Do Cows Use Tools? This One Does. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/science/animals-cows-intelligence-tools.html?unlocked_article_code=1.H1A.fdOP.1KOQ6Z3fH8kD&smid=nytcore-android-share
For a light-hearted item in an increasingly heavy-hearted time.
And so I won’t be making it to Edinburgh today. The ice is so thick they won’t even know until 11:00 whether anything can take off from here and the one connecting flight from Frankfurt leaves at 10:55.
But Austrian does take care of their passengers as best they can and in a very Viennese way — free bottled water and Manner-Schnitten (those crunchy wafers filled with chocolate and nuts). The cart arrived at the service desk the same time I did.
Hard to believe, but I am wrapping up my Christmas preparations today, not on the 24th (or 25th or 26th, etc., invoking the Twelve Days of Christmas, which are taken seriously in Austria).
May you all have peaceful and happy holidays and a wonderful 2026!
Vienna is doing what Vienna does in November and December (and sometimes in January and February). I like it. I find the mistiness soft and gentle, but, as you can see, it can go on for days at a time without a change. This explains why the Vienneselike to go to the mountains. Anyway, typical.
I was talking over the weekend with a friend who was visiting from London and mentioned that Carnival (Fasching) starts on November 11th. I’ve so internalized this, still remember having a member of the seminar hotel waitstaff bring a bottle of bubbly into the seminar room in the middle of a session, that I was surprised that he was surprised that this should be the case. I decided to explore.
After a quick search and skimming articles, I see that often Carnival really doesn’t start until Shrovetide starts, although there is a bit of disagreement as to when that is. (Some sites say Shrove Saturday, or the Saturday before Ash Wednesday, and some say Shrove Sunday — three days before Ash Wednesday.)
Fasching, however, is a different story. According to the website feiertage-osterreich (or Austrian holidays), Fasching does really start on November 11th at 11:11 a.m. Legend has it that on November 11th, the fools are woken up. The partying isn’t supposed to start until January 7th — the day after Three Kings — but time is needed for the preparations. It’s interesting to know that on November 11th the Head Fool (Obernarr) traditionally was given the key to the city and took over the government. (Some would argue that the Head Fool rarely leaves!)
Apparently this tradition comes from the Rhineland and didn’t make it to Austria until the middle of the 20th century. It certainly has become embedded (see hotel story above) since then, possibly because it aligns with St. Martin’s Day, which has long been a part of Austrian culture!
For German speakers, there are a few more details here: https://www.feiertage-oesterreich.at/festtage/faschingsbeginn/
The info screen on the tram is telling me that the Wiener Staatsoper reopened on this day in 1955. It was bombed in the final days of World War II. The auditorium and backstage area were completely destroyed. The Viennese are said to have wept openly in the streets as they watched it burn.
The opera chosen for the opening of the rebuilt house was “Fidelio” by Ludwig van Beerhoven, a story about unlawful imprisonment, courage, and justice.
A mild November Sunday and I took a walk with friends to the highest point in Vienna, the Habsburgwarte in the 19th district. Altitude: 542 m. I’d been to the Warte before but never when it was open. This time, I was able to climb the tower and admire the view from the top. What an amazing city! ❤️
Why am I grumpy? Because that, ladies and gentlemen, is a photo of a Christmas market to be. When I arrived in Vienna, many years ago, granted, there wasn’t a Christmas market in every corner of the city and, if I remember correctly, they didn’t open until the First Sunday in Advent. At last, I thought, I’ve found a land unmoved by the consumerism of free-market capitalism.
Well, it was too good to be true. For a number of years, the Christmas markets have opened the middle of November. This year they seem almost to be striving for a pre-Halloween date.
Grant (a.k.a. grumpiness).
https://orf.at/av/video/onDemandVideoNews53058
The magazine Condé Nast Traveller has released the results of their survey on the friendliest city in Europe. (We beat out Lisbon!?!) I hardly know what to say. Friendliness is fine, but the famous “Grant” (grumpiness) in Vienna also had something.
Makes me think of the Boston Globe (New York Times?) headline when the Red Sox finally won the World Series after well over 70 years of not winning it: Now just a team like any other?
Maybe the Russians were involved?
ecbinvienna 