VIENNA, JANUARY 10

January 10: Got a calling card to call back to the States if we needed. I went to school and got syllabi ready and checked emails on the eternally slow computers. Since our luggage still had not arrived we went down Maria Hilfer strasse to check out some of the clothing stores. We found some American brands like Docker’s and the New Yorker. It is hard for both of us to find tall sizes and also the prices are a bit steeper than the US. We came back to the university after eating some pizza for lunch. I walked into the McDonald’s and a “Big ‘n Tasty” is going for around $6.00. It was pretty crowded. We have also seen Starbucks and Subway. After leaving the university we took our bags and went back to the grocery store. Unless you take your own bags, you have to pay for each bag you use. Obviously most people tuck some kind of bag into their coat pocket or purse. The food at the market is of superb quality and obviously the prices are reflected in this. Also to get a grocery cart you deposit 1 euro (about $1.25) in a slot on the handle of the grocery cart which releases a chain attached to the next grocery cart (it is hard to describe this gizmo). You take your cart and do your shopping. At checkout you unload you items and then move your cart to the end of the conveyor belt where you load it all back into the cart. You then move to a part of the store where you put everything in the bags you brought. Then you take your cart back to the entrance where the carts are kept, reattach the gizmo, and your coin is released. If this were done in America, Walmart would not have to employ people to go out and get carts—everyone would be bringing their carts back for the deposit! (I think).