Swiss House

SchweizerHaus is an open air restaurant in the Viennese Prater that runs from March through October.  The Prater is a fascinating place in the heart of the city of Vienna.  It is a park divided into two separate parks: one is the Austrian equivalent of Central Park, though apparently it is much larger; and the other half is an amusement park, much like Coney Island or Navy Pier.  But more on that later...
We took the U Bahn from Floridsdorf and then walked to the SchweizerHaus, which means Swiss House in German.  This place is legendary here for its traditional Austrian food.  Of particular note is the pork shank, which appears to be roasted and is HUGE.  Literally, we watched a family of four across from us share one pork shank.  We heard that some of them weigh up to a kilo, or 2.2 pounds to us.  And that isn't all - it comes with a bread basket, coleslaw salad, and fresh ground horseradish and mustard. 
Did I mention, the Swiss House is a biergarten?  Reportedly home of the original Budweiser, in fact.  So we felt obligated to try, for the sake of an old fashioned Austrian custom. 

Our drinks came out first, mostly because I ordered the Backhendl, which is fried chicken and takes 20 minutes.  But we waited patiently, watching the family foursome at the next table decimate their roasted pork.  Above us through the tress we could see one of the rides, a giant communal swing lifting numbers of people into the air and  swirling them all in a lazy spiral. 

When our food arrived, we quickly learned that it was well worth the time.  Jon ordered the Budweiserfleisch, basically pork steak slow braised in beer with the most delicious dumplings and gravy.  As previously discussed, I got the fried chicken.  Now, the chicken was fantastic, don't get me wrong.  But, it was no replacement for Southern Fried Chicken, delicious though it was:)

After dinner we walked through the amusement park.  Jon won a tiny but loud green kazoo whistle at an archery booth, which he proceeded to blow almost incessantly.  All in all it was a perfect way to spend one of the last pretty days of our first Fall in another land.  And we will take all of our friends and family who visit us to the Swiss House!

All American Eggs Benedict

Chili Eggs Benedict

Cornbread muffin
2 eggs over easy
Homemade American style chili
Cheddar cheese

Heat chili and corn muffin appropriately.  Fry two eggs over easy.  Assemble and sprinkle with cheddar cheese and enjoy!

A Day in the Life

I will admit that, at first, I did not understand all the rage behind Sacher torte in Austria.  I mean, it seems like a really big deal here.  And not just in Vienna.  When Mom and I were in Salzburg (where happily neither of us lost our skirts) it was a big deal there, too.  We went to this famous coffee shop because it was blustery and cold, and we had already eaten Kase krainers with mustard and semmel rolls.  And everyone in this coffee shop, which was chocker block full, was ordering Sacher torte with their coffee.  We just got a cafe Melange and a Heisse Schokolade for Mom, and they came out on these dainty little silver trays with a shot glass of water and a little wafer cookie.  Very classy!
But, back to the Sacher torte.  The cake itself is rather dry, and I feel compelled to confess that most Americans are more interested in moist cake, namely Duncan Hines.  Perhaps, though, that is the real beauty behind the Sacher torte.  The dryness lends a whisper of airiness, which turns out to be the perfect complement to the chocolate ganache encasing the cake.  Then there is the filling.  I don"t even know if it is orange or what exactly, but it just perfumes the torte without being sickeningly sweet or gooey. 
You may ask why any of this is important, and that is a fair question.  What I think is, this moment, when someone understands the harmonious balance of the Sacher torte, is when you offically become an expatriate.  Sure, sure, we went to the official expatriate event for October, but I am telling you, the first time you show up for a morning meeting at work where everyone has a cup of  Viennese coffee in one hand and a piece of Sacher torte in the other....that is the real moment.  And possibly more important, it makes a breakfast to rival even the viennoiserie pastries;)
Possibly even cuter was when my Austrian coworker told me my picture of this Sacher torte (served at work) was not fit for a blog post picture because it wasn't served properly on a silver dish...

InterNations

Jon and I have finally managed to register for an InterNations Vienna Event!  We have been trying for almost three months, but these events always fill to capacity almost immediately.  Must be rather presitgious, I suppose. 
In any case, we will be attending the One Million Members event here in Vienna and I am already signed up to blog about it:)
You see, in an effort to increase my humble blogspot readership, I have become a guest blogger on the InterNations website.  In addition, InterNations has approved 2FatGirlsonaVolcano as one of their featured blogs!  You can check it out below, if you scroll down to their  badge of approval:)
I am very excited to be featured on InterNations, and I hope my fellow expats enjoy 2FatGirlsonaVolcano as well as Jon and my zany adventures abroad...

UPDATE!

Ok folks, my apologies for the recent, brief absence.  It turns out moving to another country to work in a foreign language can be really hard and take up a LOT of time.  But there is a potential silver lining to this particular cloud...
I have an opportunity to submit 2FatGirlsonaVolcano for publication as a travel memoir.  Now, I am not getting my hopes up.  But I do want to submit my best foot forward, so to speak.  So, please, please consider a few key problems my submission must address:

- what is unique about 2FatGirlsonaVolcano?  Why is is sale-able?
- am I qualified to offer it from an author perspective? How so?
- other than my mildly successful efforts at global social media dominance, what are some valid and lucrative means by which I could market 2FatGirls?

If you have any ideas for me on these questions, please contact me via Twitter: @jmrosser58, LinkedIn: Julie Rosser, Facebook: Julie Rosser, Google+: JM Welch, Pinterest: Julie Rosser, Instagram: jmrosser

Every little bit helps, and as I near 2000 page views, we can only hope and pray that my vision for 2FatGirls can be realized...

Thank you for  reading and responding!

Queen of the Danube

Last weekend we took the high speed train to meet a friend of mine, who was in Budapest for a Conference.  It was Jon's first time on the high speed train, and it was a 3 hour trip one way.  We saw some of the beautiful countryside of Austria and Jon studied a bit for his impending A1 German test, while I read for work.

We arrived at lunch time, in a station that from the inside, looked everything like you would imagine a train station behind the Iron Curtain.   However, once you ventured outside and looked back at the station from the city, it was quite grand looking.  We met my friend on the street as we walked toward the Danube, and we used the TripAdvisor CityGuide app on my iPhone to find a nearby lunch spot.  The first place we went wash a Jewish Hungarian restaurant, which was so popular, we would have needed reservations to eat lunch there on a Saturday.  Our second spot, though, proved to be a cute, cozy bar/cafe which was quiet and served good food.  The buys ordered beers and I had an Aperol spritzer. Jon ordered a delicious Thai chicken soup, and I had Hungarian cheese spread with local olive bread and veggies.  Our friend ordered duck risotto, and we discussed our next move.  

Contrary to my own custom, I recommended a city tour, and the boys agreed that in our limited time window, it seemed like the best plan.  We walked down to the New York Mansion, now an extravagant 5 star hotel, and bought our tickets for 5000 forints a piece (about 15 euro).  The pick up was just outside, and an open air double decker showed up straightaway. We filed into the back seats on the top of the tour bus, and shortly were rumbling toward the city center. Classical music played while driving, until the narration interrupted intermittently. 

We heard about the history of Hungary, as well as each landmark we past.  We took in the Chain Bridge, Budapest Castle, Fisherman's Bastion, the Sinagogue, Heroes' Square, and Citadella.  

Many of the buildings looked a lot like the buildings in Vienna, but sadly several of them displayed chipped plaster, and soiled marble.  

We decided Vienna might be just a little spoiled, in so far as their capability to keep so much of their history and traditions and so many of their buildings so pristine.  On Budapest's behalf, though, we learned from our bus narrative that as much as 80% of the city was destroyed by bombing in WWII. To see so many buildings majoritively restored was impressive, and took some of the melancholy out of the disrepair.

It was a chilly day to tour on the open bus, so when it dropped us off again we headed inside The New York Cafe, also known as the most beautiful cafe in the world.  Just to warm up, we ordered a round of drinks before once again heading our separate ways.  I had, of course, mulled red wine, and Jon ordered Jameson and Ginger on the rocks. Adam got some fruffy white chocolate liquor coffee, and we all took pictures inside, in true tourist fashion.

But nothing could diminish the grandeur of the Sinagogue and the Parliament, draped dramatically along the east side of the glittering Danube, or the stalwart Chain Bridge, having survived war as well as Communism.  A day or two in Budapest is well worth the comfortable train ride, and we hope to make the trip again sometime.

Fall settles in...

Today we took the dog for a leisurely Sunday walk, the kind where you linger and sight see, smell the roses, and so on.  And do you know what we saw?  We walked to our favorite local parish church, pictures of which can be found on Instagram (jmrosser), Twitter (@jmrosser58), or Pinterest (Julie Rosser).  The air was brisk and the sky was a bit overcast.  There was a definite breeze as we took a lefty and made our way toward the river, where a territorial swan swam up to the steps and promptly began hissing at our yellow lab. 
As we stood on the footbridge in the chilly wind, we saw trees changing colors, and closed off beaches.  Although the Eisdiele was still open and quite tempting, we had to admit that Fall has arrived in Vienna.
However, as it is our first fall here, we are looking forward to all it has to offer: changing leaves, Oktoberfest, Sturm, and hopefully more surpirses too!
And we can't wait for winter to bring us some pretty white snow, when we can break out the snowshoes and our skies currently crowding our abstellraum.
Don't forget that our cute little flat has heaters in perfect working order in every room, including the guest room.  When you come visit we can introduce you to yummu gluhwein...