Spondeo!

Even though my resistance of participating in an academic celebration had weakend for a minute back in January when I hit this certain key on the keyboard I was not exactly happy when the morning arrived.I felt really horrible and did not want to go but was shooed there anyway - which was good, because in the end it turned out to be a very special moment to be remembered for the rest of my life.

The "Sponsion" took place in the Great Hall of the Main University building, and the breefing of the candidates happened behind closed doors. Meanwhile the audience gathered in the hall and found their seats.

Here from left to right family and friends who are very close to my heart: my mom, Katzi, my MIL, Herr Hasi and Zinsi - photo taken by my Hase, der mit mir wohnt. I thank you so much for sharing this special moment with me, I was so happy to have you there and it meant a lot to me.

The Vice-Decan of the University held a very funny speach about the unnecessarity of academic celebrations and the academia, about "rites de passage" and much more - it was lots of fun listening to him, but also made you think. You could tell that the way he was adressing the audience came from the heart, and even though I am sure he is attending such celebrations more often then one could even guess, he made it all very special and personal for us.  (And besides I was so happy that I had somehow managed to present my field of studies and my thesis without being too emotional, so sitting there and listening to Mr Hulfeld was definately a good thing.)

Both our dignitaries. They are highly decorated members of the University, and still they were extremely warm and kind and seemed very, very happy for us.

After spondeo and handshake of the dignitaries the first time with my master certificate. Yey!!!

Afterwards we came together for champagne and canapées to celebrate a little. (Dear family and friends, I am fully aware that this is probably not the best photo of all of us, but all the others came out a blur so bear with me please.)

Wow, it is done. A toast and warm thoughts back to the past few years, that might have been the best years of my life businesswise. I loved to study, to write and to think and it is hard to let go. But to speak with the words of  André Gide:

"Man entdeckt keine neuen Erdteile, ohne den Mut zu haben, alte Küsten aus den Augen zu verlieren."

So off I sail, into a new and unknown and hopefully happy Future - to new shores and into new oceans. Spondeo - yippieee!

Lunch at the Bristol

My mother-in-law´s present for my garduation was an invitation to the Hotel Bristol. Together with the Hotel Sacher the Bristol is one of the two most famous, most traditional hotels of Vienna, you may want to check http://www.bristolvienna.com/.

My recommendation definately is the Bristol. The Sacher has changed a lot, and when we were there the last time the size of the courses was tiny, the staff was always in a rush, and from our point of view the only thing that was top was the prize. If you want to visit the Sacher, then have a coffee and a piece of Sachertorte there in the Kaffeehaus, but for a nice dinner walk a few meters up to the Ring and fall into the Bristol.

Our table was excellent, the staff was lovely, and it really was the perfect setting to celebrate something special. I might have preferred a present a bit more personal, but after all it turned out to be a great feast.

The Sekt was from Bründlmayer which is always the perfect choice, and the red wine that came later was a so called "Bienenfresser", also from Bründlmayer.

We all decided to go for the "seasonal menue", and this is how it goes. On the  menue you see all the courses available, and you pick either 3, 4 or 5 courses. We tried to go for 6, but they really feed you well, so 6 is just too much and we cancelled the 6. course (the Eszerhazy Rostbraten) later. Actually the course I could go best without, everything else was wonderful. (Probably the Rostbraten was wonderful too, I am just not really keen on Roast Beef.)

The Avocado Créme Brulee was (together with dessert) actually the best for my taste - which came as a surprise because usually I am not too fond of Avocado. But this was heaven! (And the lobster soup that came with it was heaven too.)

It was followed by the Foam of Parsley Soup - which was simple green in a white bowl and I don´t add a photo here. But it tasted really, really good! They put gorgeous little croutons in it, and I would go for it any time again!

Then along swam the fish (the turbot actually).

After this I started to weaken, and when the kitchen threw in an extra course to refresh the palate (Lychee sorbet) I could only smile weakly and hoped for the best.

 

When the main course (Tips of Veal with Mushrooms and Dumplings) arrived we were acutally quite done, and this was when we cancelled the Eszterházy. The kitchen was so kind to accept this so very late - which definately won them extra brownie points! The veal tasted absolutely lovely - just like at home (which makes you think on how much you actually have to invest into eating out when you want to eat like at home).

 

 

This wonderful chain of excellent food was rounded off with Nougat Mousse with Chili Hawai Pineapple. I ordered tea with it - and got extra chocolates on the side!!! (Okay, I confess I wrapped it up and took it home, it tasted lovely the other day.)

 

 

Summary: wonderful setting, brilliant food, lovely staff, and they are always ready to fullfill any extra needs you come up with. If you want to pamper yourself with something special: this is the place! I cannot wait for the next special moment that hopefully will take me to the Vienna Bristol!