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Published: August 13th 2008
Happy Mittwoch once again!
Okay, my last update was just 3 days ago, so to be completely honest - there's not a whole lot of updating to be had about my actual life. I've spent the last couple of days a little bit "off" as a result of living alone again and trying to settle into a new life again. However, yesterday I made a specific point to get myself out of the apartment for a few hours. In so doing, I wound up going on a nice long walk - checking out the downtown area (if it can be called that) and familiarizing myself with some of the practical shops around there. I mean, there aren't really "convenience" stores here where you can just walk in and grab whatever crap you need right then... but some of the stores come close. For example, there's this store, here, called Tschibe that I'm beginning to adore. Basically, imagine a Starbucks that also sells underwear and kitchenware. I mean, come on! Truly, it's really nice coffee, generally with a nice sitting area -- but it's also one of the only ones that you can get a coffee in a paper cup -- and then they have rotating stock. So, one week it's Coffee/Victoria's Secret, the next it might be Coffee/Best Buy. Fantastic idea, if you ask me.
Oh man... I don't know if I mentioned this story about Lea from last week, but I absolutely should have... she took me to this gourmet store right in downtown Vienna (we went for the sole purpose of using the bathrooms...), and at one point, I came around a corner and she is asking a question at the little bakery desk. She has a jar in her hand and I realize that she is asking about the use of this product. Upon closer examination I realize that it is Fluff. Strawberry Fluff. Now, you Westerners may not be familiar with this stuff, because I wasn't before going to Boston... but this is marshmallow spread. Over-sweetened marshmallow ickiness. Wonderful if used to make fudge, but not much else; but in Boston and the surrounding areas there is a sandwich known as the Fluffernutter which is precisely what you might think it is. Anyway, so the Wieners (haha... literally Vienna-er... so Frankfurter, Hamburger and Wiener all just mean things or people from that place... so Wiener Schnitzel has NOTHING to do with, well, wiener or sausage or anything like that... it's just a Vienna-style schnitzel. Little cultural learning for ya!) all think that American delicacies consist of things like Fluff, Swiss Miss and Lipton Iced Tea. Oh man.
Anyway, back to Baden. Following my little excursion around the downtown area, I decided to head back toward the wooded area like I did the first time I was here. What I discovered is that these woods are actually a massive hiking area with dozens of little paths; some are meant more for walking than others, some for biking, and all for Nordic trekking which uses walking stick thingies. So, I spent a good hour just exploring some of these hills and paths. I found a couple of little tourist trap things along the way, too - Roman ruins, Beethoven farting spots, things like that.
I should explain... Gerald's comments about tourists never fail to crack me up. For example, he imitates the Japanese tour buses that "see all Europe, four days, GO!" Not really racist, because it's not negative... we are, in fact, quite impressed by their capabilities. Gerald also, when he sees a tour group following a guide, will go up to people and say, "he's lying, you know, that didn't actually happen here." But this is also the same guy who, when they did the Sound of Music Tour in Salzburg, told the people around him that he was from New Zealand. Anyway, in Baden there are houses in which the likes of Strauss or Beethoven sat and did some composing, or stayed for a holiday or whatever. Gerald's take on this is that anything can be made into a tourist attraction... just hang a sign that says, 'Beethoven farted here once' on a chair and your cafe will never be empty. So, that kind of stuck and now anytime we cross a Beethoven-related tourist attraction he says, "This is just a Beethoven-farting place."
Anyway, beyond all of this, the most exciting thing that's happened to me is a trip to the grocery store. While there, Gerald did everything in his power to get me to buy American things, because these are a recent addition to these stores and he feels they'd be a comfort to me. Some of his suggestions I gave in to... like Oreo cookies and bigger-sized sandwich bread. Otherwise, I stuck to the good Austrian stuff. Have I mentioned that there is a coffee machine in my apartment?? This is a very exciting thing, beyond any fathomable belief. Beyond it meaning that I have a coffee macine (I mean, come on!) it also means that I don't have to have breakfast on their terms (which have a habit of being 7:30am).
So, I guess it's kind of a slow news week as I seem to be kind of rambling. But speaking of news, I have been following all of this Russian-Georgian mess and have been astounded, both positively and negatively, by some of the diplomatic efforts. Having just spent a month at the United Nations, it's been fascinating to apply some of my recently acquired knowledge to this kind of major world diplomacy happening. Bush and his admins continue to be somewhat foolish... I'm sorry to take a political stance on this blog... but it's true - Sarkozy had a shoe-in that would have been greatly enhanced by the support of the American administration if there had not been threatening comments toward the Russian Federation - I'm disappointed in Condi for that; these kinds of threats and adverse actions on the part of the US have managed to create a bigger mess in some regards. Once again, the US administration needs to learn to talk to adversaries before flexing their muscles and baring their teeth. Frankly, the US isn't that powerful anymore, and they need to stop acting like a cornered dog, picking fights all the time. Hopefully in this next term we can have a president that recognizes that need, regardless of which party he comes from.
Otherwise, go Michael Phelps!! I continue to watch all of his races, German-commentated as they may be! Katie Hoff is pretty awesome, too. Unfortunately, I've missed most of the gymnastics events. Anything exciting there? ...Other than China taking gold in every event?? haha. The Austrians get very excited at any event that they can possibly medal in... things like Kayaking and Judo... It's rather amusing.
All right, this has gone on long enough (can you tell that the folks are gone and I have run of the household/computer with nothing better to do today because it's raining? Well... now you know, if you couldn't tell...). I hope everyone is doing well! Daisy the Stinky Golden Retriever says hello!
Talk to you all soon!
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Beth
non-member comment
Fluff
You can most certainly get it out west. Every time I go home a bring back a large stock for my friend Ellen who is addicted to the stuff. It's difficult to find it here and if you do it's really expensive. She loves it because she is a vegetarian and can't eat normal marshmallows.