I think I have been doing a pretty good job of eating Austria. Austrians love their coffee, their various sausages (Käsekräner, Bratwurst), Schnitzel, beer, wine, bread, and various pastries, of which there are too many to mention. That said, there is still a McDonalds two blocks away. And Starbucks across the street from the Staatsoper. This is the capital city, and you could find food from every corner of the world if you looked hard enough. Last week I enjoyed some amazing pay as you want Pakistani buffet, the week before, I (somewhat) satisfied my Mexican food craving.
My favorites so far have been Käsekräner, wine, and Topfenstrudel. Käsekräner is basically sausage with cheese chunks in it. They sell them on the street in a hollowed out baguette. Looks dirty but they are very popular. Or you can buy them in the store, sometimes wrapped in bacon.
I have developed a taste for wine, by mere virtue of living in a land where wine is cheaper than Coke. Actually, I magically liked it when British Airways gave it to me for free on my flight over here. I don't know what good wine is yet. I just pick the one with the prettiest label. I did try Gruner Vetlander and I liked it. I have also learned a few Austrian drinking songs. We listened to them and sang along in our German class. They are along the lines of, " My nose is so red, because I am drunk. I am drinking the good wine." Yes, this is what I learn in school here.
I could probably subsist on strudel for my whole life. I could sit in a smoky Kaffeehaus with a waiter in a tux and think deep important thoughts just like Mozart did, I'm sure. Apfelstrudel at Cafe Sperl, a traditional cafe in my district, is fabulous. Topfenstrudel anywhere is amazing. its filled with a crumbly warm cheesecake type substance. I have tried Sachertorte of course, but talk to any Viennese and they will make an off the cuff remark about how Sachertorte isn't how it used to be, the original recipe, Hotel Sacher isn't good and over priced...and on and on. I don't particularly care for it. However half the fun of eating is ordering something you have never heard of. I can't remember most of the names of the pastry delights I have eaten.
Of course living in my own apartment with a lovely kitchen, I cook and eat in most of the time. The Naschmarkt, an outdoor market hundreds of years old, is a five minute walk away. I have my favorite dried fruit person, my favorite veggie person, my favorite nut guy, hummus guy. Not that I call them that or anything, but the stands all sell the same thing and are competitively priced. I find that the salespeople are very humble and very friendly because they really want you to buy their products. I also speak exclusively in German to them. Shopping at the supermarket is a different story. Its a little less enjoyable. You have to pay for plastic bags, and then remember to bring them and reuse them so you don't have to pay for more. Which, I suppose is a great way to get people to recycle. The checkout line is fast and furious. There is no one to bag your groceries and you better have your money out and ready, while you throw all of your food back into your cart as it is being scanned. Of course, the ATM usually gives me hundred Euro bills, which seems to annoy the cashiers, and then they ask for 2 or 22 cents, I can never tell which, because they talk so fast. After I have had them repeat "zweiundzwanzig" a few times, I have held up the 20 people behind me.
The good news is after I have been yelled at by some disgruntled cashiers or accused of shop lifting (true story) I can come home and cook. I am a fan of making a huge pot of chili or soup or risotto and eating it for a good week or two. Eventually though, I decided I missed baking so much I had to figure out the metric system. And convert Farenheit to Celsius once and for all. I was able to procure some wheat free flour, which seemed like a miracle in a land where hearty wheat bread is sold on every corner. But it is pretty easy to find wheat free food here. Our apartment has a beautiful bundt pan so I set out to make a lemon cake, with no recipe and no measuring instruments of any kind. ( I still can't figure out what they use here to measure flour and such. A scale?) Luckily, since I spent last summer baking upwards of 14 hours everyday, I trusted by baking intuition and it paid off. The cake didn't last for more than a couple days though.
In other news, I am in the midst of studying for midterms, though I have no desire to at all. Then, this coming Friday, I will be off to Scotland and Ireland for 6 days, then back to Vienna for Easter weekend, when my friend is visiting me. Time is certainly flying!
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