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Roll out the barrels

Monday, August 1st, 2011

Kirchtag week has started!  Over the last few days, our town has changed drastically.  Every few hours a new tent or canival ride seems to spring up as the last minute rush to finish preparation continues.  Some of the areas and activities don’t open officially until later in the week, so there is still a lot of prep work happening everywhere.

Sunday was the opening day, with a few beer and food stands in the main square.  The mayor (or Burgermeister) tapped the first keg with a big wooden mallet.  With that the oompah music started , and really hasn’t stopped since.

The first day was mostly for local folks and there were many people dressed in traditional clothes or ‘Ttracht.”  Each day during the week, more and more events will take place, building up to the big Kirchtag next Saturday.  I’m writing this Monday and there is now a market and more food stands open.  The market has everything from a blacksmith making traditional pots and knives to bake stands selling the most amazing looking cookies and pastries.

This was my first beer (of many to come) of Kirchtag!

Posted in Austria, Living Abroad | 2 Comments »

Tree days to go…

Friday, July 29th, 2011

Actually, that’s three days to go.

There are just 3 days left until the festival called Kirchtag starts here.  While many towns in Austria have Kirchtag celebrations, the one here in Villach is the largest.  From what I’ve been told the whole town becomes one big party with many visitors from Italy, Slovenia, and elsewhere in Europe.  The streets close to traffic and there will be music, food, carnival rides, and lots of beer.  There will also be lots of traditional markets, crafts, recipes, and costumes.

One of the main music & food area will be just outside our apartment, so we are both excited about the fun and concerned about the noise.  The kickoff is this Sunday, but many preparations are starting already.  We woke up to a new addition “growing” in the town square today.  Here’s the Kirchtagsbaum going up:

Posted in Austria, Living Abroad | No Comments »

Me Gusta

Friday, July 22nd, 2011

My last few posts have been about places we visited with my parents.  On the surface to our guests it could seem like we’re living one big European vacation (not the Chevy Chase movie), but I think they started to get a sense of what it’s really like to live here on a day to day basis.  We really are getting used to it.  The everyday errands like getting groceries and paying bills are becoming more routine.  We know all the brands that each supermarket carries and have figured out what you can and can’t get here.  We’re learning all the German names for everything from ginger (Ingwer) to bathroom cleaner (Badreiniger).  I also found a dictionary app for my mobile phone that I’m not too proud to pull out at the grocery store when I’m stumped by a new label.

Most things that we want are fairly simple to find, even if it takes trips to multiple stores.  However, I can say with some certainty that there is no Jello in Villach. Some weird clear, flavorless gelatin for use in tortes?  Yes.  But good old instant cherry or lime Jello?  No.

We can live without that, but something we’ve really been missing are black beans.  In California we had many types (regular, low salt, extra spicy) to choose from as well as multiple brands, and our fajitas here have been lacking that little extra side dish.

A few weeks ago we were in Vienna and stumbled onto a strangely out of place Mexican market.  We stocked up and are rationing them for now until we find another source.

Posted in Austria, Living Abroad | 2 Comments »

The Best Defense

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

I wanted to wrap up with one more post about the places we went while my parents were visiting.  Looking back now, there were actually quite a few – no wonder we were all tired!

We heard about a castle about 40 minutes from where we live called Hochosterwitz.  I wasn’t really sure how good it would be, but it turned out to be pretty impressive.  It sits on top of a hill like many others, but what makes this one unique is that there are 14 gates along the switchback path that you need to go through to reach the top.  Each one is different and some have pretty interesting traps and defenses.

It’s a long walk to the top, but the gates provide good distractions on the way.  We’ve been focused on sightseeing in other places in Europe, but this was a nice find in our own backyard.

Posted in Austria, Living Abroad, Travel | No Comments »

South of the Border

Thursday, July 7th, 2011

Continuing my posts to catch up about the places we visited last month, I have to mention Italy as well.  We took a weekend with my parents to visit Venice and Verona.

Venice was everything I expected and more.  For some reason we all thought it would be a lot smaller and smellier.  It’s actually pretty big (you can’t begin to see it all in one day) and the canals seemed relatively fresh and not stagnant at all.  I guess that is why I travel.  There are some things you just have to experience first hand.

From Venice we headed to Verona, which was another good surprise.  We picked it somewhat randomly because it seemed like the right distance from both Venice and Villach for a good overnight trip.  The guidebook mentioned a coliseum, but I had no idea that it would be so big and in such great shape.  Although it was built in the Roman era, they still hold concerts here.  I can’t wait to go back and attend one.

Here are a few views from Italy:

Posted in Austria, Italy, Living Abroad, Travel | 2 Comments »

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