Everyday Life in Austria

It was Sunday morning in Vienna which meant there was only one thing to do... head to church. Somehow, I managed to be up reasonably early and walked a little over a mile to a small chapel. We then had to wait just to get in the door and had to pay if we wanted to sit down. Assuming you didn't pay, you stood in a giant tight cluster at the far back of the church along with many other tourists jockeying for position. So why would anyone go through this mess you ask; it is the home of the Vienna Boys Choir!

Now I can't say that I am an avid fan but have seen them on PBS a time or two and they are certainly famous around Vienna. These boys are no older than fourteen years old and perform nearly full time. I enjoyed listening to their music during the service but I was not able to actually see them, they were about three stories over my head. Nevertheless, it was a good experience and I was happy to find that the service was in both German and English so it wasn't too boring. I slipped out after about an hour and went to get a coffee and something to eat.

That afternoon Keegan and I went looking for some of the famous Austrian chocolate. I wanted to pick some up as a gift for my travels and I also wanted to be sure to try some myself. I had read online about a fantastic shop that specializes in rare chocolates. It is also known for being very hard to find. After making it to the correct street, it only took me about 15 minutes of searching (and asking in hotels) to locate the shop. It turned out to be worth it though. There were amazing display cases full of truffles and other chocolates as well as a back room that housed the rarer varieties.

Xocolot Shop

After spending way too long at the shop, we had to hurry out to make it to our evenings entertainment. We had purchased tickets for a traditional Austrian show. It is hard to come to Austria and not see something of this sort. The theater was housed in a very old building with a simple but elegant interior. The show we had selected included a nice mix of orchestral music, opera, and ballet/waltz. It was a lot of fun and well worth the money.

Performing Opera - one of my favorite acts

Monday morning we were on the train and headed out of the city. The ride was the best one yet as we crossed the Austrian countryside and climbed into the mountains for 3.5 hours. I couldn't believe the lakes and snow-peaked mountains I was seeing outside of the window. We arrived into the much smaller town of Villach, Austria around 1230 and were greeted by an old friend.

I had known Leslie since I was a child. Her family vacationed each summer where I lived and we were very close to her grandmother who was my neighbor. About three years ago, she moved to Austria to marry her husband Roland who she had met while working out in San Francisco. I was very excited to talk to her and find out what her experience had been like so far.

The view off Leslie's balcony

 She had taken off work to pick us up so she quickly took us by their apartment and then to get some lunch. The apartment was in a prime location, making almost everything accessible on foot. She took us to a small grocery store near her place to grab lunch. It was pretty neat watching her talk to them in German (which she has worked hard to pick up only since moving) and she was able to get two sandwiches made for us in the deli. It reminded me a lot of sandwiches from the Fish Creek General Store. We then stocked up on some candy, chips, and even soda that were from Austria or the region. We were trying to be quite adventurous.

Leslie dropped us off with our picnic at a large forest while she headed off to work. There were a ton of hiking trails and even some roads that were ruins from the Romans. The highlight for me was the hot springs. I had never been in hot springs before and I thoroughly enjoyed hoping in. It was pretty neat swimming out in these little pools far away from all of the tourists of the big cities of Europe.

That afternoon we got back to the apartment and did some laundry while catching up on our email and calling family. We waited for Leslie and Roland to get home so we could head out for dinner. Austrians work quite a bit later, they didn't get home until between six or seven, but they also didn't start until about nine in the morning. When they got home I was introduced to Roland (this was my first time meeting him) and they told us that we were going to be going to a church festival.

Now I don't know what your church festivals are like but I can pretty much guarantee they are nothing like this. From what I understand, a festival of this sort is put on every weekend of the summer but they are each held in different locations. They usually last Friday, Saturday, and even into the early week. This was Monday night and we drove about 10 minutes to a nice big grassy area with what looked to be a beer hall behind it and a couple of tents set up. We had to pay an admission fee to enter (10 euros a person, not cheap but Roland treated) and then we were granted access to a couple of bars and food stands as well as a band playing up on stage.

The band was one of the very top bands in this traditional music genre (we were told this over and over) and people were very into the music. The men came fully decked out in their lederhosens and many a women was wearing her dirndl. It looked pretty much exactly what you would expect a party in a movie that took place in a traditional Austrian small town to be like. We settled down at a long wooden table with a beer and bratwurst. The bratwurst was one of only two things on the menu, a roasted chicken was the other, and it was very different than in the U.S. First off, they were thin and long and there were two of them. Served alongside them was a hard roll and a dollop of ketchup and mustard. You ate it by picking up the sausage with your hand, dipping it in a condiment, taking a bite, and then taking a bite of the roll. It was a little messy but a good way to eat.

This is not from that night (there was no bun then) but this gives you an idea of how different looking brats are here

There was only one choice of beer on the menu, this is because in Austria it is traditional that almost every town brews their own beer. Thus, I was drinking the Villacher which is still one of my favorite beers of the trip. As the night progressed, we met a lot of Leslie and Roland's friends (this is very near where Roland grew up)  and really got into the spirit of the whole thing. Let me remind you, this was a Monday, but as the evening wore on it reminded me more and more of Beerfest.

We literally could not finish a beer before someone was handing us a new one. Everyone was so curious about why a couple of Americans were at their party (probably a couple hundred people were there) and anyone who spoke English was happy to talk to us. I ended up spending quite a bit of time talking to a couple of gentleman who were very excited to learn that I was from Wisconsin. At this point I have traveled quite a bit and I sadly must admit, most people outside of the U.S. do not know Wisconsin. I was a little surprised at their enthusiasm when I told them my home state. I came to find out that they owned Harley Davidson motorcycles, one of the guys owned four, and that Villach holds the fourth biggest Harley driver gathering annually.

I also was able to get up and dance which was a little embarrassing but I couldn't pass the experience up. The young lady I danced with was an excellent English speaker and a good teacher. We also learned to sing the traditional toasts which happen each year at Octoberfest which solidified my goal to come back for that holiday one year. Over all, it was a blast of a night and we returned back to the apartment late. Leslie put out a smorgasbord of meats, breads, and pickles and we had a little midnight snack as we chatted.

The next morning Keegan and I awoke to explore the town. It is a small tourist town, much like where I come from in Wisconsin, and is visited mostly by Austrians, Slovenians, and Italians. We first stopped for a pastry at a nearby pastry shop and then made the short walk into town. We stopped in some shops and checked out the local church before hitting the Villacher Brewery for lunch. That night we went out with Leslie for Italian food (Villach is so close to the Italian border that they have very good Italian) and stopped at the lake along the way for some really good views of the mountains. That night we again stayed up talking for a bit but went to bed at a reasonable time because Keegan and I had a train to catch the next day.

The View from the bridge that connects their main street downtown

The Villacher Brewery

The church in the town square

Our train left around 9 AM and was supposed to be a direct shot. Unfortunately, for those of you who follow the news, you know about the horrible flooding in the region. Thus it ended up taking us three trains and one bus over many hours of travel to finally make it to Munich. The whole time I was questioning if I was on the right track as very few people spoke English and I had no idea if I was getting on the correct forms of transport. Luckily, it all worked out and we arrived in Munich safe and sound.

That night we were too tired to do much but we did make it to a traditional beer hall that Roland had recommended. I was able to try a traditional Austrian dish and knock one of the many local brews off the list. We also got a good luck at old town Munich which looked to be pretty awesome. I knew there would be a lot to eat and drink over the next couple of days.

The beers from our first night in Munich

Entering into Old-Town Munich