna. We were lucky enough to realize on Saturday that three of the subway lines were shutdown for the weekend (including one we needed) so we were able to come up with alternate plans for our journey back to the airport a day in advance. The real reason for this last post is that I like this picture and I needed an excuse to post it.

London 3 - A Thriller

Saturday started with a visit to the London Eye. You really can't grasp its full height until you get in and take a ride. About halfway through our 30 minute journey it started to rain but our luck won out as it quit by the time we made it back to the bottom.
After the London Eye we went out in search of a Papa John's. We had to leave the tourist area and enter a local neighborhood to find one but our quest ended in success, and I was amazed by our eating ability as we bought an XL half hamburger / half pepperoni pizza for £10 and ended up polishing the whole thing off for an early lunch.

Our afternoon was spent working off the pizza by walking around the West End. After several hours on foot we built up a new (yet smaller) hunger so we went with a more traditional fish and chips for dinner. Next up was a trip to the Lyric Theatre where we caught the show Thriller Live. While most of the audience was up dancing around by the end of the show, Kathi and I showed our normal level of excitement by remaining seated and laughing it up at the rest of the crowd. It would be cool to live close to such an area in order to frequent more shows. Next up for me would be Wicked.

London 2 - Anniversary

On Friday we celebrated our three year anniversary and started the morning with an English breakfast at a diner near our first tourist stop of the day. After breakfast we went to Madame Tussauds where we met many famous figures including Kathi getting a personal meet and greet with the Dalai Lama. The rest of our day was spent wondering around the city's parks and watching a changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. For dinner we went to Jamie Oliver's Fifteen which Kathi was very impressed with and where we made great friends with the waitstaff (I unintentionally double tipped).

London 1 - Our Arrival

We're back home after spending our anniversary weekend in London and we really enjoyed our time in the city. The weather cooperated better than expected with clouds in the sky but very limited rain coming out of them. The first picture for today is of the Aer Lingus plane that flew us from Vienna to London in just under two hours. We were greeted to the city by a Krispy Kreme at the first subway station we entered so donuts ended up being our welcoming snack.
With less people traveling this year I was able to get a good deal at a nice hotel in the tourist district (buy two nights get one free). The Marriott we stayed in is located in the old County Hall building which is right next to the London Eye and just across the river from Parliament and Big Ben. The second picture is of the building that includes our hotel (the city aquarium is also in there) with the London Eye on the left.
Being an American I am typically willing to ask for exactly what I want so when we checked into our hotel I requested a room with a river view. The staff was happy to please and upgraded us to a nicer room free of charge with the view I wanted. When we opened the shades and looked out our window we were greeted by the view shown in picture #3, which made sightseeing almost obsolete for the rest of our trip (we spent some time out looking around anyways). I will post more tomorrow.

London Calling

It's anniversary time again and this year we're off to London for a long weekend. Therefore you can take a short break from checking my blog as there will be nothing new to read on here for the next few days. As normal the lull will be followed by a short burst of new posts including lots of pictures. I wish you all a pleasant weekend (and end of workweek).

Brettljause

A second reward received at the end of our hike came in the form of a jause, which is basically a plate of different meats and a few cheeses served with bread. It took awhile for this dish to really grow on me but now I can't get enough, with the accompanying atmosphere providing further incentive. Usually you have to earn your jause as a lot of the best ones are found at hard to reach places in the Alps. Add in a "Sound of Music" type atmosphere and a glass of wine and you will find the makings of a perfect meal for outdoor living.

Wachau Hike

We went on a 4+ hour hike today with Michi and Ivana in the Wachau. Our trail started near Krems, went up in the hills past Dürnstein and then followed a different path back to Stein. It wasn't planned to take quite as long as it did but the weather was perfect and the end view spectacular so we deemed it a success, and now we are all ready for sleep. During previous trips to the Wachau I thought the castle over Dürnstein had a high view point but we went way past that today. We are now one of "those crazy people over there" that I used to point at and think about. Being crazy isn't so bad though, so we will hike again and be better prepared in the future with the appropriate shoes and clothing.

The Goal

The Path

The Reward

Ready For The Next Challenge

F'n Toilet

Last fall I put a new toilet in our upstairs bathroom because the original was cheap and not very efficient (most toilets here have multiple buttons for different flushing levels so you can save water). Recently this toilet decided the only way it wanted to flush was by using all available water and as a bonus it would slowly drip into the bowl in its spare time to see how high it could run up my water bill. After work today I finally decided that I had enough and in a fit of rage I disassembled the entire unit. A short break of hanging out with Kathi calmed me down and after a quick trip to the hardware store (for the appropriate tool or two) we were able to put the toilet back together and it now works exactly as designed. It seems my previous method of only pointing and cussing at it was inefficient.

Vienna Beef

Today I have a bit of an informational read for you Austrian bloggers. Vienna Beef is a Chicago based manufacturer of special Chicago-style hot dogs. If you ever visit the city you will surely see a sign like the one posted above in a store front window, possibly on each street you walk down (just ask Kathi). Obviously, as the name implies, their sausages are made of beef but I can't verify the taste as I haven't tried one yet. Also, Austrians aren't the only ones to use the term "frankfurter" as it is one of several acceptable names for a hot dog in the states. We are yet to develop käsekrainer technology in the U.S. though, much to the dismay of Kevin and Richard.

Vegetasia

For lunch yesterday I didn't just eat Asian food, I ate vegetarian Asian food. Some of you might be thinking "big deal" but if you know me well this is a big deal, particularly if you were around before I turned 18. The restaurant was a suggestion of Martina and Martin's and they joined us for the lunch buffet so we could try a little big of everything. Vegetasia specializes in vegetarian Taiwanese food which are two things I had never tried so it was a quick lesson in several different dishes. The good news is that I enjoyed the food and left the building stuffed. Add in the fact that their prices are very reasonable and you have yourself a recommendation from Matt.

May Day Bday

May Day is a national holiday here so we all get off from work, and since Maria and Gerald recently each had their birthdays they invited us over for a grill party. It was an excellent evening of videos from their U.S. trip, lots of food, conversation, a few games and plenty of fun so thanks to those two for hosting us all! And thanks to Stefan for sharing the pictures.

Der Hot Dog Mann

I was talking to Kevin the other day and during the conversation he came up with an excellent business plan for if he ever decided to move to Vienna. His plan is to open a sausage stand in the first district called "Ich bin der Hot Dog Mann". Kevin would work the counter himself while dressed in lederhosen which would guarantee A LOT of tourist business. In order to attract some of the Austrian crowd too he would sell American hot dogs along side his collection of käsekrainer, bratwursts, and bosna. The only thing currently missing from the plan is investors. Anybody interested?