Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Frühling in Wieselburg

It's spring in Wieselburg, and as part of Familie Schagerl, we get to partake in all kinds of fun spring activities, such as grilling, chilling, eating ice cream, fishing and mowing the lawn! 


 Master chef Josef

Michael, Elsa, Judith and Josef enjoying lunch on the terrace


Ice cream, you scream, we all scream for Reschinsky ice cream.


The fish, they just weren't biting.


"Now son, please don't mow over that baby plum tree I just planted."



Sunday, April 25, 2010

Der April, der April...

"Der April, der April, er macht was er will."

"April, April, it does what it wants."  Ok, so it doesn't sound nearly as cool in English, but you get the point.

Yesterday we took advantage of April's generosity with a beautiful bike ride through the Wachau with Matthias. I'm happy to report that Matthias has never ridden his bike through this portion of the Wachau. What that means is that we, two Americans, gave him, an Austrian, an authentic Austrian experience. How the tables have turned...

At top right, castle #1.  We have taken this exact photo with all of our guests. We could make an entire album of just this shot, but that's because it's such a perfect photo spot. Wouldn't you agree?




Ships passing on the Danube. Tourist season has begun!






Pit stop an der Donau; Matthias walking on water.


Weingut Polz, wine for 1 Euro per glass.  That's ridiculously cheap.  The food was pretty cheap, too. The problem is you never quite know what you're gonna get.       I gambled with Presswurst.  It looks pretty weird but tastes ok.  It's basically pressed chunks of different types of meat held together with a jelly of sorts and floating in oil and vinegar.  It took some getting used to, but it was ok.


Speed demons rounding the bend. 
One of many peach trees (not to mention, apricot trees, apple trees, pear trees, grape vines) ; Matthias pretending he's a bee. 
Durnstein - ein schöner Ausblick

Playing frisbee in the park near Krems an der Donau.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Clay-court season begins!

It's about this time of year when the pro's on the world's tennis circuit start gearing up for the big French Open in Paris. While we're far from contending in the Grand Slam event, that doesn't mean we're not taking our training seriously at the Tennisverein Pöchlarn. 
In our first week of tennis for the season, we've had to make some adjustments to our game. Having never played on clay before, we needed to get used to the slower pace of the ball and the unpredictability of the surface. Not only does the ball bounce, skid and roll where it wants, the slippery surface also unfortunately makes us bounce, skid and roll where we don't want. I've already bit the dust once in a not-so-graceful manner. War-wounds aside, we love it and are happy to finally play again! 

Friday, April 16, 2010

Rain, rain, go away

It's a Friday afternoon in Pöchlarn.  Michael is at choir rehearsal as he has been every night this week.  The Männergesangverein Ybbs is gearing up for a big concert tomorrow night. I won't give away all the details - Michael can do that - but it should be quite the show.  Here's the link for the event: http://www.ybbsiade.at/spielplan.php?pid=8.  Hopefully our friend John, who's supposed to come visit from Ireland, will be able to get through all that volcanic ash wreaking havoc in Europe and make it in time.

So with Michael at rehearsal everyday from 4-11:30 or who knows how late, that leaves me here to hold down the fort. Usually I go for a run, but it's been raining every day this week.  Normally I wouldn't complain about that for the obvious reason: an excuse NOT to run, but I started to get a little cabin fever today. I decided to brave it when I saw a break in the clouds. 

I headed up the embankment to get started on the Danube path but decided to turn around after the first few sprinkles hit me in the face. It was too early in the run to willingly put myself through what could turn into pure torture. I turned around and came back inside, and it's a good thing I did because two seconds later it started pouring!  I mean POURING!  With thunder and everything. I think it maybe even hailed a little bit. Boy, was I happy to be inside where it was warm, cozy and dry.

An hour later, the rain subsided, the sun came out and my running shoes were still calling my name. I decided to give it another go. This time with success. I did my usual jaunt on the Danube, said my friendly hello to the only other regular runner I see on the path and called it quits. I have to say, the exercisers in Pöchlarn really are all or nothing people. When it's a sunny day, everyone is out, but when it's even a little bit cloudy or windy, not a soul. But, I guess, that's their Entscheidung.


Sunday, April 11, 2010

March Madness

After a whirlwind of a month, I'm happy to be back in Pöchlarn to enjoy our remaining two months in Austria. March, and even into April, was full of visitors and travel. Now that things have settled down, I have time to get all my faithful readers up to speed.  If there are any of you still out there after my long hiatus, that is.


Below are some highlights from March and April:

1) Tom and Martha: March 6-13

Unfortunately March came in like a lion and we had to endure the brunt of its force. After spending some time in Vienna and Salzburg, we settled in Wieselburg to give Michael's parents a taste of our daily life in Austria. With cold, wind and snow, we didn't really feel like doing a lot of sightseeing. Rather, we found ourself sampling some Kaiser beer at the Wieselburg brewery, making apple strudel with Elsa and learning how to dance with live music performed by the Erlauf Trio.

 




2) Fabian and Chrissi: March 17-20

These two friends from Germany reminded me just how crazy it is for two Americans to be living in Pöchlarn. We spent a lot of time talking about cultural differences and attitudes toward certain things like family, career, and the general optimism of the American people. Maybe we are a little crazy to move here for a year, but I wouldn't trade the experience for the world. 

We showed Fabian and Chrissi what small-town life in Lower Austria is all about with big-city tours of Wieselburg, Pöchlarn and a bike ride through Wachau. We even found the Sigl Winery!  


3) Sarah and Annie:  March 20-26

As was our goal for all of our visitors, I wanted to give Annie and Sarah a glimpse into what our lives are like here in Austria. I hope they got that and a whole lot more.  

After a long flight and then a train ride, we dragged them to a Wieselburg city music event starring Josef and the Erlauf Trio.  It doesn't get more Austrian than lederhosen and some traditional music. It was the perfect way to kick off a week in Europe. The next day we let them sleep in; we had breakfast at 1:00 p.m.  They needed their energy though because we had a busy week including stops in Salzburg, Vienna, Maria Zell, Melk, the Wachau and Scheibbs.

Having two friends from Minnesota brought up a variety of emotions. On the one hand, their visit made me look forward to coming back to MN, but on the other hand, showing them around Austria really made me sad to think about leaving our life here.  It's a beautiful country and a relaxed life. We're really lucky to be here. This I know. 

  
4) Monika and Matthias:  March 26-March 30

 I promise I'll only say it once, but that Deutsch Bahn train is really something else!  So sleek and modern, it's definitely a first-class train. We took that efficient German train to Idar-Oberstein to visit some of Michael's distant relatives. We were treated to the best in hospitality with a full itinerary. We toured the Mosel wine valley, the Idar-Oberstein Gemstone Museum, the Marksburg castle and a copper cave from the Middle Ages.   




5) Mari Jo and the Sieger's:  March 30-April 6

20 years later, we decided it was time at last to have a reunion with Anne, the foreign exchange student we hosted oh so long ago in North Dakota.  Michael and I met my mom in Düsseldorf for a couple days before meeting up with Anne in Cologne. The daffodils were in full bloom along the Rhine Valley despite the chilly weather. Our tour through Cologne included stops at the Cathedral (Dom), Chocolate Museum and a restaurant where you eat completely in the dark.  We then made our way to Münster and Warendorf to see the rest of Anne's family.  We had a nice Easter and were filled to the brim with cake and chocolate.