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Tuesday 11 March 2014

14 Months to go! - Bargains and must haves

Its 14 months to go, and we've had a bit of an emergency this month. I'll get to that later. For now though, we've been packing. Yes that's right, we've just packed the first box of many, 14 months in advance. Ok, it's not as bad as it sounds. Because we've moving from a shared home, we're short on a few things. Items like towels, kichen bits and bobs and various other things are going to be needed after we move. With that in mind, the post Christmas sales have been plundered for a few great bargains. A set of nice towels we the most recent purchase and, with a. Small pile forming on our coffee table, we figured we'd need a box to keep things in. So off to ikea for a cheap plastic tub and lid we went. 

The trip did more harm than good. Whist the box of brand new homewares is sitting just waiting for a home, we found that Ikea was discontinuing a few items of furniture. Now when we decided to move, for fun we went to ikea, both here and in Vienna and Innsbruck, to do a bit of fantasy shopping. We picked out several things, including the very nice, and very comfortable Ektorp sofa, for example. We did struggle with a good tv unit. However, the Ikea Expedit range introduced a great looking unit that fitted in with two other items from the Expedit range. Now for those who aren't familiar with it, the Expedit range has been an ikea staple for many years. However, whist we were shopping, we caught sight of the tv unit, complete with yellow 'Now or Never' ticket. Panic stations. 

Reaching home confirmed the worst. The Expedit range was being discontinued. The online outrage was tempered a little by the news that the range would return restyled with slimmer sides and slightly rounded corners. That's all we knew though, and with the spectre of losing our tv unit (from what we knew of the new range, the tv unit may not be remade.) we took the plunge and ordered the unit, a 5 by 5 box shelf unit and a seperate smaller unit a whole 14 months early. It does present a few problems. For one, the seven boxes have to go somewhere, and we won't know until we go to build the units next year if they're all intact. Still, it makes life interesting. The new stuff isn't due until next month (the tv unit is popular and has been delayed apparently). 

Until then, we're still battling on with Rosetta Stone, slowly closing in on the end of the first level. Plus, come the first week of May, we're off to Vienna for work and a short break. 

Jess B

Tuesday 4 March 2014

10 reasons we love Vienna

Ok, so the title of the post says it all, or at least some. Coming from a small Welsh town, in the heart of South Wales, you live a very sheltered life. Whist we only love some 30 miles from our capital city, we may as well be in the middle of nowhere. So coming to Vienna, its not long until you notice the various different things the Viennese do compared to the Welsh and British. Here are 10 little things we've noticed during our stays in the Austrian capital. 



1. Coffee shops

Perhaps one of the most well known things about Vienna, is its coffee houses. This is a city that runs on coffee, but not necessary on caffeine. Take Vancouver in Canada for instance. There you'll find coffee shops littering the street like a rash. Starbucks as far as the eye can see. The city is addicted to caffeine. Its a recognised excuse in Canada that your late for work due to the line at the coffee shop. I've even seen coffee shops set up in a companies foyer for the workforce to enjoy a hot cup of Joe. It's a frantic but laid back life the average Vancouverite enjoys. 
By comparison, the Viennese coffee shops are slow, studious affairs. Whilst its true that a cup of Viennese espresso will keep you awake for days, the atmosphere of a typical coffeehouse is relaxed. Here you can come and enjoy a single cup of coffee, open a book and sit all day. It's not just coffee on the menu though. They often serve several varieties of tea, soft drinks and beer. Then there are cocktails, both non alcoholic and full on booze. If your hungry, there's often a bewildering assortment of cakes and pastries to tempt the sweet toothed diner. For something more savoury, there's usually a goulash soup, a schnitzel and other such Viennese delicacies. 
Come evening time, a coffee house is a great place to relax. Enjoy a beer, a meal and a coffee whist a piano player plays in the corner. Most coffee houses I've been to can stay open until midnight, with food still being available until 11pm. It's all a far cry from Wales, where coffee shops shut early, often by 7 in the evening. 

2. Going to the dogs 

One of the oddest things we noticed on our first trip, were dogs. We're not talking strays either. Nope the Viennese love dogs. Ok so there's nothing wrong with that, but that's not the whole story. The first time we took note of the dogs was at a supermarket. The dog and its owner were doing the weekly shop, and unlike the UK, this was fine. In fact, dogs on leads seem to have free reign around the place. Shops, restaurants and cafe's are all dog friendly. Given that here you can't get a dog into a shop unless your blind, it was quite shocking to see dogs wandering the aisles with thier owners. I like it. 

3. Followers of fashion

Uk dress sense is often a weird mix of skin exposing clothing tied with very conservative colours and patterns. In vienna though, colour is everything, and more so for the men that the women. Bright red or  bright mustard coloured trousers are popular with the men along with a nice jacket or shirt. For women, everything from neon colours through to bold patterns can be seen, especially on a Saturday night after the theatre or opera have finished. Compared to the jogging bottoms and hoodie seen in the valleys, Vienna is a veritable cornucopia of style.

4. Hello, goodbye

Lets face it, as a nation, we don't really make eye contact. Social interaction is kept to a minimum when out and about. So when we first got to vienna for a break, we were surprised to find everyone we met greeting us with Grüß Gott or god be with you, as a polite hello. Leaving a shop often invited a Tschuss or, bye. It seems the Austrian's and the Viennese like to feel connected to those they meet. It's very similar to the 'have a nice day' tradition American's have, but a little less false sounding. 

5. Saturday nights are right for tea drinking 

If there's one thing a great deal of British people worry about, it's going out on a Saturday night. To much beer, a bag of chips, being sick after the chips and finally, a good fight, is what makes many town centres no go area's on the weekend. So imagine my surprise on the first Saturday night out I spent in Vienna. We called in to a cafe, sat out on the terrace and watched the world go by. Other people were enjoying a drink and a bit of polite conversation. Come eleven o clock, an old lady, somewhere around 80 wandered into the cafe, ordered a coffee and cake. We paid the bill, caught the 11.30 tram home, which was quiet, and that was Saturday night. Now I'm not saying it's always like that, and we did see several expensive cars parading around the ring, showing off. Compared to a valley's Saturday night though, trouble was minimal. 

6. No takeaways?

So, it's been a long week and you don't want to cook. In Wales, you thumb through the selection of menus by the phone and order a Chinese, Indian or pizza. In every town or village, there'll be at least a fish and chip shop or Chinese. In Vienna though, things are different. On and off we've spent over two months living in vienna, and we've yet to find a Chinese, or and Indian that you can get delivered to your apartment. There are plenty of proper restaurants that will make food to go, but no British style takeaways. There's plenty of street food, from the traditional sausage stand, to the rather nice noodle box places (noodle boxes are cheap but very filling). As for pizza delivery, why bother. Pizza is available by the slice almost everywhere and companies like dominoes simply don't exist there. Things are changing, although one of the first companies looking to offer takeaway food for home delivery is McDonalds of all companies. For oriental food, Akakiko also offers home delivery, and they make some of the best Asian food around. 

7. Beer me!

We've already touched on the lack of drunks on a Saturday. Much of this is down to the Austrian drinking culture. Its nothing to have a beer with lunch, or a early afternoon tipple. Moderation is key in Vienna. It's seen as a great shame if you overindulge with the booze. Often a group will order bottles of wine along with the same amount of mineral water. It's brilliant to feel that you can have that drink with lunch if you want. Just remember to keep it under control. 

8. Smoking

Ok, it's hard to not mention the Austrians love of Cigarettes. Unlike other countries, Austria is rather resistant to change when it comes to smoking. It's not to bad these days as most cafés and restaurants have separate smoking and non smoking area's with a glass wall protecting the non smokers. But smoking is still seen as an ok thing to enjoy. 

9. On time public transport.

This is something that will make no sense to anyone from the UK. We first noticed it when visiting the SCS mall in Vösendorf. The free bus that takes people back and forth to the U6 station runs on time, every time. The first one we missed by two minutes (an acceptable amount of time to still be on time here I the UK.) So for the next one, we came to the stop early. The bus was due to arrive at 52 minutes past the hour. At 51 minutes past, there was no sign of the bus, and we were certain it would arrive late. However, as the clock turned 52 past, the bus rounded the corner and was at the stop. It could have been a one off, but after several visits to Vösendorf, that bus turns up dead on time, every time. The same goes for trains, U-Bahn and even trams, although trams can be delayed by parked cars on some lines. Given that a train here in Wales is considered on time if it arrives within 10 minutes, Viennese transport timings are the things of wonder. 

10. Food seasonings.

This is one of my personal favourites. The Austrians like to taste their food, and are really not scared to season. They aren't fans of chilli though. We used a packet sauce to make a batch of chilli con carne last time we were in the capital. The result wasn't that spicy, but it was certainly full of flavour. We got heartburn halfway though the meal. Similar experiences come from tinned soup. Whist a tin of Heinz soup in the UK needs a bit of salt and pepper, Austrian Goulash soup needs no salt at all. It's refreshing to be able to taste food, but the poor salt and pepper shaker is seldom used at our table and I have to wonder if high blood pressure is common in Austria.