Boatride on the Danube

Unfortunately Vienna does not have any direct access to the open waters. Our maior waterway is the "Danube" ("Donau" in German) which has been made famous worldwide by the Vienna Waltz "An der schönen blauen Donau" by Johann Strauss, a piece of music that usually concludes the "Austrian New Year´s Concert" which is broadcast all over the planet.

Most Austrians live far or even farer away from the Danube, and then we watch series like "Soko Donau", which plays more on less on the water, and we think, "What the...?" and "Where the...?" But yes, this also is a part of Vienna, even if we sometimes cannot believe it ourselves.

 

Friends had come up with the perfect idea to go on a boatride up and down the Danube on this beautiful Midsummer evening, and so we could kill two birds with one stone: Enjoy the Summer solstice from the water and celebrate the wedding anniversary of our friends. (Happy Anniversary again, Michi and Martin, and thanks for this wonderful idea!)

 

 

The DDSG (the former "k.u.k. Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaft" - eat this, translation programs *gg*) organises boatrides with different mottos - ours came as the "Ratpacktour" which meant that the musicians were performing songs by the "Ratpack" Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis jr. But they also do themes like "Dancing", "Popular Music", "Autumn".... even "Halloween", where they obviously want you to show up in Halloween costume.

 

Dinner was served when we were sailing (I am told that "sailing" is a nautical term in this connection meaning "to begin a journey by water", our boat was in fact engine-driven), and it was excellent. Okay, I was so hungry, I would have eaten paper probably, but it was excellent nevertheless. Here a sneak-peak of the starters, but we also had loads of main courses and sweets.

 

 

How beautiful to munch on your dinner while gliding out of the harbour, enjoying a marvellous scenery....

 

 

I have to confess after dinner I was not very sociable - when on a boat I always need to be on the upper deck watching the scenery without any glass windows, I want to feel the wind and smell the smells of the water. Actually I prefer the sea - the High Sea, if possible - but the Danube is a pretty good substituate when no ocean is available.

 

 

Due to recent flooding the Danube was not "blue" at all, but it was amazing to see all the traffic that made its way down the river giving the impression of some serious waterway that connects many European countries and would even allow you to go as far as the Black Sea.

 

 

The song "I am from Austria" came to my mind. We just could not get the darn flag flying!

 

These gentlemen entertained the audience with other songs like "Take me to the moon" and "New York, New York", and I would say they did a pretty good job. It is difficult to set Austrians in motion, they usually sit there doing nothing during a piece of music, and at the end they clap obediently. Nothing like I have experienced in US bars where the audience happily sings and claps along. But these gentlemen really did the trick! It took the audience a while, but they sure warmed up.

 

 

We returned to Vienna much too soon, but the views we got were wonderful. Here are a few for you to see yourself.

 

 

 It was a lovely evening, something we had not done in a long time, and the fact that it also was Midsummer added some additional spice to it. And we were reminded again that Vienna actually is a place by the water with lots of opportunities for boating and water sports - and a waterway that can take you right across the continent if you allow it.

Longfield Pool- and Grillparty!

An einem wunderschönen Samstagnachmittag trafen wir Longies uns auf die nette Einladung von Franziska und Herby zu einer Riesengrillerei. Das Wetter spielte mit, es war herrlich warm und "grünte so grün" wie in Spanien, wenn die Blüten blühen! Wir freuten uns darauf, nach ausgiebigem Planschen in Pool und Whirlpool den Griller anzuwerfen!

Aber zuvor noch ein romantisches Foto vor dem herrlichen Rosenstrauch! Was sein muß, muß sein. :-)

Nach Kuchen und Kaffee ging es dann also ans "Eingemachte". Die Aufregung stieg langsam aber stetig, wie deutlich zu erkennen ist!

Und dann gings los! 3...2...1....ESSEN!!!!!

Jeder hatte etwas mitgebracht, um zum Erfolg der Grillerei beizutragen, aber dennoch war es großartig, was unsere beiden Gastgeber zusätzlich alles aufgefahren haben! Gemüse, Würstchen, Käsekrainer, Koteletts..... Herrlich! Und das gute Essen trug natürlich zusätzlich zu der ohnehin schon tollen Stimmung bei!

Es waren ein wunderbarer Nachmittag und Abend voller Spiel und Spaß, nettem Plaudern, ein bißchen Singen und vielen netten Longfield-Freunden!

Und später gabs dann auch noch Eiskaffee.....Yum, yum......

Liebe Franziska und lieber Herby, danke für eure Gastfreundschaft! Es war super bei euch! Und wir kommen im nächsten Jahr gerne wieder und lassen uns wieder von euch verwöhnen! Stimmts, meine lieben Longies? ;-)

P.S. Und danke, liebe Christine, für die Fotos, die ich für meinen Blog verwenden durfte!

I am going on an adventure!

"I am going on an adventure!" cries Bilbo Baggins, when he is running after the dwarfs, and the worst thing that he thinks can happen to him is that he forgot to pack his hankerchief. Almost the same thing said my friend John, when he came all the way from Helsinki by motorcycle, and the fact that he might have forgotten his hanky did not seem to frighten him in the least. It is amazing what he is able to fit into the little trunk of his posh BMW motorbike....

He is a good, long-time friend and we hardly ever see him, so we were happy to welcome him in our home - with or without his hanky! First a toast to the first see in a long time...

 

... then the boys arm wrestled a bit as you do when you are happy to finally meet up again.

 

 

Then we went to the Stockerwirt for some nice dinner. It was a lovely evening of early Summer, the sun was shining until late, and the nature was at its nicest around here.

 

 

And a toast again of course!  

 

 

For dinner we had soup (tomato and Asparagus), Bauernschnitzel (John), Tafelspitz (Stefan and me), and Tichy icecream and Cremeschnitte for dessert. Yum, yum! It was excellent!

 

It was a good evening full of old memories, updates on life and interesting discussions. And the starry sky that showed over our home place before we all went to bed was awesome, I even saw a falling star! (I did not put it in my pocket, though.)

Our friend left much too early the next morning. Thank you for being here, JJ, you are a wonderful guest! And we are hoping for another reunion very soon in the Future! And thank you for the MARSKIN RYYPY - we will not drink it but put it up on display, and whenever we look at it we will think of absent friends.....