Headcount

The office was getting pretty stuffy today, so I decided to take a brief break and get some fresh air strolling around campus.  Who knows what species of farm animal I might discover this time.  Instead of any animals, I spotted this VW behind one of the buildings.

Upon closer inspection of the passenger door, this driver's kill tally said one thing to me "If you see me coming, GET OUT OF THE WAY!"  

I know I haven't been in Austria that long, but damn that's a lot of rabbits.  I've seen lots of birds (crows mostly) and of course the standard octogenarians of any western society, but I haven't seen a single rabbit scurrying around the city.  On second thought, perhaps I now know why.  They've either been flattened by this driver's demonic rampage or were lucky enough to escape.  I wonder if there's a huge immigrant rabbit population in neighboring Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.

A Very Ex-Pat Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving came late this year.  Not that there was much choice in the matter.  With Thanksgiving being a particularly American holiday, there is no reprieve from work duties on the third Thursday and Friday of November.  Instead, I joined up with Alex and Michelle, a couple of other American ex-patriots living in Vienna, and had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast.  Alex was the main cook with dishes including turkey (2 small ones as the ovens here are much smaller than those in the US), turkey confit, homemade gravy, brussel sprouts with bacon, mushroom bread pudding, mashed potatoes with blue cheese, and mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows.

The spread.  I hope there's enough!

I provided the closest approximation to a stuffing that I could muster together with the ingredients available here.  It turned out pretty good, but the sweet Italian sausage the recipe called for does not exist in Austria and was replaced by Extrawurst (similar to bologna).

My Austrian stuffing.

The only typical Thanksgiving dish conspicuously missing was the pumpkin pie.  But in its place were a handful of desserts that gave the meal a more international feel.  There was a marvelous, moist apple cake with sour cream and two New Zealand dishes: pavlova and lollicake.  The pavlova is similar to a meringue but mostly just sugar and egg whites whipped and then baked.  I couldn't even start to describe what's in the lollicake (not lollipops), but it certainly was delicious!

The desserts: apple cake (top), lollicake (right), and pavlova covered with whipped cream and kiwifruit (bottom).

The food was absolutely incredible and was only matched by the company.  With Alex, Michelle, and I the only Americans present, we also had representatives from England, Ireland, Iceland, Denmark, New Zealand, and even a token Austrian.  Good times were had by all and this certainly was a wonderful stand-in for my typical family Thanksgiving tradition.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Bratislava, part 1: Getting There

One of the great things about living in Europe is that there are so many countries within an easy day's travel, whether by plane, train, or boat.  This weekend it was time to start exploring the rest of the continent and to venture beyond Vienna's borders.  So what city did I choose to pop my European exploration cherry?  Bratislava. 

Okay, honest survey (that means no googling or wikipedia): how many people actually know where Bratislava is?  Hands up.  No?


Bratislava is in Slovakia.  
Hey Andy, you mean Slovenia right?  
No no, Slovakia's right.


Easy to confuse, but I assure you they are two separate countries. Both are adjacent to Austria along it's eastern/southern border, with Hungary sandwiched between them. 

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and lies just across the Austrian-Slovakian border. A mere 55km (35 mi) from Vienna and similarly straddling the Danube river, Bratislava makes an easy day trip. Vienna and Bratislava are some of the closest national capitals in Europe (second closest after Rome and Vatican City). Trains run nearly every hour and reach the Hlavná Stanica train station in Bratislava in about an hour. 

I awoke early on Saturday morning, grabbed a jacket and my camera and headed for the train. The train ride was a pleasant journey through the Austrian countryside, blanketed with a patchy morning fog.  I began the short walk south from Hlavná Stanica towards the old city and it didn't take long until I spotted my first destination: Bratislavsky Hrad (Bratislava Castle). 

To be continued...

The Augarten

One of the best parts about where I'm living in Vienna, is that the Augarten is right across the street.  The Augarten is a large park that features Vienna's oldest Baroque gardens.


View Larger Map

I've been enjoying the Augarten as a running track and apparently I'm not the only one.  Every day, the park is frequented by runners, mothers going for a stroll with their infants in strollers, and happy pet owners giving their dogs a chance to run around the fields.

Long paths lined with chestnut trees.

The park features a modern art sculpture garden.

And a public pool for children (closed during the winter).

But the Augarten's most prominent feature is the two looming anti-aircraft towers.  These towers were constructed by the Germans during WWII to protect the city from Allied bombers.  After the British air raid on Berlin, Hitler ordered their construction in Vienna, Hamburg, and Berlin.  These concrete behemoths were left after the war, but are closed to the public.  One of these towers in another park in Vienna has been converted into an aquarium.

Name That Sausage, part 1

Welcome to the Name That Sausage series.

This past Sunday, on my way to the Abertina graphic art museum I was in need of a quick bite for lunch.  Conveniently there was a sausage stand right in front of the museum.

After a quick browse of the menu, I chose this delectable item.  This week's sausage is a Grillwurst.  (You know you want one!)

Mrs. Doubtfire's in Vienna

This morning I woke up to a strange surprise.  I opened my window to check the weather before a nice morning run in the Augarten and my window looks strangely dirty.

Maybe I just hadn't noticed it before, so I decided to investigate.  I open the window, look down and there's the proof I need.  Sometime last night there was a run-by fruiting!

Orange bits were scattered all over the windowsill and sidewalk below as if shrapnel from a mortar round.  Upon closer inspection, it's definitely orange pulp coating the outside of my window.  I'm not entirely sure what made my window the lucky recipient of a daily dose of Vitamin C, but I'll have to keep my eyes open for more fruitings.  I'm just glad it's not watermelon season here!

Der Wiener Deewan

One mission I have while living in Vienna is finding interesting food.  I have no problem with wurst (sausage) and wiener-schnitzel, but I also love so many other cuisines.  Oddly enough, I haven't had a typically Austrian meal since I've arrived.  Last night I went out to a Pakistani restaurant, Der Wiener Deewan, which has the interesting business strategy of being both All-You-Can-Eat and Pay-What-You-Want.

Saad with the full menu of possible dishes behind him on the wall.  This menu cleverly resembles the Vienna U-Bahn (Subway) map, but with the distinction of a Chicken line.

Now this might seem like a terrible way to run a business, but it's wonderful from the customer's perspective.  So a few friends and I showed up to try it out.  I have to say, the food wasn't bad.  It wasn't great either.  I filled up my belly with rice and curry and dhal (lentils), washed it down with a tall beer, and got to pay what I thought the food was worth.  €10 for the food and the beer and both the cashier and I were happy.

The current dishes at the buffet.