VIENNA, Weeks of March 13th & 20th

March 13: Below freezing again with a strong wind so the wind chill was significant.

March 14: Woke up to snow again! Seems like it will be a light sprinkle.
Mary is tutoring a Turkish graduate student in English in our apartment.

March 15: Because of heavy teaching day and Mary’s tutoring in English went to a Turkish restaurant. We love lamb. I had an Adana Kebap and Mary had a small piece of lamb boiled in some kind of sauce—both were very tasty.

March 16: Kathleen and Stefan arrived. Getting to the Vienna airport is really easy. You can go by bus or a direct train. Took them to Figlmüller’s for Wienerschnitzel. Even our son couldn't finish his wienerschnitzel. Mary and our daughter shared one.

March 17: Went to the Hofburg and bought tickets to see the kitchen collection and apartments of Kaiser Franz Josef and his wife Sissi. The cutlery, cooking utensils, and serving ware was extensive. Serving 60 people took an entire bureaucracy. Also when the royal family traveled they had special trunks for the variety of utensils and tea services which they would pack and ship. Once a year before Easter, the Kaiser would wash the feet of 12 poor people. They were supposed to get cleaned up before the Kaiser washed their feet, but I still thought it was a very interesting ceremony and not one that other Christian monarchs did to my knowledge. The apartments were very interesting to go through and see how the royal family lived. There is also a museum on Sissi who was Franz Josef’s wife. She was very beautiful and was assassinated just before the turn of the century. She has become a very tragic figure.
That evening we were invited to a dinner party. We bought chocolates for the host (guest are supposed to bring something) and when we arrived there was a “butler” who took our coats and then served appetizers. About 12 people were there and we sat down to a formal dinner. The butler served, women first. There was about 10 pieces of cutlery and they were laid out differently from a formal American dinner so I watched my neighbors to see what they picked up for what. The first course was smoked salmon, water cress(?), and I think a dill aspic. Soup came next—it was like a beef bouillon with noodles. The main course was a pork roast that had been cooked in a bread roll with spinach (potatoes and vegetables accompanied it). Dessert was something similar to a chocolate cheese cake. Coffee ended the meal. Most people spoke German, although they knew some English. An ex-foreign minister and his wife were there, a “retired” opera singer, an Iranian businessman and his wife, a single Iranian businessman, and two other Austrians. Few people knew each other, but everyone was supposed to visit with gemütlichkeit. One Austrian engineer told me the US did not land anybody on the moon, although they had put men in space. It has something to do with lead or metal. I asked him if he thought it was a Hollywood production, but I am not sure he liked this idea. On the way out I saw people putting 10 euro bills on the table. I found out later that guests are expected to tip the butler. Snow flurries were coming down when we left about 11:30PM and caught a late night tram.

March 18: Went down to Naschmarkt and saw the stands with all the flea market stuff. It is hard to know if anything is a good antique buy or if it has been stolen. It is very crowded and a woman we know says she has had four friends who have had things stolen there (pickpockets, etc.). Got a lamb kebap from Nura who was very friendly. Everybody is trying to sell you stuff or get you to buy whatever food item they are selling. The variety is remarkable. Walked over to the Secession Building, which is called the “cabbage head” because of a round sphere like work of “art” on top of the building—saw an exposition of graphic arts. It was disappointing considering the price. Went on to Karlskirche—you have to pay 6 euros to get in, but it was well worth it. It is a beautiful church, but also they are doing some renovation and we were able to ride an elevator up into the dome. You could see the dome paintings from just feet away. Also you could walk another 100 feet or so up steps (only 10 people at a time) and get right up to the very top and overlook all of Vienna. The church also had a museum with reliquaries. I got a picture of a reliquary with a drop of St. Thomas’s blood and one with a bit of the intestine of St. Charles Boromeo. To get a bit of a rest we stopped at Café Schwarzenberg for coffee, hot chocolate, and tea. It is an older café and has a 19th century charm to it.

March 19: Went to the Prater and rode the Riesenrad—a huge ferris wheel that has appeared in many movies. Walked over to the Danube—it was a beautiful day with a blue sky. Huge crowds were out walking and we saw many children playing in the park. Stopped to see the Pfarrkirche (near Mexico Platz) before boarding the underground for home.

March 20: Went to class while everyone went out to look Schonbrunn and other sites.

March 21: Got up at 4:30AM to take Stefan and Kathleen to Südbahnhof for their trip to Prague. Bought them some travel food for the 4 hour train ride and I assume they arrived. On the way home stopped in and got some apricot krapfen and fresh-baked semmels for breakfast.

March 22: In my graduate international relations class I have a fellow who works at the Afghani embassy. He got into Austria on a fake Spanish passport by going from Afghanistan to Moscow to Odessa (Ukraine) and then into Vienna on the false passport. He then requested political asylum and since he came from the Ukraine, Austria could not send him back (I don’t know all of the immigration rules and treaty issues—if he had come from Russia, Austria could have sent him back). It is interesting because he does not like the Austrians. Also he wants to redefine democracy to suit his Islamic purposes—I told him he was a postmodernist because of how he handles language and definitions. I have a Ukrainian in the class who really likes to argue with him. Everything is good-natured (so far!), but we shall see where this goes in the next few weeks.
The weather is warmer and the sun has been shining. It is really pleasant to be out.

March 23: In the evening there was a reception for prospective students. Employers of graduates spoke (from OPEC and private industry), faculty, alumni, and students. It lasted about 30-45 minutes and then they had a food reception to visit and talk. The student body president spoke—he is from Zimbabwe and did a great job. A question was asked by one female African student of a graduate (from the Middle East) who was working for an Austrian company and had just hired a recent graduate. She seemed to imply that Middle Easterners just hired Middle Easterners, but the newly hired student was from Moldovo so her implication was wrong. However, I sensed a bit of possible resentment that Middle Easterners were just a “clique.” A Venezuelan-Israeli student also spoke about whey he was studying at the International University. It is truly an international group.

March 24: Walked through Spittalberg looking at shops—many are still closed waiting for tourists. There is a lovely shop that sells jewelry made by local artisans—it is cheaper than the Graben shops and has really beautiful work. Did some shopping at Müller’s—it seems to have more reasonable prices. It is hard to compare it to an American store—it doesn’t sell clothes, but has toys, perfumes, candy, CDs, etc. Stefan found some good chocolates for friends and Kathleen found some toys for her niece that were unique. Walked down Mariahilfer strasse and then home. Went out to dinner at a neighborhood restaurant which was really quite reasonable and had a great atmosphere. Between us we tried cordon bleu, wiener gulasch, and broiled fillet of fish. All of it was great. Walked down to the Ring to take pictures of the buildings lit up at night.

March 27: Went to the Kunsthistorischer Museum today. It was rainy so it was a good day to be inside. Spent about 6 hours looking at most of the paintings. The emphasis is on Italian, German, and Dutch paintings. Also visited the Egyptian and Greek-Roman exhibits. On the way home stopped in at the Siebenstern Restaurant with Kathleen. Stefan and Mary had gone to a concert at the Jesuitenkirche—since I have been fighting a cold I elected not to sit through a cold concert (Kat was quick to opt out). I had cream of garlic soup (excellent) with cubes of garlic toast floating on the top and roast pork with a dumpling and sauerkraut. Kat had roast pork as well, but for an appetizer tried the garlic bread—a large slice of rye bread with garlic, butter, and chives on it (excellent). It is a local restaurant and was quite crowded. Mary said the bedroom reeked of garlic that night.

March 26: Fighting a sore throat so stayed in and watched it rain. Went for a walk in the evening and purchased a pistachio Italian ice. Daylight savings time came last night so it is lighter in the evening. I think some cafes are starting to open up on Sunday afternoons now.