Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Hiking at Ebensee


We spent our first weekend in Austria doing what Austrians do: hiking. Now, I have gone on hikes before and would consider myself a “sportiv” person, but hiking in Austria is NOT the same thing as any hiking I’ve ever done before! In this land where Austrians are born with hiking boots on their feet, I think I was biting off a bit more than I could chew when I agreed to the hiking tour.

We arrived in Ebensee Saturday afternoon and spent the evening playing Frisbee and grilling brats. Ebensee is a small town on Lake Traunsee and is pretty much as picturesque as it gets. A friend of Matthias’ organized the trip. It’s an annual thing they do every fall. There were about 15 of us up for the challenge. As I sat by the grill Saturday night, once again observing, the whole experience seemed oddly familiar. Here I was surrounded by a group of young people, grilling the same kind of food we’d grill in the US and making the same jokes my friends would make in the US. It was comforting and a great welcome to Austria.

At 7:30 on Sunday morning, the rooster crowed (literally). We brushed our teeth, had some breakfast and headed out for the 8-hour hiking adventure. The weather was perfect – not a cloud in the sky. We marched single-file up, up and up! Never once was there flat ground.



It took us almost 3 hours to reach the top of the Greek Goddess trail. At times, I was climbing with hands and feet. I tried not to be offended when grandmas and grandpas passed me; rather, I was humbled. Regardless of who made it to the top first, it was an accomplishment. We ascended 3,750 feet!

We were rewarded with breathtaking views of Traunsee and the mountains surrounding us. We enjoyed a picnic lunch at the top before descending for another two hours. Michael and I were completely wiped out. Three days later, my legs are still sore.


Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Willkommen!

After months of anticipation and mounting excitement, we’re finally here! We arrived in Prague at 9:30 a.m. on September 22. We traveled in style with Delta getting the star treatment in BusinessElite (notice full size pillow behind my back and amenity kit feature Korres natural skin care products :). Once in Prague we took a train to Vienna where we were greeted by our friend, Matthias. Thanks to him, we now have an apartment, cell phone ("Handy"), internet and a new Austrian bank account. We are eternally grateful for his help.

September 23, 2009.

We spent my birthday in Vienna catching up on sleep. We logged an unprecedented 14 hours of nonstop shut-eye! Once we wiped the sand from our eyes, we took care of some move-to-Austria-business like opening a bank account and getting a “handy” (phone).

We then took a little jogging tour of Matthias’ neighborhood before heading into the city for dinner and some sight-seeing. We rode the free Vienna city bikes around Ring street before calling it a night. For a 1 euro annual fee, you can ride anywhere in the city for up to one hour free.

September 24, 2009.

It’s time to move to Pӧchlarn! On Thursday, we repacked the suitcases and headed an hour west to Thӧrringerplatz 7, our new home. We were greeted at the train station by Frau Harrauer and her grandson who drove us and our suitcases to the apartment. They were still doing some cleaning when we arrived. Probably didn’t matter since we cleaned the whole place again

(see left – spider killing), but they had the beds made and curtains on the rod. I finally let out the breath I had been holding all morning. This place was gonna be alright.

Later that night, we went to the Harrauer house/farm in Erlauf to sign the contract. Mr. and Mrs. Harrauer have three grown children and some grandchildren. We were welcomed into their home and met just about everyone. When you don’t understand a thing, you just have to go with what’s happening, smile and nod. As far as I could tell, they were all really nice. Of course, that’s easy to say when I don’t understand a thing!

Pretty soon a plate of meat and cheese was put out in front of us along with some bread and Sturm – the season’s new wine in its semi-fermented state. Apparently this is what Austrians have for dinner. Little did I know. I went home and had second course: frozen pizza. On a side note, we found frozen pizzas for 1,85! A person probably shouldn’t eat anything that costs this little, but they’re surprisingly good and look just like the picture on the box!

The Harreuer house was a bit of a disaster. I didn’t really want to touch anything, but I politely sat through the meal and whatever discussion was taking place. It’s a little awkward sitting there and not saying anything, but I got over it. Instead I observed. I observed a roll of something sticky hanging from the ceiling with dozens of flies stuck to it. I observed Charlie, the dog, sprawled out under the table. I observed the grandson soaking up attention from his grandparents and uncle. I observed the cats springing to attention when the Frau said, “Milch, Milch!” From time to time, I’d catch a word, like “Butter,” then I’d silently congratulate myself for understanding and go on observing. I left reading and interpreting the contract up to Michael. We signed and then headed home, but not before they gave us some pots and pans, coffee, fresh apples, pears and grapes straight from the vines as well as some eggs from the chickens that “run around outside.”

We're off to a great start here in Pӧchlarn!

Monday, September 21, 2009

Hello Goodbye

After weeks of saying goodbye to family, friends, co-workers, the city of Minneapolis (and St. Paul), and our lives as we know them in America, we're finally off to Austria! What started as a mere "Hey, we should do this!" is now a reality and there's no turning back.

We set our alarm for 3:20 a.m. and caught a taxi to the airport. I was dreading the long day ahead of us, but fortunately our eight-hour layover in Atlanta went pretty fast. In a few short hours, we will be boarding our flight to Prague, followed by a train ride to Vienna.

And so the adventure begins. No more goodbyes, only hellos on the horizon for us.