Good times

Yessir, let´s rock and roll! I did not get out a lot during the last couple of weeks, so it was about time!  Free as a bird and not a care in the world .... okay, both is not correct, but still I felt like going out and chill. And luckily I found people who were in the same mood!

In the rebuilt UCI Millennium City they opened up a new Steakhouse (decorated in Wildwest style), and it was a spontanous idea to go there. But it looked so nice from the outside that we could not resist and simply had to walk in and give it a try.

It took a lot of being mean and really strict, because Zinsi hates to be on photos. In fact this is the only photo of her that is not a blur - I wonder if she can warp out like a vampyre?? (Thank you so much for inviting me on food and drinks! And thanks for letting me get dessert later! - Another occation of being really mean and strict, a tough evening. And no worries, I am not saying what we had and were we went.)

The spareribs were very nice, they came with a honey dip and lots of other yummy things. Luckily we ordered the small portions - the big ones are overwhelmingly huge!

 And a cocktail afterwards. I think the barkeeper was in training, because I had expected my Virgin Barbados to be frutier, instead it came like a creamy Banana. But it was yummy anyway.

Thanks for a great evening, Zinsi!

 

 

Of course we had some family quality time too. The mamas came, my mom still beaming with pride and everything, and it was a huge exchange of presents and surprises. And of being happy and warm and comfy...

With beautiful flowers and good wine and, and, and......

 

And of course with two happy mamas.

 

 

The next day "the girls" and me went to the "Wirtshaus Steirerstöckl" check out www.steirerstöckl.at, a Styrian restaurant right next to the Pötzleinsdorfer Schloßpark in the outskirts of Vienna´s 18th district. Long-time friend Sigi, new-found friend Riki and I had planned on a gourmet menue to toast and chat and enjoy.

The food was absolutely wonderful! If you plan on going there check the menue first: It is not really cheap. But if you want to celebrate a bit or simply do yourself something good then this is the place!

Riki had a gorgeous looking carpaccio (photo of which was too much of a blur unfortunately, but if there is a next time there I guess I definately will have that), and Sigi and I had the "Steirerhendl" (with chestnut and plum stuffing - what a feast!).

 

The girls had some chestnut mousse afterwards. Hmmmm........

Amd then off to a relaxed walk in the Pötzleinsdorfer Schloßpark. I have not been there for so many years, but it was exactly as I remembered it. A walk down memory lane...

It is so good to have friends - old ones and new ones! I thank you for the good times we had together, and I hope for some more "Rock and Roll" really, really soon!

Final exam

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I did it!!! My final exam is over, and I passed!!!! At the moment I still cannot believe that four years of very intense work culminated in this very special and very exciting day yesterday, and that all is good, I passed and it is done! I do not feel any different, I breathe the same, I sleep the same (or rather not, this morning I woke up at 4.15 and could not go back to dreamland), and I am the same person I was before (whatever some people in the ministry said years ago, now I am not wiser, better or anything) - but still I passed. And it´s done. And I passed!

Waiting for Godot. My "delegation" was almost as nervous as I was (maybe more nervous thinking of my mom), and while I was examined they stood in the hall indecisively, looked out of this and that window, lurked about the hallways to throw suspicious glances on the door where "it" happened all behind and ... took photos. (You all wonder now who that photo taking person was.)

I will never forget their faces when I breezed out of the door, my delegation ready to cheer, me shaking my head meaning, "the comission first has to deliberate" (which is how it is done in our institute - but I did not know that they did not know), and they made faces and groaned and thought I had failed! Of course it was mean, but I did not do it on purpose, lol. But within minutes I was called back in and was told that it had not taken them long to decide that - tatatataaaa!!!!!!! - I passed!

I think I shook three hands, I think I saw smiling faces and I think I was told to go out and party, but these next seconds are a bit vague. Then I stormed out, the champagne cork popped and the first, very spontanous and very private party started.

My dear commission, please forgive me that I might violate your personality rights, but I just have to put this photo online. Honestly, I did not want my dear Hasi to take any photos like this, but now they are here and I cannot resist. From right to left: My tutor and first examiner (she is sooo nice), my head of commission (she is absolutely lovely) and my second examiner and head of Comparative Literature (he is very nice, but I am never sure if he actually likes that). (And I cannot get this voice out of my head that obviously was Stefan, racing after the three of them, asking for a photo. And then I hear another unbelieving voice, "What? The whole commission? You mean all of us??" with a very self-secure "Yes" as an answer. Gee!!!)

The one and only good-luck token that actually made it onto the exam table. Unfortunately a certain Miss Bunny had to stay in my bag after I saw the unbelieving glance of my first examiner, and Mr. Mag.Mag. Nellie (a very powerful elefant) had been prepared to sit in my trouser bag anyway (he is tiny, in case you wonder, which again tells us, that size is not everything). And other tokens were hiding here and there. And they all did a great job!

Some spontanous late lunch, organized by my Hasi. We were all so proud, we could hardly walk! See my mom beaming? I think she was the proudest.

The food was gorgeous! Even though I think I held up the whole ordering process, the others were hungry and I was not - which is something very unusual, but I was just too wound up. At the end I got a lovely Brathendl, and it was the best Brathendl I ever had. (And the first one I think in a century.) The little package is a package of new cards with new title and all that my mom gave me as a surprise present. She is so cute - she really believes in these things, and therefore of course it is most appreciated by yours truly. (And thank you for the chocolate, Tschü! Ich war brav!)

 

And after lunch, going back to the car and one last hop to the institute.

For this time I want to conclude with a part of a famous quote of my very much admired Charles Dickens.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief...." and of course "...we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way..."

I had the privilege to experience all this, I learned, I doubted, I was foolish, going through Heaven and hell, I believed and boy, I had so much fun! This part of the journey is over, but whereever it will take me from now on there will be other paths to explore and other winds to sail.

What I definately foresee in the near Future: Lots of partying! That is for sure!

A Styrian weekend in November

Oh dear, one more week to go until my final exam. So many long days ahead, but still so little time! To soothe one´s nerves of course nothing is better than to think back of good days, so I guess it is okay to spend a little time and blog about our last weekend in our home away from home.

We had a few errands to run so this is why we came - but also because Thursday was a bank holiday and it gave us a four day break. So off we went to relax and to live in this special holiday limbo for a while where you have nothing to do but think of the next meal, the next nap and the next walk with the kiddos. (I did some reading for my exam of course, but otherwise it was just heavenly holiday-limbo.)

The weather was quite okay, it was not too cold and not too wet, but with a little bit more sun the leaves would have shone even more brilliant. But still the colors were beautiful.

We did our favorite things, went to the Ödensee....

.... and played the "snack-game". (Sometimes I wonder if Dessa ever considers "walking" or if it is just "snacking" for her.) Go on, mom, gimme some! Now!

With the boy it is simple to detect. For him the great outdoors are superfun! And it is always too early to go back to the car.

What else did we do. Of course we ate well. On holiday we like a late breakfast/early brunch, a sample of which you can see here. And this time - on the side - you also find our "drugs bar" which we needed because Stefan had the grandfather of all colds, which he passed kindly on to me later.

And we slept well. Long in the morning, a nap after our little trips. And after serious reading. It´s amazing how sleepy you get right after you have opened your papers.

Alt Aussee in later Fall is especially nice, there are not so many people there and you can enjoy the lovely lake, the crisp air and the beautiful nature around much better. (Especially if you are a hermit like me.)

Fall can be so beautiful! And long weekends can be so cosy, fun-filled, entertaining and relaxing. Definately one of the things we should do more often.

And now back to my books. Have a good day, everyone! 

Halloween 2012

Halloween is the best time of the year! My Halloween is the Samhain/All Hollows Eve variation, not the creepy horror version that seems to be so popular in Europe now, I don´t dress like a Zombie or cook food that looks yucky. Instead I prefer to take a walk in hopefully foggy nature, contemplate and listen to the Samhain voices out there.

Then I like to decorate with happy ghosts and pumpkins and start cooking happy Halloween food. This year I planned a lot! The menue was: Home made chicken wings, pumpkin lasagna and pumpkin pie.

The chicken wings I put in marinade 24 hrs before and put them in the fridge to rest. The marinade consisted of happy things like honey, sugar, vinegar, mustard, etc, etc and promised to be extremely tasty. The pumpkin lasagna I started early in the afternoon, and it turned out to be quite time consuming. But it smelled like heaven coming out of the oven...

When it started getting dark three Halloween ghosts appeared on our living room T.V. indicating that it was time to start the feast.

So of course this is what we did! The chicken wings came out of the oven still sizzling, the lasagne was okay in the microwave, and the pie was about to cool down. So all clear for take off!

This year I did "decoration lite" because we wanted to go away over the long weekend and my mom would have had to live in a madhouse for days otherwise, but we still enjoyed the Halloween atmosphere.

Especially when it came down to FOOD!!!! The chicken wings were definately worth the efford, I will cook them again, maybe as a main dish with rice and a salad. The pumpkin lasagna was very good, but with the chicken wings and the pumpkin pie being overwhelmingly tasty it remains in memory a little bit colourless. As a side dish it was okay, but for a side dish it was a little bit too time consuming.

And voilá, here is the pumpkin pie. Thanks to my dear friend Juju from the U.S., who kindly stocked me up with Libby´s pumpkin puree (the best!! believe me!! Thank you so much again, Juju!), I had one can left for the pie and did not have to cook and mash it myself.

The rest of the evening was filled with digesting and watching horror flicks. I can definately recommend "The woman in black" - Daniel Radcliffe definately can do more than Harry Potter!

I sure hope you all had a great Halloween!

And always remember: Death is not the end of love.