I once owned three chickens. They were a by-product of the only reason I studied biology: the project where each student receives a freshly hatched chicklet with the aim of ‘imprinting’ (basically making it think you’re its mother) it in the first week of its life by carrying it everywhere you go in a shoebox. When the week ended, you could choose to either keep your chick, or send it back to the Stegalls’ factory, where its projected lifespan was very short!
You can probably figure out the translation of Schnitzelwelt… that’s right – Schnitzel World.
Sounds like heaven, right?
Summer in Austria equals festival time! On any given weekend there’s usually something going on, be it a small, local event or a bigger, region-wide festival that completely takes over.
I have visited a number of town festivals over the last few years and although some of the bigger ones are a lot of fun, there’s nothing better than simply walking the 10 minutes to the Wolfsberg city centre when it’s our turn. Everyone in town turns out to crowd the streets, catch up with one another and party the night away. But no matter the size or the occasion, there’s definitely common elements to all.
Visiting the London area in the past (eg. When I was living in Australia) was always a bit of a lowlight. Not bad, of course, just not as exciting as the rest of the trip.
It was a place that was easy, where I knew the language and had friends to stay with. It was a rest stop, a place to recuperate. Or it was simply the most practical or cheapest place to fly in and out of.
Before we went to Australia on our most recent holiday, I made a lot of lists. I like making lists. Lists of friends I wanted to see, things I wanted to do, food I wanted to eat, places I wanted to visit, food I wanted to buy and bring back… the list(s) goes on.
You see, what I was doing, was trying to organise the perfect trip home.
Austria may be a country steeped in religion and tradition, but from what I can tell Easter seems to be mostly about eating ham and lighting huge bonfires!
I’ve written about Easter before (Easter & the Creepy Osterlamm) but 2016 actually marked my first Easter in the country (even though I’ve lived here now for almost 3 years) because the previous two times I was in Oz on holiday.
I just spent two weeks on a diet. That’s right, I said it out loud. I am a slim girl yet I was ‘watching what I eat’. Gasp in horror! Go on, you know you want to. Because it’s ludicrous for somone who is not overweight to go on a diet, right? It is unnecessary and it is rude! Rude to all the people out there who might actually need to diet!
If you’re a goose and happen to find yourself in Austria in November, you might want to start hunting around for a good hiding spot!
In November it’s tradition to eat goose, with every restaurant and guesthouse featuring goose on the menu, often as a complete meal that involves various courses of goose deliciousness.
In September/October, Austria and Germany go beer and sausage crazy. I realised it was that time of the year again when I opened a piece of junk mail from a local supermarket and found it absolutely plastered with different kinds of sausage and beer.
Austria has plenty of great food – let’s get things straight right away that I am definitely not complaining here! All I am doing is bringing attention to some of the ‘stranger’ quirks I’ve noticed when it comes to Austrian people and their food. Read on for my most memorable ten.
an aussie in austria 