The Graz is greener on the other side

auf Wiederschauen

2006-08-27T21:00:00.000+02:00

We said goodbye to Graz with a fantastic meal at Stainzerbauer. The waiter gave us each a glass of Styrian Scnapps as a goodbye and thank-you.
We're in Vienna for our last 2 nights, and tomorrow we fly home!

We can hardly believe how fast the year went by! We'll see some of you very soon, and will miss some of you very much.

... that's all folks!

A last look around Graz

2006-08-25T09:00:00.000+02:00

Here is a collection of panoramic views around Graz that we will miss seeing every day:
Looking South over Graz from the Schlossberg: A view of the rooftops in the Old Town:
Mariahilfe church and the Murinsel:

The Hauptplatz with the Rathaus in the distance: The stands selling food in the Hauptplatz:
Looking North on the river Mur from the Hauptbrucke:
Looking South on the river Mur from the Hauptbrucke:
Franziskannerplatz:
Jakominiplatz:
Mariensäule:
Schlossbergplatz with the steps up the Schlossberg:

Trees

2006-08-24T14:00:00.000+02:00

Here are some of the paintings I've made during my time in Graz. As you will notice, I'm really into painting trees. I am drawn to their sinuous shape. They are simultaneously alive and static. They have character and emotions of their own.

Up
gouache, acrylic on canvas, 50 x 70 cm
This is the last painting I made here, and I feel like it comes full-circle. It could be a mature version of the first painting I made here, incorporating all the lessons I learned as I experimented with the paints.

der Alte Baum
gouache, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 80 cm
In this one I decided to not paint the whole tree, and have more of a close-up to the trunk.

The Cherry Tree
gouache, acrylic, pen on canvas, 60 x 80 cm
I'm not actually sure if this is a cherry tree, but I thought it should be one. The composition was inspired from views I had while hiking in Salzburgland, and the tree is inspired by a tree that grows on the fortress in Salzburg.

Yellow Field
gouache, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 80 cm
This painting was inspired by my train ride from Vienna to Budapest. There were huge fields of yellow flowers rolling by out the window.

La Reve [the dream]
gouache, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 80 cm
This painting started off abstract, and eventually a tree emerged. I really like the dripping effect of the gouache.

Across The River
gouache on canvas, 60 x 80 cm
I saw my first big Alps on a train ride to Salzburg. The massive rock walls left an impression on me. I also tried experimenting more with the gouache paint on this painting.

Three
gouache on canvas, each panel 25 x 25 cm
These three paintings were going to be a series of abstract shapes, but I just couldn't resist putting trees in them!

Two Trees
gouache, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 cm
I don't consider this painting to be finished, but I like the idea of keeping it full of potential, like the two trees will grow up together. This was when I first noticed the nice effect of the gouache dripping.

St Jakob im Winter
arylic on canvas, 40 x 50 cm
I was so inspired by our weekend in St Jakob with Ingrid & Alois, that I decided to make then a painting for their hut. The tough part was that I had never painted snow before! It is much more complicated than "just white."

Feuerbaum
acrylic on canvas, 40 x 50 cm
In this painting I wanted to make an interesting abstract composition with the colors, while still including a tree as the subject matter.

The Beet Tree
gouache, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 50 cm
This was my first painting here. I just had fun with the colors. I didn't want to pressure myself to make anything great. I think it's a very happy painting.

Eating Habits

2006-08-21T18:10:00.000+02:00

As we look forward to returning to the USA, there are several foods we are excited to eat again:
- Buffalo Wings
- nachos
- Korean food
- Chinese food
- Mexican food
- sushi
- greasy diner food
- spicy foods
- hamburgers (David)
- peanut butter (Robin)
- delivery!!!
Of course, there are many foods we've come to love here, and will definitely miss. Most of all, we will miss Kürbiskernöl. The dark, nutty oil that is a specialty of this region of Austria. In fact, we may go insane without it, and will need to find a way to start an import business so we don't turn into homicidal maniacs. This stuff is sooooo goooood!!

There is a juice brand here that I love, Pago. It is 100% natural, and is concentrated so you have to mix it 1/2 & 1/2 with sparkling water. Very refreshing and tasty!
The yogurt here is so much better than in the USA. It's rich, creamy and delicious. The only brand that comes close in the USA is "Brown Cow." There's this stuff called "topfen creme" which my mother was obsessed with eating when she visited. It's like yogurt on steroids- yum!
The bacon and sausages here are excellent. We will miss all the different choices once we're home and stuck with Oscar Mayer.

This is an excellent canned soup that we are very fond of and will definitely miss. It's got beans, veggis, oats, and bacon in a rich, hearty soup.
We will also really miss the warm food and cold refreshing drinks served at the huts in the mountains. Now it's back to packing your own lunch and eating squished sandwiches.

Also, my friend Michele who's living in Paris now pointed out after a visit to New York that you can get coffee in a paper cup in NYC (well, anywhere in the USA). And we realized, we have not drunk coffee out of a paper cup in a year! Actually, nothing out of paper or plastic. When they have street festivals here beer is served in a real glass and the food on real plates with silverware! As we've said before, it's the little things...

Goodbye Party

2006-08-20T09:00:00.000+02:00

This was our last weekend in Graz (since we will be in Vienna before our flight next weekend), so Andrea & Jakob had us over for a BBQ!!! Yummy! Werner, Alois & Ingrid were there too.
Grill-ma!

They all gave David a tie and me a scarf and edelweiss necklace (all are officially pieces of Austrian Tracht). They were presented on these great little stick figures of us that Jakob made:
Ingrid gave us a zucchini that grew in her garden, and this was the smaller of the two!! Here it is next to a normal bottle of wine, wow!

Bratislava

2006-08-16T22:20:00.000+02:00

This week I (Robin) took a trip to Bratislava, Slovakia. David is busy finishing up his research before we leave for home, but I wanted to take advantage of still being in Europe! I met a really nice girl from Australia on the train, so we hung out in the city together which was really nice. I stayed in a "botel", how fun!

A panorama of the old town:
Looking across the river to the depressing blocks of communist-built apartment blocks.
This is the "new bridge" that the communists built in the 1970's. I wonder if the lookout platform was to spy on who was floating along the Danube. Bratislava is only about 10 kilometers from the Austrian border.

The old town is really charming:
hmmm... what do you think this says?
I thought these guys had great facial expressions:

I came across an indoor market:

Innsbruck

2006-08-10T13:45:00.000+02:00

Earlier this week I (Robin) went to Innsbruck in the provence of Tirol in western Austria where all the big Alps are. The city is literally surrounded by mountains. It is a really beautiful city, but it was really crowded with tourists. The Golden Roof is a famous landmark in the old town built in the 1490's for the imperial court to observe the goings on in the square below.

The city gets its name from the river Inn that flows through town. Innsbruck literally means "bridge of the Inn."

In the distance (lower hill on the left) you can see the ski jump that was used in the 1964 and 1976 Olympics when they were held in Innsbruck.

Skisprung

2006-08-10T13:00:00.000+02:00

In 1964 and 1976 Innsbruck hosted the Winter Olympics. The ski jump is still in use in the winter, and in the summer it is a tourist attraction. The original tower was replaced in 2002 by a new one designed by Zaha Hadid. There is a really nice restaurant at the top where I ate lunch overlooking the city.

This is where the Olympic Flame burned:

It's quite a steep drop down the ski run. Seeing it from this perspective I have gained a new respect for the athletes that decide flying off this attached to long boards is fun. (Ironically, if one were to be going so fast as to not stop at the end of the run, and continue into the city, they would land in the graveyard. hmmm...)

St Jakob im Sommer

2006-08-10T12:00:00.000+02:00

Last weekend we went with Jakob and Andrea to visit Ingrid, Alois, and Werner in St. Jakob im Walde. We had not been back since the winter, and it was fun to see the land transformed from white to green.

There is a little spring where you can stop for a drink of water. Notice the glasses provided to drink with!

We went on a hike up to the Artzberghuette, where we had been in January. This time we could enjoy the view from outside in the sun.

This picture is to help inform people who don't know what a Stinging Nettle plant looks like. I had never encountered one before, and if you don't know what you're brushing past, you'll get a nasty sting that lasts several hours. This plant is not friendly! Unfortunately I had to learn it the hard way.
Here is a crazy colored beetle we came across:

Mushrooms

2006-08-10T11:30:00.000+02:00

We went "Schwammerl suchen" (mushroom hunting) in the woods on saturday. This is something I've always been wary about and never done at home because of all the poisonous mushrooms. But we felt we were in expert hands because our Austrian friends do it all the time, and we only looked for a specific type of mushroom that is not easily confused with any poisonous ones.
This is the "Eierschwammerl" (which translated literally means "egg mushroom" because the color resembles that of an egg yolk.) that we were specifically hunting for.

David and Ingrid cleaning the mushrooms so we could cook with them. Ingrid made a soup with them, and David & I cooked everyone an "American breakfast" and put the mushrooms in the scrambled eggs.
Here are some other mushrooms I came across (and did not pick) during my search for Eierschwammerl.

Ausserordentliches Mitglied

2006-08-04T11:00:00.000+02:00

Last night the MGV-Liebenau bestowed a very special honor upon David. They made him an "Ausserordentliches Mitglied." An official and special member of the chorus. Here is the official certificate of David's membership:
They also gave him a copy of the book telling the 100-year story of MGV, which they all signed :

They presented him with a new green Styrian jacket. The chorus will wear them next year instead of the grey ones they had this year.
David with the "Obmann" (chorus chairman), Helmut Kerschberger:

What a special year it's been indeed. Here's a look back...
The Advent concert:
MGV singing in Franziskanerplatz during the Christmas markets:

David with the "Chorleiter" (chorus leader), Heinz Strauss:
Robin & David at the beginning of the 100th year of the MGV. David was given his Styrian jacket this day:
The 100-year MGV concert in May:
The summer performance with the German Chorus:
It has been a special year for David to be included in the MGV, and for the MGV to have a member from the USA. Peter Fink, the eldest member, said he would never forget this year with David. He gave David a special poem as a gift and memory of the year:
Thank you to all the MGV members for welcoming David into your chorus and all of your generous gifts and support!

You say toe-mato, I say tah-mato

2006-07-31T10:00:00.000+02:00

A few weeks ago in the window of one of the camera stores in town we noticed that you can order "custom made" beer steins with your own personal photo on it. I made two silly photos with me, David, Greg, & Bryte on them as souvenirs of our European Road Trip.
Here we are in Venice as Goldoliers: And here we are in Vienna as the ubiquitous concert ticket sellers:

I brought in a CD with my pictures, and ordered 4 beer mugs, "vier Bierkrüge" in German. Then I waited 9 days for them to be ready, and excitedly went to pick them up...
The first mistake I made was NOT to open the package and check them out before I paid. I had my bicycle with me, and they looked so well wrapped up, I didn't want to risk them breaking on my way home. When I did open them I discovered that they were teddy bears! So, I figured the guy gave me the wrong order (I did not open them enough to see the photos). So I brought them back and explained this, only to have the guy tell me that, no, I had indeed ordered teddy bears. NO I HAD NOT!!!! It was a case of mis-communication, he just didn't understand me, and he ordered me teddy bears. Of course, he was not willing to accept responsibility. Even though "vier Bierkrüge" and "vier Teddybären" do not sound the same. I was so frustrated! I knew that if my German was better I could have reasoned with him, but he wanted nothing to do with me. I felt so helpless. So, I kept saying I did not order them, asking him to help me, and causing a scene in the store. He eventually felt sorry for me and said he'd see what he could do. In the end, it all worked out, and we got our beer mugs and returned the teddy bears. While it was happening it was a frustrating experience, but now it makes a good story and I've learned my lessons, and that's what the experience of living abroad is all about.
Here are the teddy bears:

Ahhhh... much better!

Ackern

2006-07-26T00:00:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we went to Ackern. "Acker" in German means 1) an acre, and 2) a field. It is described on the website as "ein Freiluftwohnzimmer im Sonnenblumenfeld." Which means "an open-air living room in the sunflower field." It almost had the atmosphere of a state fair, but it was much smaller and more cozy.

Frankfurt am Main

2006-07-24T13:00:00.000+02:00

Last week we were in Frankfurt, Germany for the 2006 World Footbag championships. We met up with Xander & Matt, who David kicks with at Columbia. They did lots of "shredding" together and I explored the city.
It was very hot last week in Frankfurt, so we chose our hotel because 1) it had air conditioning, and 2) it was near the hostel that Xander and Matt were staying in. What we did not know was that it would be in the middle of the (very busy) red light district. Here's the view out our window: The rest of the city was quite nice. It is a big financial center, so there were many sky-scrapers, which felt very different from other European cities.

There were cute old parts of town with cobble stone streets.

On Sunday we celebrated our 1-year wedding anniversary. What a great year it's been!
And, my fabulous husband gave me a beautiful sterling silver with black onyx necklace and matching earrings. :)

Footbag Worlds 2006

2006-07-24T12:45:00.000+02:00

It was serendipitous that all the members of the "Columbia Footbag Crew" could make it to the 2006 World Footbag Championships this year, especially since it was in Frankfurt. It worked out because we're living in Austria, Xander is in Göttingen Germany for a 1-month math program, and Matt is travelling around Europe after a semester abroad in Prague. The boys got to kick together after a long break, and we got to see some of the best players in the world perform.

The "circle competition" was a big success. Click here for a video clip (30MB).

Click here for a video of the world champion, Vašek Klouda. (be patient, it's 50Mb in size, so you may do better downloading it and then watching.)
Jordan Moir from Canada won the shred-30. I didn't know it at the time, but he is from the same town, Dundas, where my dad grew up and my aunt & grandmother still live! Here is a video of his shred-30 win (14MB).
Vašek was 3rd in the shred-30. Watch here (11MB).
Here is Felix Zenger who was 4th in final routine (40MB).

Geeks

2006-07-21T11:07:00.000+02:00

This is my life as the wife of a mathematician/neuroscientist and the daughter of a physicist...
My computer is from 2002, and at the time it was made, 20GB of memory was a lot. Of course, now your cell phone probably has more. Because of all the pictures I've been taking here, I've got less than 1 Gig left, so I decided it was time for an external hard drive. David went with me to help me pick one out.
Here is the e-mail David had me send to my dad to let him know about my new purchase. It's a puzzle (like those annoying questions on the SAT that start with "there's a train traveling west at 140mph..."):

We're in Frankfurt now. Our hotel has free WI-fi so I brought my computer. We went on a shopping spree here this afternoon and bought a new external hard drive for me!!! I'm set for life! Or, at least until I take about 640,000 pictures, and each picture will cost me .025 Euro-cents to store. A fantastic deal considering the 4GB USB-stick that we almost bought was 120 euros. The space/price ratio of the hard drive was 60 times better than the stick! so... what's the size of my hard drive, and what is the picture size setting on my camera?

Of course, my dad figured it out very quickly. And now David is quite proud of his work, and wonders if anyone else reading our blog wants to give it a shot. (if you just want the answer without all the math, just send me an e-mail)

It's the little things (III)

2006-07-18T14:45:00.000+02:00

A third collection of differences we've noticed between here and back home:

In the USA people traditionally wear their wedding rings on their left hand. This tradition stems back to the day when people believed there was a vein that went directly from the 4th finger on your left hand to your heart, the "vein of love." In Austria, people traditionally wear their wedding rings on their right hand. The people we've asked why didn't have an answer, just that that's the tradition over here, but here is a wikipedia answer. Television commercials are shown between shows, or as a longer break during a movie. This makes watching TV a lot more enjoyable because you get to watch so much of the movie at once or the entire show un-interrupted. Maybe this is why soccer is not shown as a prime-time sporting event in the USA; there's no time for a commercial break for 45 minutes!Glassware has precise measurements on it. When you order a large juice you know you'll get 0.5 liters, and a small juice is 0.3 liters. At home, the size of the "large" and "small" glasses depends on the choice of the individual restaurant- you could get anything from a shot-glass size to a jumbo! They recycle everything here. The main difference is the bio-waste recycling. All the busses in Graz run on biodiesel which is made from recycled cooking oil. The trash room is disgusting, as David will testify to. Mostly because of all the bio-waste. The biomass is collected and treated to turn into compost for farmers, but the amazing part is that a byproduct of this treatment is electricity! Taxes are included in the price shown on the tag. This is nice because then you know exactly how much money you will pay for something and you don't have to do any silly calculations in your head to figure out if you have enough cash first. At the grocery store, you weigh and price your own fruits & veggis before going to the check-out (the machine spits out a price sticker which you place on the bag), whereas in the USA, the person at the checkout weighs and prices them. The traffic lights are a little bit more user friendly. When you're at a red light, just before it turns green the yellow light comes on to warn you to get ready. This makes driving more pleasant because less people are honking the second the light turns. (I once heard that the definition of "a New York minute" is the amount of time between when the light turns green and the person behind you honks.) Speaking of driving... all the cars are standard shift. Apparently it is possible to fine a random automatic here and there. Good thing we both know how to drive a stick-shift, otherwise we'd have some problems renting a car. Everything is the Metric system over here. 35 degrees is a hot day! At home, it sounds impressive when David says he's just over 6'-4" tall. But over here that doesn't mean anything to anybody. When he says he's 194 centimeters, then that impresses people! One thing we've noticed is that one cannot drive 20k without coming across a village. There are just no wild, open spaces. Not to mention, very few wild animals. As an extreme example, the population of Austria is 8 million and the population of Wyoming is 500,000. But look at the comparison of land mass (Austria is orange) and think of how open and wild Wyoming feels: Of course, you could spin it the other way and say there are 8 million people squished into NYC. But the main feeling we're trying to express is the lack of large expanses of un-populated land. The only place people don't live here are the tops of the mountains (but then, they do have huts up there!).

Summer in the city

2006-07-12T17:00:00.000+02:00

This week is the Forum of European Neuroscience in Vienna. David went to attend some lectures and I came along to hang out in the big city for a few days. Plus, it was really nice to stay in a hotel with air-conditioning! (many of the stores and museums don't have A/C, which is unbelievable since it's very hot here!)

We met up with Brendon, Andy, and Jason (from David's old lab in NYC).

Prague

2006-07-06T13:23:00.000+02:00

We met up with Danielle & Jevaun in Prague. It is a beautiful and relaxing city (which is why there are too many tourists). We had a great time exploring, eating, and enjoying ourselves while catching up. And the weather was fantastic! The Czech people are very friendly and mellow, and thankfully all speak very good English.
Wenceslas Square (in Czech, Václavské náměstí):
We ate dinner the first night at a traditional Czech beer garden, U Fleků. The waiters walk around with a large tray of beer glasses and serve you one when your glass is empty and there are musicians playing the accordian.

This is the funniest street sign (it means a residential area):

This is the cemetery in the old Jewish Ghetto. They were not allowed to expand the cemetery, so some of the graves have 12 bodies stacked on top of each other, and the stones are all wedged together.

We happened to come across the changing of the guard at the Prague Castle.

After a great Prague vacation Danielle & Jevaun continued on to Budapest, and we returned to Graz. We'll see you guys soon! It was great to explore Prague together!

World Cup Football

2006-07-06T13:15:00.000+02:00

While we were in Prague, we got to watch the semi-finals game of Germany vs. Italy in the World Cup. It was interresting to experience the soccer culture that exists all over the world with the exception of the USA.
There was a large screen set up in the Old Town Square for people to watch outdoors. There were definitely more German fans than Italian fans there, someone came by and painted the German flag on us. Unfortunately for all the German fans, they lost... but somebody had to.

The Italian fans during their National anthem at the beginning of the game:

Back in Austria, who is not even in the World Cup this year, they are also very serious about soccer. Here's some toilet paper with soccer trivia on it:
And bread baked in the shape of a soccer ball:

And there is a large screen set up in one of the courtyards downtown.

An Alpine Adventure

2006-06-29T18:30:00.000+02:00

From June 22 - 27 we were invited to explore the real mountains in the West of Austria. Jakob, who sings in David's chorus, is from Osttirol. He & Andrea invited Ingrid, Alois, David and I to escape from the heat of the city and relax in the mountains. We stayed in the village of Heinfels in the Pustertal valley, which is where Jakob grew up, and his mother and siblings still live. It is very close to the border of Italy.We stayed in a Pension (a bed & breakfast), Anton & Antonia were our hosts/caretakers.
This is the view out our window.
Breakfast on the terrace is a fabulous way to start the day.

Every morning jugs of milk are sent down from the top of the hill where the cows are. The house in the background is Jakob's mother's house.

Foggy Mountain Top

2006-06-29T17:45:00.000+02:00

On Friday we drove into Sudtirol, which was once part of Austria, but was given to Italy after WWI. All of the signs are in both Italian and German. In Sexton/Sesto, we took a gondola up the Helm mountain to a lookout point to see the Dolomites, but unfortunately it was too cloudy. The gondola was very crowded, and we soon learned why- an entire chorus was on vacation together and they sang songs the whole way up!
We ate lunch at the Hahnspiel Hütte. Left to right: Alois, Andrea, Jakob, Ingrid, and David.
We were treated to a concert by the Italian chorus.

This is what the view is when it's not cloudy:
For dinner we all went to Jakob's mother house and she made "Schlipfkrapfen." They are potato dumplings sprinkled with a local cheese, Kasebolla, and pork fat. This makes them slippery, which is where the name comes from ("slippery dumpling").

The Dolomites

2006-06-29T17:30:00.000+02:00

On Saturday we went for a hike up the Helm from the Austrian side to the Sillianer Hütte. Along the top of the mountain is the border between Austria and Italy. It was a beautiful day, and this time we had a fantastic view of the Dolomites.

Cheers! I'm sitting in Austria taking the photo, and David & Jakob are in Italy.
Since Jakob knows everybody out here, he asked his friend, the waiter at the hut, to play us some traditional songs on his accordian. We all listened and danced.

The hut in the distance is right on the border.
This side is looking into Austria.
And this side is looking into Italy.
This is the cross at the top which was built to honor all the soldiers that returned from WWII.

That evening was a local concert in Heinfels, there was a band and tables set up for eating and drinking.

On the hillsides surrounding the village were bonfires, some in the shape of a cross for The Sacred Heart of Jesus Sunday.

Herz-Jesu Sonntag

2006-06-29T17:15:00.000+02:00

On Sunday morning there was a religious procession in Sillian to celebrate The Sacred Heart of Jesus. It started from the church after mass, and wound through the town stopping at several stations for prayer, and then back to the church. There were soldiers, firemen, a band, and townspeople dressed in traditional Austrian Tracht (Lederhosen and Dirndeln). They carried several statues of the Virgin Mary & Jesus and banners. It was interresting to watch such an old tradition.

Tirol Hike

2006-06-29T17:00:00.000+02:00

After the procession, we drove from Heinfels through the small villages of Ausservillgraten and Innervillgraten to the Unterstaller Alm, where we had lunch in the hütte.

After eating, we went on a short hike up to the Obersteller Alm. There is a small, old village which is now used as vacation huts for people to rent in the summer.

Here is the village of Innervillgraten. For a long time the village was very isolated by the geography, and the people really developed their own dialect. In this part of the country, it's almost impossible to understand people, they're hardly speaking German any more!
On the steep slopes of the mountains, the farmers dry their hay on stands that makes them look like creatures marching down the hill. In German they are called "Heumenschen" which translates to "little hay men."

Pragser Wildsee

2006-06-29T16:30:00.000+02:00

On Monday we went for an easy but beautiful hike in Italy to the Pragser Lake which is surrounded by the Dolomites. For some perspective, those tiny specs on the edge of the lake are row-boats. The lake was the most amazing color blue.

Of course, there was a hut in a meadow, and of course we stopped to enjoy a beer and watch the cows.

Grossglockner

2006-06-29T16:00:00.000+02:00

On Tuesday before driving back to Graz we went to see the highest mountain in Austria, The Grossglockner. It is 3799.4 meters (12,457 feet) high. It is right on the borders of Carinthia, Osttirol, and Salzburg. Here is the picturesque town of Heiligenblut right before it. Very often the peak is in the clouds. This day was fairly clear, and only the very tip was covered.
David managed to get a photo of some hikers with the camera looking through the telescope. They are right below the clouds/peak.
There is a glacier at the base of the mountain.
For lunch we went to the top of the Edelweissspitze in Salzburg. From up here you can see 37 peaks that are over 3000 meters high. Unfortunately there are no Edelweiss growing on it. :(
Here is an Edelweiss that was in a garden in Sillian. There aren't really any wild ones left.

There was the cutest old car, a BMW "600". To get into the front seat you open the front of the car! The whole steering wheel is attached to the door, so it swings out when you get in/out! The side doors are for the back seat. We weren't sure if David would fit...

A huge wall of snow, in the middle of summer.
Sadly that was the end of our Alpine adventure and it was time to go back to Graz. We had a great time and appreciate being able to experience the Alps with such knowledgeable local guides! It was also a great weekend for our German. Thank you Jakob, Andrea, Ingrid, and Alois!

Gnomes

2006-06-18T13:30:00.000+02:00

There are several plots of land in Graz where people have small cottages with gardens where they plant flowers and vegetables and "escape from city life." One of them along the river has many garden gnomes, and is actually quite adorable.

die Wanderung

2006-06-15T20:00:00.000+02:00

Today was a holiday so everything was closed. It was a beautiful summer day and luckily Helmut & Stefan from David's lab had the foresight to plan a hiking trip.

David and Helmut (back), & Miriam, Adi, and Stefan (front) at the Gipfelkreuz (the cross at top).

Of course, sticking with Austrian traditions, we had a beer at a hut at the end of our hike. How civilized!
We did pretty well speaking German most of the day and appreciate everyone's patience with our schlectes Deutsch! David was much better at putting together sentences than I, but I could understand most of what everyone was saying.

Father's Day Weekend

2006-06-12T09:15:00.000+02:00

June 11th is Father's Day in Austria. My dad didn't know this when he planned his trip, so it was a nice surprise. Since it was a weekend, David could join us for an adventure. On Saturday we drove up to the Wachau region on the Danube river and spent the night in Melk.

On Sunday we took a boat ride along the river.

We got off in Durnstein for lunch and then caught the boat back up the river. The ride back is about twice as long because the boat is going against the current and it really slows it down.

The vintners in Spitz claim they can get 57,000 liters of wine from this hill in a "good year."

It was a beautiful sunny day, and the boat ride was the perfect way to enjoy the Wachau.
We drove back to Graz in time to eat a Father's Day dinner at Stainzerbauer. The waiters remembered us from the many other times we've eaten there and welcomed David by saying "ahhh, Herr Sussillo!" and shook out hands! We're definitely regulars there.
... and that was the end of Dad's visit :) We enjoyed your company very much and have many great memories of our adventures!

Hiking

2006-06-09T17:47:00.000+02:00

Today my dad and I went for a hike up the Schoeckl, which is the tallest mountain right outside of Graz (1445 meters). When we reached the top there were these funny ramps that plunged off the side (... we later discovered they were for parachuters to jump off from)

We arrived at a large restaurant at the top, hungry & ready to eat from our hike...
... unfortunately Fridays are the day they're closed! So, now we're hungry and not very happy about having to hike back down to get some lunch :(
We ate a small snack of what we had in our backpacks: water, 1 granola bar, and curiously strong mints.
Here's the view from their deck overlooking Graz in the distance (the Schlossberg hill is just visible to the right of the center of the photo).
We walked around the bend and found another Gasthof that was open! So, we did get to eat lunch at the top afterall :)
Viel besser...

We wandered around on the top of the mountain after lunch and came across some people getting ready to parachute.

Just as they were ready to go, the wind died down and a rain cloud appeared overhead. As it started to rain they changed their mind and packed up, so we did not get to see them take off.
We decided it was also time for us to hike back down.

Mariazell

2006-06-08T17:05:00.000+02:00

Today we drove to the town of Mariazell in northern Styria. The basilica Mariazell is an important religious pilgrimage destination. There are about 2000 people living in the town, but there are 100x that in visitors every year. The drive there was very scenic.

Schloss Riegersberg

2006-06-08T16:45:00.000+02:00

Yesterday my dad and I went to Schloss Riegersberg, about 45 minutes south-east of Graz. It has a great view of the surrounding countryside and inside a witches museum as well as the original old rooms. Apparently at the same time they were hanging witches in Salem, MA there were also many witches living in Styria. They executed them because they were responsible for several plagues and hail storms that destroyed the crops. Good thing! I bet the weather cleared right up ;)

For lunch we wandered down the road a ways to another hilltop where there is a restaurant and hotel in an old castle. We ate lunch on the terrace.

For dinner later on we made hot dogs and saurkraut and watched the Yankees - Red Sox game from the night before. We were all very careful not to peek at the final score so we could enjoy it as if it were a live broadcast.

Carinthia

2006-06-06T22:30:00.000+02:00

Today my dad and I drove to the provence of Carinthia, to the west of Styria. First we stopped at Hochosterwitz castle which claims to be an inspiration to Snow White's castle. David, Greg, Bryte & I had driven by it on our way to Italy, but not stopped to explore it. Walking up the hill to the fortress there are many gates.

After touring the castle we at lunch in the town of St. Veit an der Glan. Next, we drove to the medieval town of Friesach which still has a moat surrounding it and several ruins on the hills overlooking it.

After exploring the ruins we drove to a town called Hüttenberg where there is a large banner with the Buddha on it with a meditation stair climbing all over a cliff. Heinrich Harrer who wrote Seven Years in Tibet is an Austrian who explored all over Africa, South America, and the Far East and tried to bring some the thinking back to Austria.

On our drive back to Graz we drove over a mountain road that is only open in the summer. It was very lightly snowing at the top and the clouds were clinging to the side of the mountain.

Südsteirische Weinstraβe

2006-06-06T21:30:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we all went on another wine route, this time through the most Southern part of Styria. Infact, some of the tiny, windy streets we were on were right on the border of Slovenia. This area seemed like the heart of wine country in Styria.

We ate lunch in a Buschenschank and drove around the countryside all afternoon.

We drove around long enough to have dinner in a different Buschenschank, this time along the Schilcher wine route which was just a bit west. Schilcher is a special rose wine which is quite sour tasting. If you were to close your eyes as you taste it, you would never guess it is pink.

Water As A Sculptor

2006-06-04T22:30:00.000+02:00

Today my dad & I headed out of Graz towards the village of Semriach. It is a good starting point for many nature excursions. First we went on a hike through the Kesselfall gorge.

We ate lunch in at a Gasthaus and then continued our hike towards the Steintor formation (stone gate).

Next we drove over to the caves of Lugrotte, the largest stalactite cave in Austria.
Here are the little gnomes that greet you along the side of the cave. Most people walked right past them without noticing.

On our drive back to Graz the sun finally came out.

The theme to the day turned out to be how water has made different above and below ground formations on the earth.

Auf der Weinstrasse

2006-06-03T21:30:00.000+02:00

There are many wine routes in southern Styria, the provence of Austria that Graz is in. In fact, one of our guide books describes southern Styria as "the Tuscany of Austria." Today we rented a car and drove along the Römer Weinstrasse and stopped in a few Buschenschänke for something to eat and to taste their wine.
Our first stop was at Maurer near Gleisdorf where David & I had been a few weeks ago with his lab. The owner even remembered David!

Here's our rental car, a VW Polo:

Here's the second Buschenschenke we stopped at:

And, here's the third one, Buschenschenke Famille Kainz:

Schloss Eggenberg

2006-06-02T21:00:00.000+02:00

Robin's dad, David, arrived on Wednesday. Today we went to Schloss Eggenberg which is on the Western outskirts of Graz. We took a tour of the palace which has a lot of symbolisim. There are 4 corner towers that represent the 4 seasons, 365 windows for the days of the year, 52 rooms for the weeks, 12 rooms on each side for the months (not including the 4 corner rooms), and many paintings representing planets, elements, seasons, myths, and history.
They have peacocks roaming around in the garden surrounding the palace.

After touring the palace, we went back into town for a late lunch. We ate at the Glöckl Bräu restaurant and our timing was good and as we ate on the patio we got to see the wooden figures of the Glöckenspiel come out and twirl around at 3pm (they only go 3 times a day). We climbed up the Schlossberg for the panoramic view of Graz.
We took the Schlossbergbahn (inclined railway) down the hill.

Greg & Bryte's Visit

2006-05-29T18:00:00.000+02:00

Last Monday Greg & Bryte came to visit us as part of their vacation to Europe. We showed them some of the unique sights of Graz.
We took the "elevator to nowhere" which simply goes up parallel to a statue so you can gaze upon it at eye level.

We went up the Schlossberg for another view.

And went to the Murinsel for a closer view of the river.

G&B: Road Trip!

2006-05-29T17:30:00.000+02:00

On Tuesday we rented a car and headed out on our "European Road Trip." We headed south-west through Austria towards Italy.

We took a short detour near Klagenfurt to see a castle which claims to be the inspiration for Snow White's castle.

G&B: Venice

2006-05-29T17:00:00.000+02:00

Venice is unlike any other place we've ever been. It is mezsmerizing and bewildering to see old, ornate buildings silently standing with the water lapping at their bases, slowly eating away at the structure and leaving a patterned story of weather and time.

The magnificent city has a strange feeling of a ghost town. It is packed full with tourists and as you explore around you hear more American accents than on the street of New York City. Where are all the locals? Everywhere you look, every corner you turn, there is a new jewel for your eyes to feast on. It is a very memorable city.

This is the door I was trying to photograph when I dropped, and broke, my camera. A good lesson for me to always put the strap around my wrist! Luckily, I found a camera shop with a very helpful, friendly, honest, and English-speaking salesman and I was soon back in action. I felt almost naked without my camera, but thanks to Bryte who let me take pictures with hers, I never had to panic.

The second night we ate dinner at the restaurant Al Colombo. It was recommended to us, and we definitely recommend it to anyone else who visits Venice. The best moment of dinner was when Greg ordered a second bottle of wine for the table and he told the Italian waiter we wanted to "bump it up a notch." Amazingly there was no language barrier and he knew exactly what Greg meant. We got an amazing bottle of wine complete with all the rituals of letting it breathe etc.

G&B: from Salzburg to the Danube

2006-05-29T16:15:00.000+02:00

On Thursday we drove to Salzburg. It was quite a relief to be back on Austrian roads, driving in Italy is quite stressfull! Of course, it was raining in Salzburg...

hmmmm.... some form of art in one of the center squares:
We had dinner at the Augustiner Brewery that night and explored a bit of Salzburg the next day.
We decided to continue the road trip to show Greg & Bryte Vienna. We drove along the Danube river on the way and stopped at the Monastery in Melk which David and I had seen back in September during our Fulbright orientation.

Here is the library in the Monastery. The German word for monastery is "Stift." It is also the German word for pen. At first this seems odd, but it makes sense since the monks were the ones originally in charge of writing books and documents.

We crossed to the other side of the river on the ferry at Spitz...

... and continued on to the village of Durnstein. We climbed up the hill to the fortress ruins.

After a wet hike we warmed up with some dinner in a small restaurant in the village before continuing on to Vienna.

G&B: Vienna

2006-05-29T16:00:00.000+02:00

In Vienna we spent the first day exploring the old inner city.

The second day we went to Schönbrunn palace which was the seat of the Hapsburg empire. There was a small maze in the palace gardens (just big enough to enjoy a few dead ends, but small enough not to feel trapped).

After a late lunch we drove back to Graz.

A collection of some ticket stubs etc. from the road trip (it's much easier to scan them and keep a picture instead of keeping the actual bits of paper!)
We had one more night in Graz, and then it was time to say goodbye. Thanks for the visit!

die Strassenbahn

2006-05-17T14:30:00.000+02:00

When my mom was here last week, she kept commenting on all the different street trams zipping around the city, and how cute they were. It inspired me to make a blog entry of all the different ones. The standard Strassenbahn is green, but there are many with advertisements that make a whole rainbow of color. This is the older version of the standard green tram:
And this is the newer version:
And here are all the colorful advertisements...

Muttertag

2006-05-14T23:00:00.000+02:00

Happy Mother's Day! We celebrated with yummy chocolate torte from Cafe Edler & Atzl.

For dinner we ate at Stainzerbauer and then went to a Mozart concert/mass at the Graz Cathedral.

MGV Festkonzert

2006-05-14T13:30:00.000+02:00

Saturday night was the big 100-year anniversary concert of the MGV Liebenau chorus that David sings in. There even was an article in the local Kleine Zeitung. (David sure didn't think he'd have his picture in an Austrian newspaper when we set off for this adventure!)

In honor of the 100-year anniversary, the wives were invited to sing a song with the chorus.

Once Upon A Time

2006-05-13T09:36:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we went to the Austrian Open-Air Museum (Österreichisches Freilichtmuseum). It is a collection of authentic, old buildings re-located from all over Austria and put together to give an idea of what life was like hundreds of years ago.

Back in Graz, we climbed up the Schlossberg to gaze at what I think could be the world's largest Wisteria, laden with flowers.

A trip to Budapest and Vienna

2006-05-11T21:45:00.000+02:00

On Sunday my mom and I left for a trip to Budapest and Vienna. A piece of advice to all travelers planning on crossing borders: check to make sure you have your own passport! We arrived plenty early at the Graz train station, purchased all of our train tickets for the next few days, got some sandwiches for lunch, and were seated on the train 10 minutes early. For some unknown reason, I decided to look at my passport... when I opened it I saw David staring back at me... I had grabbed his passport and NOT mine! We jumped off the train, I called David, he hopped on his bike and rode like the wind to deliver me my passport. Unfortunately the train was just pulling out of the station when I came running up to the platform. However, there was another train 45 minutes later, and it's better to have noticed that I had the wrong passport while we were still in Graz and not sitting at the border of Austria and Hungary. So, it all worked out in the end.
The new train route to Budapest had us waiting in Wiener Neustadt for 2 hours for a connection, so we explored the town. We got some giant ice creams and people watched.
We arrived in Budapest around 9pm and found our way to a very friendly hostel. Here's the view of the courtyard of the building the hostel is in.

Budapest is a large city (pop. almost 2 million). Hungary just joined the EU in 2004, and it is pretty obvious that the country is still recovering from years of communism and war. It is a pretty city, but also a very dirty city. We encountered some very friendly and helpful people, but also some people who were eager to rip us off. It was an interesting experience.

A view from the castle hill on the Pest side looking over to the Buda side:

Damage from the 1956 uprising

After Budapest we went to Vienna. It was nice to be able to communicate in the native language again and not have to rely on people knowing English. We walked all over the Inner Stadt and went to the Belvedere.
A view from the train back to Graz

Saturday

2006-05-06T18:30:00.000+02:00

Yeah! Today is Saturday so David is free. The three of us went on a bike ride to the Gösting castle ruins, hiked up, and enjoyed lunch overlooking Graz. They have really good bratwurst, sauerkraut & kartoffel!

Deutschlandsberg

2006-05-05T21:30:00.000+02:00

Robin's mom arrived yesterday for a visit. Amazingly after 3 different flights and 20+ hours of traveling, she went with Robin to her aerobics class! Today David went to work, so Robin & Cheryl took a day trip to the town to Deutschlandsberg. It's about a 1 hour train ride south-west of Graz. Here's the "May Pole" in the center of town. We ate lunch and then walked around.
There are many vineyards and Buschenschänken (basically little restaurants at the vineyards where you drink wine and eat snacks) in the region. Schlilcher wine is the regional specialty.
There is an old castle overlooking the town. Today there is a restaurant, hotel, and museum in the castle.

After touring the castle museum, we had a glass of schilcher wine and enjoyed the view.

Podersdorf am See

2006-05-02T10:30:00.000+02:00

There was a festival this weekend in Podersdorf am See in the provence of Burgenland. The main event was windsurfing, but the Vienna footbag crew organized a footbag competition. Unfortunately, it rained pretty much the whole weekend, so it wasn't too festive.
We decided to try to make the most of it, which proved to be very difficult. David injured his hip on the first day, so he couldn't kick much, which was the main point of being there. To top it all off, some ***hole stole his jacket! The jacket was a gift from uncle Elliot. In the jacket were David's hat, umbrella, international drivers license, and our best friend the German-English electronic dictionary- so there is a whole story of a person included with the jacket. The thief could tell that the owner of the jacket was an American, and that since they stole this American's jacket, they are now going to be cold, wet, unable to drive, and unable to communicate. I hope they get struck by a bolt of lightening. Bad karma, bad!
Matt and his friend Evan made the trip from Prague! We are so glad you were there Matt! Your presence made our weekend worth it!All the footbag action was held inside a big tent.

Here's Klämens competing...
On Monday the sun finally came out. Of course, by this point we were ready to leave.
We took advantage of having a car and took the long way home. It was so nice to drive and see the countryside. Here's our egg-shaped rental car:
A cool castle ruin high on top of a hill:
We stopped in Semmering for lunch, and made it safely back to Graz without anything else happening to ruin our weekend.

Fulbright Weekend

2006-04-23T17:45:00.000+02:00

We had a weekend in Altenmarkt in Pongau in the provence of Salzburg sponsored by the Austrian-American Fulbright commission. There were lectures on psychology, photography, biology & aging, and marketing by visiting Fulbright professors, and group "brainstorming activities" for the American Fulbright scholars currently in Austria & Austrian students that will be going to the USA as teaching assistants next year. Normally one goes to these types of weekends with a bit of skepticism, but it turned out to be fantastic. The lectures were stimulating and it was great to be social with so many different people. I was so busy enjoying myself that I didn't take any pictures of people, but I did take some of the scenery when we had free time and went on a hike.

We came across a farm that had Scottish Highland Cows.

Some more artistic photos...

Fürstenstand

2006-04-18T11:00:00.000+02:00

Melissa and Robin went on a hike to the highest point in Graz, 764 meters (2500 feet), Fürstenstand. There is a Buschenschank (a restaurant), Mausser, at the top with a great view of Graz to look at while you're sipping a refreshing beverage after a sweaty hike. Fun!
We watched a small rain storm move across Andritz (the northern section of Graz)

At the top there is a 360 degree view. This is looking west into the valley with the village of Thal: This is looking north:

Ljubljana

2006-04-17T09:00:00.000+02:00

We took a trip down to Ljubljana, Slovenia for the weekend. It's amazing how different somewhere can be after only a 3 1/2 hour train ride. The architecture is similar, but the language is Slavic in origin, so we were completely clueless! Luckily, people are very friendly and speak very good English.

Here are two views from the castle:
This is the crazy stair we climbed up to get to the top of the castle:

The old part of town along the river is quite charming with many street-side cafes and some great people watching. (Once you leave the old part of town, it's a bit depressing though.)

The Dragon Bridge is in the Art Nouveau style:

Spring

2006-04-11T17:38:00.000+02:00

Heather & Ricky's Visit

2006-04-02T20:00:00.000+02:00

We had our first visitors last week! Heather & Ricky made the long journey from California. We spent the week exploring Graz and Austria, and showing off our German skills. Mother nature cooperated just in time and gave us our first week of spring weather. It was great to see family, share Graz, and have fun! They arrived on David's birthday... We went to the Murinsel for a drink to celebrate...
... ate a Krainer mit Senf und Kren (sausage with mustard and horseradish) in the Hauptplatz...
... and climbed up the Schlossberg

H&R: A day in the park

2006-04-02T19:00:00.000+02:00

Monday was the most beautiful day! The sun was shining, it was about 70 degrees, the trees were budding, and all the people were soaking it all in. We hung out in the Stadtpark for the afternoon. David kicked footbag while we played frisbee and lounged in the sun.

A perfect day to break in the BBQ and enjoy dinner on our terrace.

H&R: A Thal adventure

2006-04-02T18:00:00.000+02:00

Tuesday David unfortunately had to go to work. Robin, Heather, and Ricky went on a bicycle adventure. The first stop was the ruins of the castle Gösting.
Legend has it that a princess who once lived in the castle threw herself off the cliff in despair over a forbidden love, so the cliff is now called "the virgin's leap". This cross marks where she supposedly jumped from.

We relaxed on the terrace after the hike. After the castle, we continued biking to the village of Thal (pronounced "tall") where Arnold Schwarzenegger was born.

The Painted Church in Thal
The lake where Arnold proposed to Maria Shriver. We ate a delicious lunch in the restaurant overlooking the lake.
Just as we hit the road to head home, there was the thump of something falling... turns out it was one of the pedals on Heather's bike! She biked all the way home (about 10K) with 1 pedal! Luckily it was a steady down hill most of the way. She was quite a trooper, and we made it to the bike shop and got new pedals.

H&R: Salzburg

2006-04-02T17:00:00.000+02:00

On Wednesday we took a trip to Salzburg. It was a beautiful ride through the mountains.
It rained a bit in Salzburg, which is apparently common due to it's location amid the mountains.

Even the McDonald's on the main street has its own ornate sign to blend in.
We went to the Augustine brewery where the monks brew the beer and it is served in giant steins. There is a great hall with large tables where everyone drinks. Just outside the hall are many different stands selling food in case you get hungry.

On Thursday we climbed up and toured the fortress in the center of town.

We found a great restaurant that served huge portions of tasty traditional meals.

I guess this luggage is for couples who don't want to buy 2 plane tickets... you could just buy a ticket for one and "check" the other!

Then it was time to take the train back to Graz...

H&R: A couple more days in Graz

2006-04-02T16:00:00.000+02:00

The next couple days we hung out in Graz. We played our current favorite game, Carcassonne, and got Ricky officially hooked. We visited David at his lab at the TU Graz and rode our bikes around.

On Friday we ate a traditional Styrian meal at the restaurant Stainzerbauer. The atmosphere is very gemütlich and the food is delicious.
On Saturday we had a goodbye BBQ on our terrace. Then it was time to say Auf Wiedersehen... :( :( :(

Castle Gösting

2006-03-19T22:30:00.000+01:00

Today we discovered we have been living only a few miles from an authentic 11th century castle. It is a short hike up to the castle where there is a sunny terrace where one can eat delicious home-cooked food, drink a beer, and relax while soaking in the view of Graz.

The view from the terrace. One can just make out the Schlossberg, the hill in the center of Graz, in the center of the photo.

Streets so narrow

2006-03-19T18:00:00.000+01:00

Most of the streets in the old part of town are pedestrian only, when you see how small they are it makes a lot of sense!

Real Americans

2006-03-14T14:30:00.000+01:00

How can you say you're American if you don't have a grill? Of course, this statement only applies if it's physically possible for you to own one where you live. Since we have a patio, we qualify. I went to BauMax, the Austrian equivalent of Home Depot, to get one today, and spent the afternoon putting it together. The instructions were in every language except for English or French (the two I could have best understood). I'd like to say I could fully understand the German ones, but I think the reality is I followed the pictures. Voila! Doesn't it look cute on our patio? We can't wait to use it! Maybe those of you who were on the fence about a visit will now be convinced.

Doors

2006-03-13T16:00:00.000+01:00

There are so many unique and interesting doors around Graz. Here's a sampling of colors and shapes:

More snow, more winter

2006-03-06T15:30:00.000+01:00

Winter just isn't ready to give up. We got about 5 inches of snow yesterday. Today the sun was out and I went to the Stadtpark to take some pictures before it melted...

If you look closely at this picture, you can see a yellow bird in the middle:

It looks like this tree was thinking about spring as well...

Faschingsdienstag

2006-03-01T09:30:00.000+01:00

AKA: Fat Tuesday

There were no beads, but plenty of people, costumes, and partying. There was a parade and outdoor bars set up in all the little squares throughout the city center. They sure know how to party in Graz!

They played "YMCA" but somehow we were the only ones doing the dance.

We eventually had to go inside to warm up.

A great day, and we were home by 9pm (and in bed by 10- completely exhausted!)

It's the little things (II)

2006-02-26T11:00:00.000+01:00

Another collection of differences (from an American perspective) we've noted between here and back home:

At the bank there are 2 ATM type machines- one gives you cash but no receipt, and the other prints out your statements with all your activity since the last time you printed one. So, if you want a receipt of your cash transaction you have to go to a second machine afterwards. Or if you want to know how much money you have before you take out cash, it's also a two-step process. Speaking of cash, that's pretty much all people use around here. It's especially different at bars where in the USA people typically start tabs with a credit card. People just pay with cash a lot, or many stores accept Bankomat cards (you use your ATM card like a debit card). I'm sure for big purchases places accept credit cards, but the difference is the every-day expenditures are all in cash.
People wait for the proper signal at intersections and crosswalks even if there are NO CARS COMING! Sometimes I feel guilty if I just go ahead, but what's the point in standing there when there's nothing in sight?!

Sandwiches are a different concept than what we're used to in America. Consistent with the accuracy of the German language, each configuration has a specific name here, where in the USA we just lump everything into the category of sandwich. There is Gefuelltesbrot which can have any combination of ingredients, but they are all diced. And there are open-faced options such as Belegtes Brot and a smaller version called Brotchen. They have this thing called Kaesebrot, but I'm sorry, a roll with a piece of cheese just does not count as a sandwich! What about mayo or veggies or meat?

Here's a picture of Brotchen:

They do have sandwiches here. But, what we wonder sometimes is exactly how long have those sandwiches been sitting there? We never see anyone making them nor order one, yet there are always plenty of pre-made sandwiches sitting in the case at the shops and vendors. When you do order something that looks a lot like an American sandwich, it has no mayo and is very dry :(

When you order a beer in a bar you just ask for a big one (ein grosses Bier, 0.5 liter) or small one (ein kleines Bier, 0.3 liter). What you get depends on which brand that particular bar has chosen to serve. To our American sensibilities, there's very little difference between all the beers. They're all yellow and of really good quality. Some places do offer Guinness or a Weissbier, but the Maerzen is ubiquitous. It's not like in the USA where you have a plethora of brands and a wide range of quality (including bad ones). The standard brands around here are: Goesser, Puntigamer, and Murauer. When you say cheers (prost), it is tradition that you look each person directly in the eyes. We have found it quite frustrating and downright rude the way people behave "in line" at stores here. Different cultures have different sensibilities about these things, but it's just baffling to our American values because we where raised to respect the idea of waiting for our turn. To an American- if you get there first, you'll be served first. Not here. You could be waiting for 10 minutes to order something at the bakery and some Austrian will push (yes, it's literally a contact sport) up ahead of you and before you know it they're continuing on with their day without a thought and you're left standing there fuming and wondering what just happened. Here are two illustrations of how "a line" works:

Unless you are breathing down the neck of the person in front of you, you may not technically be waiting in line and someone will cut you:
Some places have no formal line and it's a free-for-all as to who gets served first:

Here are two brands/packaging we found amusing: Doesn't it make you want to buy these sausages? Well, yes actually! We were so amused, we just had to buy them. David thinks they're pretty tasty too. Appropriate name for TP, no? And notice how the name is in English. There definitely are bits of English here and there, somehow things are more hip or desirable when they're in English.
At the grocery store you bag your own groceries and you buy the bags each time, or save them. These ones have lasted me about 5 months! I just keep one in my purse at all times just in case I end up buying something. Think of all the plastic bags that are thrown away every day in the USA, this is a great system!

When people introduce themselves in formal situations here they simply say their last name. When we opened our bank account that's how the gentleman who helped introduced himself. But then David introduced himself first as "David Sussillo," so then I simply said "Robin." ooops!

Traditionally people had titles that denoted their place in society, especially to distinguish royalty. These were very important, and not to use them was considered an insult. People use less of them now (especially the royal ones), but they are still around. For example, if a woman is married to a doctor, her title would be "Frau Doktor" even though she's not actually a doctor. And student's don't call their teachers Mr./Ms. so-and-so, they say "Frau/Herr Professor." Since everything in the German language is gender-specific, naturally the titles are too. It can get confusing however in this modern age when a woman holds a position that was traditionally held by a man.

Olympics

2006-02-21T09:20:00.000+01:00

We've been watching the Olympic coverage in both German and English over here (Austrian and British stations). What is most apparent to our American-TV-viewing eyes is the lack of those sappy "personal interest" stories about the athletes. We haven't had to sit through interruptions in the action of how the athlete's brother donated the left side of his brain to his sibling so he/she could compete (camera pans to brother cheering/crying in the crowd). It's rather refreshing to just watch the sports. The European programs are as raw and un-edited as the American programs are edited and over-produced. It's simply the action with commentary and only minimal graphics and very few commercials.

Austria's Gold Medalist in the men's Big Ski Jump, Thomas Morgenstern (photo: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach Feb 20, 2006)
Austria's Gold Medalist in the women's Downhill and women's Super-G, Michaela Dorfmeister (photo: Reuters/Max Rossai Feb 20, 2006)

We have also been learning some new words by watching the coverage in German. For example:

die Geschwindigkeit (speed)
die Mannschaft (team)
das Rodeln (luge)
die Auseinandersetzung (controversy)
der Eiskunstlauf (figure skating)
die Sammlung (accumulation)
die Konkurrenz (competition)
hochwertige (premium, high-quality)
das Doping (doping)

Mozart Everything

2006-02-20T16:00:00.000+01:00

www.mozartshake.at

Maybe if one drinks this, one has the potential to become a genius?

This year is the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birthday (Jan 27 1756). Lots of places in Austria are trying to capitalize on their most famous son. Well, not in Styria (the provence that Graz is in). I don't blame them. I guess since there's no trademark on the name Mozart, there's Mozart everything... Mozart chocolate, Mozart liquor, Mozart biscuits, Mozart salami, Mozart ham, Mozart milkshakes, oh yes, and then there's his music in case you forgot what the name is really synonymous with (and that is worth celebrating). We have not yet been to Salzburg (where he was born), but I'm sure Mozart fever is rampant there. Styria has opted to be an escape from the Mozart frenzy for locals and tourists alike.

Well, for the most part. There is a Mozart section in our local grocery store:

Here's one of the anti-Mozart billboards that are popping up around town:

You can check out the "no Mozart zone" website here, but it's in German.

Compositions

2006-02-14T14:30:00.000+01:00

I took some of the photos I've shot around Graz and played with b&w and color in Photoshop. I think gives the images more emotion. Some of them look haunting, mysterious, or humorous, and the compositions become more interresting.

Textures

2006-02-09T14:00:00.000+01:00

Compositions weathered onto the surface of Graz

Skiing

2006-02-07T13:50:00.000+01:00

We returned to St. Jacob last weekend with Ingrid and Alois. The weather was great, so we went skiing both days.
Robin had a private lesson for 1 hour before courageously hitting the slopes for the first time in 16 years! St. Jacob was a good hill to learn on because it wasn't too steep or too crowded... next stop, the Alps!
Steady!

David liked to "rest" sometimes on his way down.

* A big thank-you to Ingrid for all the photos!!!

J'aime Paris

2006-01-30T14:00:00.000+01:00

We met up with Mary and David Z. in Paris last weekend. Elliot was unfortunately grounded in Israel recovering from an ear infection, and was not allowed to fly (but he was with us in spirit).

It was so nice to reunite with family and have a taste of home, and at the same time explore the fabulous city of Paris. We ate well, and our eyes feasted on architecture, people, and art. The weather was cold, but that also meant the crowds were smaller.

(Click images below to enlarge)

On Friday afternoon we ate lunch at "Le Grand Vefour" in Le Palais Royal. It is very hard to describe our experience in words (you must go try it for yourself!) Delicious food, attentive service, amazing food, unique atmosphere, and exquisite food. Did I mention how good the food was?
When dessert finally came we were stuffed, but how could we pass this up! Beautiful and delicious! And they kept bringing extra things too. The meal lasted the entire afternoon. By the time we were finished with lunch it was time for dinner (but we had no room!) We both agree, it was the best meal we have ever eaten.
Inside the Musee D'Orsay, and the same view from the model of it (I think this appeals to me because of the hundreds of hours I put in making models in graduate school)

David Z. with the ladies

Thanks for the amazing weekend Uncle E & Auntie M!!!

It's the little things...

2006-01-20T15:30:00.000+01:00

While living in a foreign country, we've noticed many small differences between here and back home:

Obviously the language is different. A particular thing English-speakers have difficulty with in German is when they squish several words together to make one long word. For example, the sign on this building means "Pension Insurance Institute" A unique Austrian beverage is "Almdudler." (Austria is the only place you can get this, like champagne only comes from France) The closest thing we have is gingerale, but not exactly. "Alm" is a mountain meadow, and the verb "dudeln" means to tootle. So, I guess an Almdudler is a person tootling in a meadow on a mountain. On the street trams it's all the honor system. You punch your ticket every time you ride (or you don't and risk getting caught). They have secret ticket-checkers, and if you get caught without a valid ticket it's a hefty fine. David got checked the other day by a guy in a Mets hat! The money is different
The cars are smaller.
I nervously watched this bag just sit here, unattended, for quite a while. I finally got bored and left it. These days in NYC someone would have said something and the bag would have been carefully removed.
After a big snow, they lean these sticks along the buildings to warn you that any minute you could be covered by an avalanche of snow falling off the roof (not that they'll protect you or anything).
This is getting a bit personal, but it's a difference. We're all familiar with the function of a bowl of water in a toilet... well, how about a shelf instead!

What Americans commonly think of as over-the-counter medicine, is stocked in the aisles of every Duane Reade, CVS, or Walgreens in the USA. In Austria it really is "over-the-counter." One must go to the Apotheke and order what you want (vitamins, aspirin, dandruf shampoo) from a person in a white lab coat on the other side of the counter. We had a laugh the other day when we went to get more ibuprofen and discovered it's only sold in packs of 50 tablets!!! (we brought with us a jumbo generic brand jar of 500 tablets, which is depleting quickly due to David's obsession with freestyle-footbag and his bum knee). The interaction went something like this:

Woman behind the counter: How many would you like? They come in boxes of up to 50 tablets.
David: Really?!?!?
Woman behind the counter: Really.
David: Really?!?!?
Woman behind the counter: Really.
David: Really?!?!?
Woman behind the counter: Yes, but you can get 2 boxes.

Woah! culture shock. And, the tablets are not loose, they're packaged more like cold medicine.

The church bells ring quite frequently here. At the top of the hour they ring 4 times plus the number for whichever hour it is. At quarter past the hour they ring once, twice at half past, and three times at 45 minutes past the hour. Who needs a watch!? Noon and 6pm are when they ring them like crazy, and also 10am on Sundays.

Stores are closed here more than they're open. Some restaurants are open on Sundays, but it's a pretty quiet day around here. We sure are spoiled in New York City where we can get anything, anytime, and delivered.

The sign on this door says 'Open: M-F 9am-6pm, Sa 9am-noon' which means that you can't really go shopping before or after work, you have to take time off in the middle of the day, or get up early on Saturday and rush. Hey, it's a good thing Robin's not working! Teenagers rejoice! You can legally drink here before you can legally drive (18 is the legal driving age here).
Another difference involving alcohol is all the old-heads casually drinking a beer at 9am. Nobody thinks anything of it, they're just retired and instead of a morning coffee they have a morning beer. People also commonly have a beer with lunch, something that is totally taboo with corporate America. People just seem more relaxed here, and there's no social stigma around beer drinking before 5pm.

And finally... THERE ARE NO ICE CUBES... anywhere!!!
Anyone for a nice "refreshing" glass of warm Coke?

Bowling!

2006-01-14T10:15:00.000+01:00

Last night we went bowling with a bunch of peeps from David's lab. It's a bit different from bowling back home, but just as much fun. There are 9 wooden pins at the end of the lane. They're small and arranged in a diamond pattern. And there are several different games to play (sort of like with pool where you can play 8-ball or 9-ball, or darts).
Watch out for that wire or you could trip!
This is the contraption we put money into (1 euro for 10 minutes of play) and where you could program which game you're playing so the pins don't get swept away too early. Well, not really "swept away" since each pin is held by a string from above like a marionette, when they fall over the machine tightens the string and they pop up again. Just as in the USA, bowling is a fun group activity where you chat and drink beer and laugh at people's bad shots and cheer at the good ones. We played in teams and Michael kept score on the chalk board. The only thing missing was the ritual of renting the funny-looking shoes with a shot of sanitizing spray.

Winter Fun

2006-01-09T11:00:00.000+01:00

We were invited to the village of St. Jacob im Walde with Ingrid, Alois, and Werner for the weekend. We had a snow-filled weekend of fresh air, traditional home-cooked food (Ingrid is a great cook), and good company.

David and Ingrid started a snowball fight outside the cottage we stayed in. A view of St. Jacob im Walde

There were many charming, old farm houses along our hikes

On Sunday we had a long hike to Arzberghuette on the top of a mountain

At the top of the mountain we stoped at the hut to warm up with food and drinks. (We really like this Austrian tradition and agree it definitely needs to come to America.)

The hut had "schlitten" for rent to slide down the mountain. You just enjoy the ride down and then leave the sled at the bottom and the hut-workers pick them all up at the end of the day.
Woohooooo!

Wrong Number

2006-01-03T10:30:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I got a phone call that turned out to be a wrong number. It happens all the time, and normally both parties realize it pretty quickly, apologize, and hang up. Simple. Well, try adding a foreign language and things get more interesting.
My phone rang yesterday afternoon, and I answered it with "hello" which is, of course, in English, but could pass for the German word "hallo." The man on the other end said something very quickly in German. I asked if he spoke English; no. I asked why he was calling me. He said something, and all I managed to understand was that he had seen "something" of mine and was thus calling. I asked what, he hung up.
After a few minutes, I remembered that I had sent my resume to an interior design place back in early December. Could this be them getting back to me? Uh oh! David convinced me to call the number back and find out. Amazingly enough I found the courage to do so. What me and the guy on the other end finally managed to figure out was that he was calling in response to a personal ad, and I was definitely not the person who had placed it.
Of course, if we had more of a language in common, this would have all been figured out very quickly. It was obviously a unique experience reserved for someone struggling to live in a foreign country and learn a new language. I had a good laugh! And it is encouraging to see that my German is improving, although now it's right on the dangerous line between incomprehension and comprehension. As in, you think you know what someone's talking about, but you missed one key thing and really it's the complete opposite.

Happy New Year!

2006-01-01T01:00:00.000+01:00

This one's for you mom...

2005-12-27T20:15:00.000+01:00

My mom got me the cookbook East of Paris by David Bouley for my birthday. It's an Austrian cookbook (but somehow I think they had to include the word 'Paris' in the title for it to appeal to Americans, most of whom think Austria is the continent inhabited by kangaroos). Today, it's been snowing all day long, and David is working from home, so I thought a fun project for me would be to try out a new recipe...

snow accumulation as of noon:

I decided to make 'Quark Spätzle' and the 'Beet Salad' (everything from scratch- we're talking raw beets, flour, eggs...). I chose these specifically because they looked like two of the easier dishes, boy was that was a error in judgment!
The Spätzle turned out to be *VERY* difficult. We don't have a Spätzle-press-maker-thing, but the recipe said one could press the Spätzle dough through a colander - I do not recommend this!!! I made a mess, and eventually had to ask for David's assistance. He did a great job working with the tools we had available, and was able to salvage the Spätzle.
In the end, everything was delicious! It took twice as long as I had expected, but I've learned my lessons for next time. So far, I think this is a good cookbook, even if it has the word Paris in the title.

Update...

We got a Spätzle-maker. It's a piece of metal with holes in it that sits on top of a pot of boiling water and you push the Spätzle dough through it. Much easier!!

Christmas in Vienna

2005-12-26T17:00:00.000+01:00

We had a relaxing time in Vienna for Christmas. The city has a great energy and it was fun to see all the decorations. The weather was a bit on the gray side, and there is a crazy wind that blows in Vienna!

The Rathaus had a big market infront of it.

St. Stephens Cathedral
An interesting clock
The Vienna Opera
Our hotel, Le Meridien

Graz to Wien

2005-12-21T15:45:00.000+01:00

We're excited to spend Christmas in Vienna this year.

We had a beautiful train ride from Graz to Vienna today through the foothills of the Alps. The snow was clinging to the trees hi-lighting the mountains with a white blanket and the sun was shining.

Do you still believe in Santa?

2005-12-20T21:45:00.000+01:00

Christmas is a bit different in Austria.

They don't have Santa Claus. Instead they have the Christkind (Christ child) who brings gifts to the children on December 24th. The "Weihnachtsmann" is an American import, and a controversial one at that.

Advent is what marks the beginning of the Christmas season in Austria. In the USA it all begins the day after Thanksgiving (well, the shopping part). As we've mentioned before, there are markets set up around town where people gather for shopping, drinking, and hanging out.

Each of the four Sundays leading up to Chrismas during Advent, a candle is lit on a wreath.

Krampus comes on December 5th to punish bad children.

St. Nicholas comes on December 6th for the good children.

The Christkind comes on December 24th to bring gifts.
December 24th is also when the Austrians have their big family gathering and celebration, where we traditionally celebrate on the 25th.

Ahhhhnold

2005-12-20T16:30:00.000+01:00

The big news on the front page of the newspapers here today is that Arnold has told Graz to take his name off the city stadium by the end of 2005... a little explanation is in order.

Below is a pic from the Kleine Zeitung, the banner over the stadium says "Menschentoter" which means "man-killer"

As everybody in both America and Austria knows, Arnold refused to grant clemency to Tookie Williams. This makes for complicated politics here in Graz because Austria as a country is against the death penalty, and Arnold is a native of Graz. Arnold and the city of Graz have ever been friends publicly and this friendship was solidified by Arnold receiving a "Ring of Honor" from the city, and also having the stadium named after him. Finally, Graz uses the Schwarzenegger name to promote itself, with Arnold's permission.

Sensing the political tide changing, Graz politicians started to wonder if they should re-name the stadium. Arnie caught wind of this, and has said they are no longer allowed to use his name to endorse anything in Graz, and is returning his honorary ring of the city. In the letter he faxed to the town hall, he expressed:

"Er würde es nie wagen, eine Entscheidung der Grazer Politiker von Sacramento aus öffentlich zu kritisieren: 'Aber Graz schreit stets als Erster laut und öffentlich auf'." (Kleine Zeitung)

Which roughly translates as: He would never dare to criticize Graz politicians from Sacramento, 'Yet Graz is always first to cry out publicly'.

Politics! cited links:
Kleine Zeitung (Deutsch)

Breitbart.com (English)

(PS- the ring is in the mail)

Most of the Grazers we know side with Arnold on this one, and many think it was a great move for him preempt the politicians.

Advent in Graz

2005-12-13T19:30:00.000+01:00

Christmas seems like a magical season here. There are lights twinkling on every street, and many stands selling crafts and Glühwein. Every night the town hall is a giant Advent Calendar.

There's an ice sculpture of The Nativity

Winter Ball

2005-12-11T14:00:00.000+01:00

It's ball season in Graz. Last night we went to one for a high school, but it was nothing like high school dances in the USA. There were hundreds of people, young and old. Parents, friends, teachers, and students all dancing until the wee hours of the morning. We left at 2am and it was still quite crowded.

The theme of the ball was "welcome to the candy shop" (I think things are somehow more hip here when they're in English) To open the ball, the senior class did a Polonaise.
The location was a new building from the 2003 Capital of Culture embellishments to Graz. There was a main hall with long tables and the main dance floor, and two side halls with a disco and a bar. Below is one of the "smaller" side halls.

David and I danced a few times...
... and Ingrid & Alois were dancing up a storm!

Robin's Birthday

2005-12-09T10:30:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was my (gulp!) 30th birthday. It was a holiday here, so David didn't have to go to work! He made me berry pancakes and bacon for breakfast (and he cleaned up too!). It was a sunny day, so we walked around the city and up to the top of the Schlossberg. Usually on holidays here all the stores are closed, but they were open yesterday for Christmas shopping. We have never seen this city so crowded... it felt like we were back in NYC!
Panoramic view of Graz from the Schlossberg (click to enlarge)
We ate dinner at the best restaurant in Graz, MOD (click for info). We had a six-course meal! Which was actually more like 10 because they gave us little complimentary things from the kitchen and we had a martini at the bar first and then a champagne toast. We were eating for 4 hours!

Along the walk to dinner: here's the menu (click to enlarge):

Dessert! (I could only eat half of it.)
The town hall in Graz is a giant Advent Calendar every night. Although, I think tonight was to celebrate my birthday :)

It was a special 30th birthday. A little quieter than I had always imagined, but that made the transition into a new decade easier.

MGV Liebenau

2005-12-04T12:00:00.000+01:00

Männergesangverein Liebenau

(Men's Singing Organization of Liebenau)

David has joined a traditional Styrian men's chorus. Last night they had an Advent Concert. The church was visually beautiful with great acoustics, however it was freezing!!!

After the concert was over, everyone went to Cafe Edler & Atzl to thaw out with beer and sausage. The cafe is owned by one of the chorus members. We enjoyed speaking mostly in German the whole evening!

Before the concert, I baked Weihnachtskeks (Christmas cookies) with Ingrid. I got creative with the left-over dough and made the Uhrturm (clock tower) on the Schlossberg.

Red Heads

2005-12-01T11:30:00.000+01:00

Something we don't have in America... a popular trend over here is bright red or purplish hair. Women in the USA must be too busy dying their hair blonde to consider this option.

(click on image to enlarge)

* as a technical note, the photos may look like I colored in the hair, but I assure you, the women did it to themselves! I had to make the collage a .gif to upload onto the blog. The .jpg was too big a file and would not load, so some of the detail was lost in the .gif format.

Krampus

2005-11-27T19:30:00.000+01:00

Tonight was the "Krampus parade" through Graz. In Austria, Krampus is the devil from pagan times that punished bad children. The official day of Krampus is December 5th, but for some reason they had the parade today. Maybe there will be more Krampuses on Dec. 5? The parade consisted of many people dressed up as ugly horned creatures clanging bells, spewing fire, and running up and scaring children along the parade route.

some links to help explain who/what Krampus is:

Krampus.com

Krampus.org

Krampus explained

Krampus Museum Steiermark

Our Krampus, from the grocery store, is a bit more wimpy (afterall, he's only made out of prunes and nuts).

Dashing through the snow

2005-11-26T15:45:00.000+01:00

It has been snowing all day long. The white blanket that covers the city makes the many different colored buildings stand out, and makes this already charming city look even prettier.

The Hauptplatz has a 90 ft. tall Chrismas tree and many stands selling gifts and Glühwein.

Thanksgiving

2005-11-25T20:30:00.000+01:00

Thanksgiving morning we awoke to find it was snowing! I always feel that both Thanksgiving and Christmas are better with snow. David and I hopped on our bikes and went to pick up our turkey. The city was bustling. How could everyone be working today... It's a holiday! Well, for us anyway. It was nice, however, to be able to dash out to the store for missed ingredients. We had ordered a 4 kilo turkey, but as they are caught wild and not farmed like in the USA, it wasn't quite the size we wanted, only 3.25 kilos. So, we supplemented our bird with a 1 kilo slice of breast meat from another turkey, which worked out nicely. We started cooking around 10:30am. We made cornbread and then cornbread stuffing for the turkey. Michelle and Tucker joined us around 3:00 to make all the side dishes: yams, green beans, creamed onions, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and more stuffing.
Ingrid, Alois, Rosi, Walter, and Steve came over around 6:30 and we drank Glühwein (a tasty Austrian beverage of warm spiced wine) and chatted as we finished cooking. David made a delicious gravy from the turkey giblets.
Mahlziet!
For dessert Ingrid made her Apfelstrudel...
... and I made a pine nut pie.

David spilled his wine all over me.
After dinner Steve entertained us with Rosi's guitar
and Walter harmonized with his harmonica

It was a very successful Thanksgiving, and now there is a big mess to clean up!

And now for the best part... leftovers!!!

The first snow

2005-11-19T08:50:00.000+01:00

This morning we awoke to a surprise on the ground, snow! Most of it had already melted in the sun, but in the shade some was still there.

die Prostituierte

2005-11-17T09:45:00.000+01:00

We discovered that our street has a dirty little secret... David was coming home from chorus practice late the other night and saw a hooker "working" less than 100 yards from our building. It seems that Dreihackengasse has got it all - a church, a daycare center, a cafe, an elementary school for music students, a gay night club, a dance school, a community cultural center, and a hooker!

She was waiting for Johns right by the parking meter Here's a close-up of the parking meter on the left and the school and our building on the right.

Autumn scenes in Graz

2005-11-15T14:30:00.000+01:00

We sat in the Stadtpark soaking up some sun and smelling the leaves before our German class today.

This is the bell tower of the church right by our apartment. They just got new bells a few weeks ago, and now they ring them a lot.

I discovered a climbing wall built into the wall along the river. There is a promenade down along the river and the main sidewalk is above it.

Getting around town

2005-11-10T15:00:00.000+01:00

Graz has lanes for bicycles, street trams, and pedestrians always have the right of way. You even have to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk if you're on a bike or you could get a fine. The Hauptbahnhof (central station) in Graz has hourly trains to Vienna, and many other cities in Austria and Europe.

Outside the Hauptbahnhof you can catch the Strassenbahn (street tram)

Jakominiplatz is the "Times Square" of Graz. The size is much smaller, but the the concept of a transporation hub still applies.

As you can see, bicycling is a popular way to get around. I think the tram will have a big advantage in the winter though: heat.

Graz at Night

2005-11-05T17:45:00.000+01:00

Sorry for all the blurry photos, I had to use the scan feature on my camera and I don't have a tripod. It makes a neat effect though.

A view from the Schlossberg

apparently we live on the edge of the red light district

The Kunsthaus lights up at night. Sometimes words are spelled out with the lights or they flash.

The Murinsel glows blue

Faces above

2005-11-02T17:45:00.000+01:00

Years of living in Manhattan and constantly looking up have paid off... I've discovered a quaint secret on a building I have walked past many times. The building to the right of the steps up the Schlossberg has little expressive faces along it's cornice. Each of the faces is different! The zoom on my camera is not great, but I've made a collage to help show them all. I haven't seen this mentioned in any of the guide books, and I wonder how many Grazers know they're there!

The Murinsel

2005-11-02T16:00:00.000+01:00

In 2003, Graz was the "European Capital of Culture." The city built and embellished many things. The Murinsel was designed by New York artist Vito Acconci. There is an indoor cafe and outdoor performance/hang out space.

Ein Steirischer Tag

2005-10-30T18:20:00.000+01:00

"A Styrian Day"

Ingrid an Alois invited us over for coffee and home-made apple strudel Ingrid's Apfelstrudel Next we headed to a block party on Andrea and Jakob 's street for some Sturm (a "young wine" best described as somewhere between a juice and wine. It is in season for September and October) and heiβe Kastaine (another name for Chestnuts, Kastaine are grown in Austria and are smaller than the Maroni which are grown in Italy)

After plenty of Sturm (pronounced "schtoo-uhrm") we went to a local AIDS fundraiser with multiple performances. The chorus that Alois and Jakob sing in performed twice. *David is going to join the chorus as second bass!
This particular performance fell under the "so bad, it's good" category.
After the concert we ate Belegtes Brot, drank beer, and chatted in "Germ-english." Jakob then lead a 4-person yodele session. It sounded so amazing! Ingrid was the soprano and David was the bass. A photo just could not capture the moment, what a unique experience!

Mobile Landscape

2005-10-27T11:45:00.000+02:00

My dad originally sent me this article about how researchers at MIT have collaborated with a major cell network in Graz to map cell phone usage. Now that I'm more familiar with the city I know where the the huge red bump on this map is... the university dorms. That tells you even more than the article about the age of the cell phone users!

The map is oriented with East at the topThere is an exhibit at the Stadt Museum mapping the real-time use of cell phones in Graz. If you stand and look at this screen long enough you can see how the degree of usage is changing all over the city.

This image is oriented with North at the top.