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Stift Melk, Austria

BM Pitcher — Tue, 05 May 2009 06:32:54 +0000

On Saturday a group of us went to Stift Melk, an hour drive from Vienna. This monastery is so breath-taking! This is definately a must-see for anyone who is spending an extended time period in Vienna.

http://www.stiftmelk.at/englisch/index.html

We took the tour and it was pretty crummy. I would have had much more fun, and had probably gotten more information, going through the museum and the rest of the monastery myself.

We went into the town of Melk for an early dinner. We found one nice restaurant after another and since it is a pretty sleepy town, no reservations needed.

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Palmenhaus Vienna Austria

BM Pitcher — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:49:08 +0000

I have a new favorite restaurant in Vienna.

http://www.palmenhaus.at/

It’s a hot house turned restaurant. It’s beautiful! Light and airy because it’s mostly made out of glass. Huge plants everywhere. Hip, trendy, modern, and fun. The service was quick despite being very full and busy. The staff was friendly, which is unusual for Viennese waiters.

I went once for breakfast and they offered a traditional Viennese breakfast. A coffee of your choice, fruit, a roll, and a croissant. The croissant flaked just like it should, which I find hard to get in the United States.

I also went again for coffee on a Sunday afternoon (a traditional Viennese activity and should never be missed when visiting). The dessert was very good.

The crowd was hip and trendy both in the morning and in the afternoon. Heads swivel when you walk by because people are watching people. It was a very high, energetic atmosphere and I loved it.

The location is great so getting there is easy. Be sure to make reservations.

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Austrian Handymen

BM Pitcher — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 07:06:51 +0000

Awhile ago I broke the glass in our bedroom door. Today handymen are coming through to asses the damage and give us a quote to tell us how much it’s going to cost to replace. To my surprise, the handymen are not coming on time, they’re coming early! One guy even called to reschedule because he had a situation already this morning and knew he wasn’t going to make it. In the U.S. handymen make you sit and wait all day, then the come at the last minute. I’m impressed by the Austrian handymen.

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Schönbrunn Tiergarten (Zoo)

BM Pitcher — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 15:09:53 +0000

Today I finally went to the Schönbrunn Tiergarten. Tiergarten means zoo. Supposedly it is the oldest zoo in the world. I haven’t gone until now because I am spoiled from having grown up so close to San Diego. The San Diego Zoo is one of the greatest in the world. The Berlin Zoo, considered the best in Europe, is child’s play in comparison to the San Diego Zoo. So thinking about the Schönbrunn Tiergarten, I wasn’t that excited at the idea of going. Today, however, was a mild day temperature-wise and it was sunny with a blue sky. Working in an office during the week makes me eager to be outside on the weekends when the weather is nice.

So off I went to the Schönbrunn Tiergarten. I have to admit I was very impressed with it. It is by no means a competitor to either the Berlin or San Diego zoo in size, but it definitely has a charm to it. The layout is great. Most places where the animals are kept allow you to walk completely around to get different angles of the animals. This means that you usually saw the animals, instead of the normal disappointment of going to an area and not seeing a critter.

There was also a rainforest area that was really a lot of fun. You had to enter a two story building that had the warmth and dampness of a rainforest. It was set up like a huge tree house, allowing you to cross wooden rope bridges and see the animals hanging out right next to you.

What was also impressive was the arrangement of the large cats. There were sections where only glass stood between you and the cats. I stood about a foot away and watched as a leopard and a panther strolled by. To get such an up close encounter was exciting.

Overall I would recommend the Schönbrunn Tiergarten to anyone. It was definitely worth the visit.

Schonbrunn Tiergarten

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U-Bahn Pick-Up – He’s Got No Game!

BM Pitcher — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 06:53:53 +0000

I love the u-bahn in Vienna. But the periodic downside of public transportation is being exposed to all kinds of weird people. Just yesterday I was sitting in the train reading my book when someone sat next to me. From my peripheral vision I saw it was a weird looking guy who kept eagerly looking over at me. He smelled of old lady house making me suspect that he still lived with mother. I buried my nose further into my book to discourage conversation, but alas, this was no deterrent for this guy.

He asked me what station I was getting off at. As all ladies know for safety reasons, this is not a question to answer. I gave the cool reply of a bit further. He paused a moment to mull this over, then asked if I wanted to get off at the next station with him to have a cup of coffee.

Now excuse me for being a snob, but this guy had no chance with me. To give you an idea of the situation, it would be like me walking up to Brad Pitt and saying “Hey baby, Angie isn’t that beautiful. Come home with me.” There are unspoken rules to the pick-up game. The first being, don’t reach so far above and beyond that you make yourself look foolish. Me trying to convince Brad to leave Angie would be that kind of foolish.

I smiled and said no thanks. He then pulled out a business card and tried to push it on me stating that I should give him a call. I glanced briefly at it and saw that it was a UPC business card (a cable/TV provider in Austria) with the name crossed out and the phone number crossed out. He had clearly picked the card up somewhere and crossed everything out and wrote his information in there! This guy had no game!

I didn’t take the card and gently shook my wedding clad ring finger at him stating that I was married. He shrugged and jumped off at the next step.

austrian-nerd

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