Well do I remember the visit about 20 years ago of two cousins who were on a macrobiotic diet. In those days, you could hardly find a vegetarian restaurant in Vienna and finding one that didn’t rely heavily on the excellent variety of Austrian cheeses was beyond us. We cooked a lot at home and my cousins made some exceptions. Suddenly, the word of the hour is vegan. It’s in all the newspapers and a number of vegan eateries have opened. On my way home just now I saw one of the oldest bakery chains in Vienna advertising that they offer 40 products “auf rein pflanzlicher Basis”–in other words, made from only vegetable-based ingredients (it sounds more appetizing in German, somehow)–and therefore, as they pointed out, suitable for vegans. That is quite a switch!
An amazingly beautiful spring that has now gone too far
29 Apr
Poppies in April? At this latitude? A bit weird. But beautiful.
A perfect Sunday morning in spring in Vienna
27 AprBright blue sky, sun, warm but not too hot, with a caressing breeze. Very few people are out and about yet, and those who are are relaxed and peaceable, walking their dogs, picking up fresh rolls from the bakery for breakfast, or setting out in a leisurely fashion for a hike or bike ride. Perfect.
Taxes
26 AprI think the Viennese / Austrians have always known that they pay a lot in taxes. That may be the reason there is a flourishing under-the-table economy (I don’t want to call it a “black” or “shadow” economy) here. On the other hand, I think they know that they also get a lot for their taxes But I wonder what effect today’s headline in the Kurier will have: Austrians pay higher taxes than the Swedes. Demonstrations perhaps?
Graffiti
25 AprI had an unplanned visit to the dentist this morning. As I was coming up out of the underground at Meidling Hauptstraße (the Ruckergasse exit), I saw this:
I’m not a huge graffiti fan, but I thought this was really clever. I mean, you can’t help but see it as you walk up the stairs, and you can’t help but smile when you see it. And I am a huge smile fan.
Camelot in Vienna
23 AprMind you, no one has established a round table here where knights takes oaths of chastity and so on and vow to protect the weak and needy. One could almost say quite the opposite as the right-wing student groups grow in strength. Nor do I mean the weather last summer when it was 40°C or so. (I, thank goodness, was not here so only have heard about it.) No, I am referring to the musical “Camelot” and the weather we’ve been having the last month or so, particularly the lines “The rain may never fall till after sundown, By eight the morning fog must disappear … The snow may never slush upon the hillside, By nine p.m. the moonlight must appear.” For a while there it rained–and snowed–so little we getting a bit worried about lack of water. Now we can relax. It has been raining, but mainly after sundown. It has been absolutely amazing (but all that is supposed to change tomorrow). Ah, well. At least we had it.
The Easter weekend is coming
17 AprAnd Mylo and I took advantage of the fact that many people (e.g., clients) are out of town to go for a walk in Türkenschanz Park this afternoon. Here is some of what we saw.
ecbinvienna 