Zum Lob von Punsch und Puffers

In Praise of Punch and Puffers

 The Viennese know how to party.  It doesn’t matter how cold it is – the one thing you can count on getting OUTDOORS at any Weihnachtsmarkt is punch (pronounced “poonsch” by the Wieners).  As a matter of fact, almost anywhere people congregate during Advent, punch stand can be found – on November 29 they magically appeared on shopping streets, in courtyards, in Weihnachtsmarkts large and small – we were even invited to join the Jesuits for punch after Midnight Mass.

Every day between November 29 and December 24, we passed by (and occasionally patronized) sturdy and beautifully decorated punch stands as early as noon, and as late as 10 in the evening. We visited punch stands operated by philanthropic organizations, museums, churches, and restaurants.  Never did we see a punch stand that wasn’t actively dispensing punch; families, couples, and huge knots of friends lingered and laughed whilst partaking of punch. There was demand and there was supply – plenty of hot, fortified, beverage to go around.  As the Jesuit priest enthusiastically said in his invitation to the whole congregation after his Midnight Mass benediction, “Come!  Drink punch with us.  This will warm you.  And believe me, we Austrians know a thing or two about how to get and stay warm.”  Well, to that, we say “Amen, Brother.”

What is punch, you might ask?  Well, it depends on the type you are sampling; the one constant, though, is hot booze.  Most often the essential ingredient is wine (usually red, sometimes white), however sometimes apple cider is used as a base.  The base is then flavored with a little sugar and spices such as cinnamon or cloves, and occasionally extra liquors such as schnapps or kirsch are added.  We saw signs pushing “turbo punch” but frankly, we were a little apprehensive about what that might mean, so we didn’t imbibe.  Most punch stands also offered “kinder punch” for the little nippers.

In Austria, a firm rule seems to be, “where there is good drink, there must be good food.”  Weihnachtsmarkts are no exception.  The variety of cuisine, both savory and sweet was always impressive.  During Advent we strolled through Weihnachtsmarkt mazes of food vendors selling pretzels, waffles, würstel, roasted nuts, cookies, sandwiches, baked potatoes, macaroni dishes, pancakes, doughnuts, candy apples, cotton candy, smoked meats, knödel, cheese, bread, corn on the cob – and of course, hundreds of varieties of chocolate and candy.  But in the constellation of Weihnachtsmarkts foods, we feel the shining star is the made-from-scratch Kartoffel Puffer (pronounced “poofer”).   Imagine grandma’s famous shredded potato pancake batter deep-fried in front of your eyes.  Your Puffer is then gently pulled from the hot oil, sprinkled with salt, and placed in your gloved hand.  The Puffer is crispy on the outside, and incredibly tender and well, poofy, on the inside.  We did our part to sample Puffers across the city.  Ladies and gentlemen, the hands-down winner is the Spittelberg Adventsmarkt Kartoffel Puffer stand, just a five-minute walk from our apartment – a Christmas wish come true!  

A cell phone company advertisement, 

"Punch tastes good.  With friends it tastes even better."

Karla's first Weihnachtsmarkt punch in Spittelberg.

Decisions, Decisions...

Enjoying the warm hospitality of our friends 

Gretchen and Johannes Eders 

at the Lion's Club punch stand on Mariahilfestraße.

Look closely.  

Can you find Karla in this photo taken at one of our favorite punch drinking locales?  

This is Amerlinghaus in Spittelberg on a Tuesday night.  (Imagine the weekend...)

Maria Theresa looks down with approval as Travis drinks punch.  

The giant "winterfest man," beamed on the side of the Museums Quartier, invites us into the courtyard to drink punch - which we did with ALL these people!    

The famous Kartoffel Puffer.  

Note the ingenious cross-sectional nautilus shape of the oil vat above.

And note the joy of the man below.

Advent

ADVENT

Advent, Advent, ein Lichtlein brennt.  Erst eins, dann zwei, dann drei, dann vier - dann steht das Christkind vor der Tür.

During December we noticed how many Viennese embraced the idea of Advent.  We seldom saw or heard more secularized “pre-Christmas” jargon such as “holiday” or “season’s greetings” or “winter fest.”  In our conversation and correspondence with Austrians (and Germans) we were regularly wished a “Happy Advent Time.” 

Since about 80% of the Austrian population is Catholic (thanks, nationmaster.com), the overt focus on Christianity, especially during December, was not that surprising to us.  In addition, the plentiful and sometimes sizable advent wreaths displayed in our neighbor grocery stores, banks, schools, cafes, were not unanticipated, though we must admit, the proudly presented Advent wreath in our district’s sauna did make us laugh.  But as December days elapsed and more candles were lit (first one, then two, then three, then four), it was fascinating to note the steady increase of the word “Advent” to promote specials for clothing and food.  We don’t know why this struck us as odd – maybe it was the public use of what we would usually consider a religious, and frankly more private, word.  Or maybe it was because the anticipation of something billed as an “Advent Doughnut” or “Advent Brownie” just sounded too delicious to be true. But fear not. For, behold, they brought us great joy.

Advent taste delicious.

And now a quiz:  How can you tell this sale for candles and games was held during the third week of Advent?

Guaranteed "Advent bargain" best prices on beautiful silk clothing.

Now here is an Advent wreath where you'd expect one!

Gute Bulle, Schlecte Bulle

Good Cop, Bad Cop

On December 6 we celebrated Saint Nicholas Tag, a holiday distinct from Christmas, where St. Nicholas (sometimes called Nicolo or Niklaus) brings small gifts to all good children.  You might know that St. Nik comes in the night and fills children’s shoes with treats such as chocolates and oranges (that is what he brought for us – we didn’t ask the kids in our building what they got).  In Austria St. Nicholas dresses as a bishop with flowing red robes, a miter, and a crosier (like a shepherd’s crook).  He isn’t as insanely commercialized like the US Santa; nonetheless, Austrian Niklaus enjoys a fairly high approval rating.  We think his admiration would go through the roof if it were not for the company he keeps.

Can you see the shoe in the window?  This belongs to our neighbor across the courtyard and one floor up.  

Looks like he was good this year.

We were shocked to learn that a scary, hairy, nasty, devil-like dude known as Krampus hangs out with St. Nik.  What upset us most is it appears ol’ Nicolo and Krampus are in cahoots – they have a sort of good-cop bad-cop arrangement.  As is widely known, St. Nik rewards good behavior.  What is less widely know is that Krampus travels with St. Nicholas to threaten children who have not been obedient or who have not learned their lessons (doing well school is extraordinarily important in Austria).  Not only that, Krampus isn’t always solo; often gangs of many Krampuses or Krampi (we’re not sure of the proper plural) accompany the one and only St. Nicholas.  We are not making this up.  We wouldn’t have believed it had we not seen it with our own eyes.

One evening last week we were enjoying a pleasant stroll after a perfectly delightful dinner with our dear friend Katharina.  Then from out of nowhere, we heard a harsh clanging of bells and chains.  We turned toward the clamor, and to our dismay, saw a gang of Krampuses with St. Nicholas.  They were huge, mean, ugly, and on the move.  Their disruptive noise, formidable size, and thrashing about made it seem like there were twenty of them – we couldn’t even get a photo because they were literally a total blur.  Foolishly we followed them.  Then they stopped long enough in a little neighborhood square so we could marvel at how hideous Krampuses really are.  It turned out there were only eight or nine Krampuses with St. Nik, but they were all tall, mangy, repulsive, and besides that, they had horns, disfigured faces, and long creepy fingernails.  Some of them had baskets on their backs in which they could put bad children.  Others had switches or chains for whipping.  Thank goodness we were repeatedly assured that St. Nicholas is always there to protect us - he never actually lets the Krampuses physically hurt anyone; but has Nicolo ever heard of emotional distress?  Nightmares?  This was certainly most unsettling.

The basket is an awful touch.

Luckily St. Nik was there to protect us all - see the apparent sense of relief?

Seriously, these Krampuses were dreadful!

Not only were they dreadful, they were mammothly dreadful!

And they had fire too!

These cute little Krampuses are made of chocolate, prunes, and nuts.  Yummy.

These mischievous Krampuses are gracing a an office-party invitation.  

Donauinsel

Danube Island

A couple of weeks ago we enjoyed what could have been the last warm, sunny Saturday for the foreseeable future.  We ventured across town to the Donauinsel (the Danube Island), a 21 kilometer long (about 13 miles) human made island in the middle of the Danube (www.donauinsel.at/).  At its widest point, the island is 200 meters (about 2 football fields), so it is conceivable that all the flying kites, bouncing soccer balls, and soaring frisbees could easily end up in the Danube and float all the way to the Black Sea. (Just for the record we’ve not seen a single American football since we’ve been here.) According to Wien’s city website, the island was built between 1972 and 1988 as part of a water control project for flood-prone Vienna.  Little by little the island was constructed of excavation material dumped into the existing riverbed; next, 170 hectares of woodlands, then an additional 1.8 million trees and bushes were planted; finally sand was added and ta-da! They have one heck of an island.

Because we’re doing our best to “live the Wiener lifestyle,” we’ve spent a lot of time in parks the past three months.  When we meet someone from Vienna it is common for them to ask us if we’ve been to this-park or that-garden or such-n’-so walking path. Vienna’s tall buildings are close together, so it is sometimes a challenge to find sunshine in the Winter, even on a very bright day; hence, being outside and finding the sun is a common topic of conversation (and that is how we knew to explore the Donauinsel).  Given their love of fresh air and outdoor activities, the pragmatic and aesthetically sensitive Viennese solved a couple of problems at once with the construction of the Donauinsel – no more flooding and more space for walking, biking, skateboarding, rollerblading, picnicking, and other outdoor delights (e.g., some people, and statues, also practice yoga).

Since it was the middle of November, the activities we observed were limited to those mentioned above. However, our friends in Wien have commented on the island’s “summertime side” – where sunbathing (with or without clothing), boating, rowing, partying, and attending concerts (Madonna was here in September) are added to the reasons that people flock to Donauinsel.

These photos were taken on a return trip to the island - 

when we learned the ships were actually a school.

Another reason people flock to the island is to go to high school.  A pair of ships serve as the Bundesgymnasium und Bundesrealgymnasium for District 21.  The school opened its doors in 1994, and as far as we can tell from our internet and interview investigations, this high school operates just like any other in the city with a few exceptions: instead of detention, students walk the plank, school announcements over the intercom start with “Ahoy Mates,” and the vice principal has a peg leg and an eye patch. We had all sorts of fun with the high seas theme, but it appears the Viennese worldview is not as silly as ours.  We were sorely disappointed to discover that their mascot is not the Buccaneer. Austrian schools don’t do mascots.

Finally, the commanding tower in many of the photos is the 663 foot high “Millennium Tower,”  on the other side of the Danube. This shopping mall / office building / movie theatre, was built in – you guessed it – 1999.  Its striking façade and position on the river suggests “The Hapsburgs are so 1900; Vienna is progressive.”  The tower’s exterior is indeed imposing, but the interior, frankly, is just another glass and steel building.  We went inside to procure picnic provisions.  We were glad to have seen the tallest skyscraper in Austria (and the second tallest free-standing building in Austria, eclipsed only by the concrete Donauturm at 826 feet). Still, we were happy to get back to the fresh air and sunshine, cross the bridge over the Blue Danube, find a picnic table on the Donauinsel, and enjoy our Jause (snack) while we watched about two dozen families fly kites. Call us old fashioned.

Peace on Earth

Dankenswert

Deserving of Thanks

Our Austrian friends have taught us in word and deed to “embrace winter.”  For instance, we’ve been instructed to have a brisk walk every day and, if at all possible, attempt to time the walk during the fleeting moments of sunshine.  According to BBC Weather, Vienna enjoyed an average of two hours of sunlight per day in November; one hour of sunlight per day is expected during December.  Suspecting that we might need encouragement or comfort to face this news, our Viennese pals advise, “the company of friends and family provide light and warmth during the winter months. “  Yesterday, Thanksgiving Day, we twice experienced this aphorism. 

The sun poked out at about 14:00, so we quickly strapped on our shoes, put on our coats and headed down Neubaugasse for the requisite brisk walk.  Around the corner is a “klein aber fein” second hand clothing shop.  Frau Lochman, the proprietor, beautifully dresses her windows, and inside she offers quality wares at very reasonable prices along with Austrian Gemütlichkeit.  Yesterday as we walked by, she bounded outside to greet us with a hearty “Good day of thanks for you!”  Frau Lochman told us she was looking out the window all afternoon hoping to see “her Americans” because when the morning news mentioned the Thanksgiving holiday she thought of us and wondered how we would celebrate.  We all stood on the sidewalk in front of Frau Lochman’s store, soaked in the sunshine, and discussed our plans.  Then we all agreed every day is a day for giving thanks.

We encountered the “light and warmth” aphorism for a second time only a few hours later.  The students at Central College’s Vienna campus invited us to share Thanksgiving dinner with them.  We’ve had the pleasure of interacting with Central’s gracious Director and this year’s lively students on a couple of occasions this fall, but nothing could have prepared us for the hospitality we experienced on Thursday evening.  From the hand-drawn invitation and handshakes when we arrived, to the last bites of pumpkin, pecan, and apple pie, we felt like honorary members of the Central College clan.  We’ve been showered with enough light and warmth to keep us toasty until spring.   

The ambrosial feast prepared by our talented hosts

Exuberant company and stimulating conversation

The delicious 13-kilo turkey gave its all

Grüß Gott Winter, Pfiat di Herbst

Hello Winter, Good-bye Autumn

The past week has grown increasingly cold, grey and blustery in Wien. We’ve scampered through all types of precipitation from downpours to snow flurries. We even experienced a couple thunder/lightening storms while it was snowing.  So, as we offer “Grüß Gott” to Winter, we also bid “Pfiat Di” to Autumn. 

The “Pfiat di” phrase (or the less oft used “Pfiat di Gott”) is frequently uttered at the closing of a conversation.  Depending on the Austrian it sounds something like “Fear-dee,” or “Fit-dee,” or a nice spitting “Pfffffffffffidi.”  Until recently we were at a loss as to the exact meaning of this farewell.  Our American friend here in Wien solved the mystery our Austrian friends could not!  “Pfiat di,” shortened from “Behüte Dich Gott,” is the good-bye cousin to “Grüß Gott.”  So, when you commence a conversation with “God’s Greeting” you conclude it with “Pfiat di” meaning, “May God look after you” or “God protect you.”    

The photos on this blog post are a fond farewell to Fall; Pfiat di Herbst!

Soaking in the Autumn sun in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Enjoying the Bratislava Castle grounds and view of the Danube.

There has been some sort of camp/castle/palace/fortress/bastion on this site since 2800 B.C. 

Location, Location, Location...

The tree outside our apartment window. The leaves remained green until the middle of October.  They then suddenly splotched with yellow, turned completely gold, and dropped within a week.

Loving the season; loving each other - in Prater Park.

Strolling along the Danube canal.

A relaxing walk in the Wiener Wald with our friends Petra and Edwin.

Even Franz Joseph I, seen here as he tends his Burg Garten, is getting saying "Pfiat di" to Autumn.

Grüß Gott Winter!  This photo was taken outside the Radiokulturhaus, where the Austrian equivalent of NPR (including all the LIVE music) is housed; hence, the giant mosaic ear.

Our first Austrian snow flakes - seen in the wee small hours of the morning during a smashing dinner party.  Skadi (the goddess of winter) was certain our camera didn't slip out of our hands as we were leaning out the fourth-story window to snap a photo.