happy birthday canada!

Celebrating the birth of a country in well, another country isn't exactly the same as being in the country with the birthday.

First off, well.. there are only so many Canadians here, so it's really a gathering of bodies to celebrate that commonality. And its funny, because of all the exchange students, people from around the world become 'temporary Canadians' to come celebrate. Not normal that is for sure, but excellent all the same. 


If I were at home, I would most likely be spending the weekend camping with family friends, the boys would all be fishing, while the girls sit back and give moral support. We would have a big BBQ, drink a couple beer, and maybe catch some fireworks that night. Really just taking the day as it comes from a lawn chair. 


Here in Vienna, I am officially alone in my apartment. The last of them headed out the door in the wee hours of the morning. Even as a solo Canadian here now, I made myself a big pancake breakfast, and smothered it in home-made straight from Canada maple syrup, thank you Dad and Tyler. I don't know how 'Canadian' pancakes actually are, but you can't get much closer than maple syrup as I have been discovering since my arrival here. 

Now what are good, very much Canadian foods besides maple syrup? I can honestly say I still struggle when fellow exchange students ask me this. What is a Canadian dish? Maybe I should be embarrassed at this, for not having a better answer.. but really.. what is there in Canada that does not have some sort of influence from another country or origin? Living with Albertan's my answer is now beef. I know that counts, but still.. its a just a cow. 


Ah well, for now I will listen to Blue Rodeo and attempt my packing before celebrating this 144th birthday with a handful of "Canadians" here in Vienna. See you in 4 days Canada!! 

mango's on sale!

What the best thing and the worst thing about being the last to move out of an apartment? Well the same answer works for both.. leftovers. Sure, its a whole load of free food, but it not the good leftovers like pizza or shepards pie. Instead here I am stuck with enough olive oil for a year, some 6 lbs of rice and 3 heads of lettuce. Seriously!? what can I make with that?!

Thankfully I have a nice variety of food leftover myself, with some eggs to work through, some feta cheese and even some tomatoes. I have 5 days left, and I am avoiding grocery shopping, too many leftovers. Unfortunately I am onto the last few pieces of my mango's from last weeks mango sale.. they  are spectacular but now I see my food selection is getting less and less flavourful.

At least I have salt...

FIVE days until I return home, hopefully to show some of the recipes I have learned.. maybe. Also, being June 30, 2011, it is Mom and Dad's anniversary, so.. Happy 21st Anniversary Mom and Dad!!

one week.

You know how some things just remind you of a song instantly? Like how 'Livin on a Prayer' by Bon Jovi will always remind me of Brent, how any song off Great Big C's 'Play' album reminds me of Mom and Saturday cleaning days, or how 'Walking on Sunshine' by Katrina and the Waves bring me back to Sunday afternoons by the water at Grandma and Grandpa's. 
Well, when I think 'one week', like I have been all day, I hum along to the the Bare Naked Ladies hit song from a few years back. I think you can guess that I am a week away from flying home, and I am excited. 


This past weekend in Vienna there was what I recently learned, Europe's largest Open Air Music festival taking place, the Donauinselfest. I didn't catch much of it unfortunately, but they had bands like Train, Portugal The Man, Vanilla Sky, and even Europe. (I know Brent, be jealous.) Sadly I missed Europe and The Final Countdown.

Oh yea, Europe.. and allllll that hair will also ALWAYS remind me of Brent and Tyler, and the dance moves for 'Cherokee'.

Due to what I think is uncooked meat, the rest of the weekend consisted of a lot of sleeping and tea. Not so much to show for food, maybe soup tonight.. but we'll see. Won't be chicken anytime soon.

For the next week there isn't much planned, few last things I would like to see before I leave, otherwise cleaning up my half of the room, and trying to fit the last 6 months into a suitcase, and of course more goodbye get-together's than necessary. I can't say I like saying goodbye this often.


...Goodbye! :)

Hühnerparadies

Funny the places you find yourself in sometimes here in Vienna. For example, today I had lunch at a place called 'Hühnerparadies', or Chicken Paradise... and I have to say, it was the best schnitzel sandwich I have had yet. I am adding schnitzel sandwiches to my list of things I will miss back home.

I would also like to add Almdudler, a strange soda comparable to gingerale. I will mostly miss this because of the Austrian couple in traditional Austrian clothes on the front. 

After a little chicken paradise (he he) for lunch today, I ventured on to meet up with Lauren and Julie to check out the Salvador Dali exhibit that moved into Vienna for the summer. Unfortunately we didn't find many works from the guy himself, just some sketches and then a lot from similar artists. Dali was a surrealist painter, and if you don't recognize his name.. you may just be familiar with him from his famous painting,  The Persistence of Memory, with all the drippy clocks...

The Persistence of Memory, 1931, Salvador Dali

The only reason I still recognize it is because of its appearance in an episode of Arthur way back in the day.. I think Buster was having bad dreams or something along those lines. If no one else remember I am sure Brent will. Ah well, excellent way to spend an afternoon. 

cheese stuffed things.

As much as I miss some grocery things from home, like 1% milk in a bag, Doritos, and Mommy's surprise, I have definitely grown to some uniquely European things that I will definitely crave once back in North America. What is the solution? Eat as many as you can before you leave.

Unfortunately I need to clean out the cupboards and eat the food I have been storing for the past 4 months, which means a lot of soup and pasta. Even so, I am going to enjoy these few new favourites from the grocery store until the day I leave.

Number 1 - Kasekrainer. Believe me, I am no fan of sausages.. but oh man when it come to one of these baby's, I will have two (not really my heart would stop). I wouldn't really classify it as a sausage, more of a glorified hot dog with cheese in it. And as they don't have Schneider's or Maple Leaf here, fancy hot dogs is what we do. AND the best part, they are already cooked, all you have to do it heat it up in a frying pan. Sizzly cheese stuffed meat sticks.. I know you wish you had some.

2 - Feta stuffed Olives. I should have split these two up, but seriously.. I like cheese and anything stuffed with it is a winner in my books. These are purchased from the Naschmarkt here in Vienna, along with vine leaves, falafels and the best pita bread and hummus around. As a new fan of olives, I am unsure of the availability of freshly stuffed cheesy olives in Canada.. I will be looking further into this. 


3 - A large variety of dark beers. Canada requires more selection, and so does Long Sault. 


4 - Bakeries, on every. single. corner. I will always choose the Schokocroissant. Always.


5 - Manner cookies. These are something I can bring home, and I will.

I am sure there will be more when I find that want it and can't get it. Isn't that the way it always is? 

A Kasekrainer and salad is pretty near my favourite meal these days.

after 4 months in a city...

After four months in this city, I am still experiencing what is truly 'Viennese'. This fine Father's Day morning (also the 40th anniversary of my grandparents, Wiepo and Audrey, Congratulations!), I ventured out to experience something that is uniquely Viennese. Not specifically food, but one of those things you just have to taste before I leave here in approximately 16 days.


The Vienna Boys Choir, or Wiener Sängerknaben has been around since its debut in 1498. The Choir was formed to accompany the church mass. Typically the boys are selected form Austria, but nowadays they come from all over. Franz Schubert was even a choir boy way back when! The group became an official, and professional musical group in 1924, and today travel the world performing. Lucky enough for me, I am living in the city in which they originate, and got a free-standing spot for this morning's mass. 


Let me tell you, these boys can sing! And they are all in the ages between 10 and 14.

I didn't get to record it myself, but here is a YouTube link of some of the performances on tour. One more.. 'Austrian' song.. and one, well.. less-so Austrian.

Wiener Sängerknaben - In The Jungle
Wiener Sängerknaben - Edelweiss

Happy Father's Day all you amazing father's!!
shannon xx

define vienna.

What is Vienna? You'd hope I would have figured it out by now... and I can assume I have a pretty good sense of my surroundings. Before I came here I knew nothing about the city except for the classical music and wiener schnitzel. I can now say I have added a few more things to the list Vienna is known for; Bach, Lederhausen, white wine, apfel strudel, potato salad, the royal family, opera, and of course its 'coffee shop' lifestyle. 


I see now that it really is a lifestyle, sitting in really old cafe's reading newspapers on wooden holders and nibbling a slice of apfel strudel, all washed down with a hot Melange. 


This traditional Cafe culture has been going on since about the mid 1700's. And yes, the same cafe's that were opened here in Vienna in those mid 1700's are still open, serving tourists and locals alike. The idea of a 'Kaffehaus' or coffee house, was invented here in Vienna, and now there are thousands of places to choose from within the city where you can grab your cup-a joe. (Not necessarily to-go). 


Being a temporary Viennese citizen and all, of course I have gone out of my way to test out these Kaffehaus's.. and off a tourist Top 10 Cafe list, I have hit up 4 of them. Seeing as a piece of cake at one of these places is pushing 10 Canadian dollars, that may be the extent of old cafe's I go to, come on, I am a student. 


Inside they are decorated what I imagine to be pretty much the same as they were some few hundred years ago, but I guess that is they idea. The first Cafe test conducted was on my first week here in Vienna, with Meghan and Michelle, at Cafe Museum. Originally designed in 1899, we had a delicious traditional Viennese breakfast consisting of some sort of boiled egg, buns and a pot of coffee- of course. It was delicious! and the red velvet benches and chandeliers really framed the whole experience, even though it was a little awkward being the only people under the age of 50 in there. 

Kind of turned into a tourist attraction, note the 'Franz Shubert' apricot jelly.

As instructed by our program counsellor back in Guelph, Cafe experience take 2 was carried out at Cafe Central. Famous for being the official meeting place of Vienna's intellectuals, Cafe Central is known for serving coffee to Leon Trotsky prior to World War 1, the poet Peter Altenberg (who even had his mail delivered there), Adolf Hitler and Sigmund Freud. This place was a pretty spectacular site, HUGE inside, and massive columns holding the enormous arched ceiling. The coffee itself, in my opinion, wasn't anything special, and our lunch lacked flavour.. BUT you really are just paying to sit where Leon Trotsky did some hundred years ago. 

Painfully overpriced lunch at Cafe Central, stick to just a coffee.

Take 3! Cafe Sperl with my fellow Guelph-Vienna exchange ladies, Cara and Michelle. Established in 1880, Cafe Sperl's regulars consists of artists, singers and musicians from the nearby theatre. Now, this place was again magnificent. A little dark, more red velvet and newspapers on wooden handle things, and ceilings to the sky.. quite impressive. I have a bit of a tainted image of this Cafe unfortunately, due to my own food-texture issues and a soggy cream-cheese strudel. I still shudder thinking about it. You may have read in a past blog post how horrifying this experience was. Even so, beautiful building. 

YUCK.

And finally, while the family was here we had a coffee break at the Mozart Cafe before heading into the royal families crypts just up the way. Formerly known as the Katzmayr Cafe, opened in 1794, it was transformed into Cafe Mozart in 1929, after his death, and the city became so fond of him, clearly. I just had a Coke here, but Dad enjoyed his second piece of apfel strudel that day, and Oma had a pot of coffee. Once again the atmosphere is what you go for. If you have ever seen the movie, "The Third Man", you will recognized Cafe Mozart as the place where Holly Martin waited to hear the news of his presumed dead friend. (Also, I recently found out you can take a tour of the cities sewers and underground or something, the tour is called "The Third Man Tour".. if you're a fan and all. )

Mozart Torte, very delicious.

Now I'd say this is a pretty well-preserved tradition. For how old these places are they are definitely in good condition, it's kind of like stepping back in time. And if I could read German I would grab one of these sweet newspaper holder things and take that coffee time a little more seriously. Coffee time is no joke here, you take your sweet time. Besides Starbucks here, it actually is pretty hard to find a coffee-to-go. And when you do, it's kind of funny because they advertise it as "American Coffee-To-Go!", like running getting your coffee on the run is the coffee break they want. I think it's a good thing they take this coffee break time so seriously, everyone deserves a breather now and then. 

Not going to lie though, even though the coffee, when it comes down to it, is pretty crappy.. I kind of miss a Tim Hortons here and there. (JUST on those days when you're in a rush, or just want a plain, big, black coffee). 

Who knows, I will probably miss having a little silver tray holding a coffee, little silver dish of milk, glass of water, a mint and sugar cubes when I get home. 

19 days! shannon xx