It was amazing how many people were out and about at seven o’clock this morning. The last few weeks my morning walks with Mylo were fairly solitary, and dark, and chilly, for that matter. Yesterday we set the clocks back, and suddenly everyone has come alive again. The Viennese, especially the ones in my generation, tend to be pretty early risers. Now they are back in form.
Archive | October, 2014
Halloween in Vienna
19 Oct
This sign made me think again of a client who, about fifteen years, was lamenting the fact that the concept of Halloween was invading Austria. “After all,” she said, “we already have Fasching [Carnival].” Still, where there is buck or euro to be made …
In this case, however, there is the chance to win some euros. The only word you need to have translated above is “Gutschein”–in this case it means “voucher”–and you get the picture.
EuroSkills 2014
12 OctThe EuroSkills competition, like the Olympics but for professional skills, took place about a week ago. True to form, Austria did extremely well. The “Best of Europe” title (rather like “Best of Show” ;-)) went to Oliver Anibas, an Austrian competing in the area of Industrial Control. An additional 18 medals (8 golds out of 41 disciplines) went to other Austrian competitors, among them a tile layer, a florist, a decorative stone cutter, and (not surprisingly, given Austria’s reliance on the tourism industry) a hotel receptionist.
The Kurier put the success down to Austria’s excellent system of apprenticeships and vocational education. (More about that in my earlier post: https://ecbinvienna.com/2011/11/07/we-are-the-champions/ ) They followed that comment up with a reprimand to Austrian companies who complain loudly about the lack of qualified young employees!
For more information about the EuroSkills competition: http://www.euroskills2014.org/index.php?lang=en
Autumn
9 OctAbsolutely amazing fall weather this afternoon–bright blue sky, 22ºC and the leaves just beginning to turn to gold.
Local dialect, local food
7 OctThese billboards have been up for a couple of weeks now. The word in quotation marks is local dialect for the veg they’re showing. The map in the upper righthand corner (that little red squiggle) shows in white where in Austria the item comes from, accompanied by the proud statement, “This is where I’m from”.
I wasn’t aware that Austrians needed advertising to eat their own, relatively locally-grown food. After all, we’re talking about a people who consistently eat butter, for example, from their own country–in contrast to the Brits, who, it seems, will eat any kind of butter (mostly Danish or Irish) but their own.
ecbinvienna 