Gute Freunde, Gutes Essen

Good Friends, Good Food

We've been remiss in our posting duties lately, haven't we? Perhaps this means that living in Europe is starting to feel normal.

The last couple of weeks have been filled with friendships - renewing old ones, making new ones and nurturing the ones we've made here in Vienna. So, this is going to be a long one. Go ahead, grab a cup of coffee. We'll wait....

For what those of you in the states know as Memorial Day weekend, we hopped on a full train to Munich. Our plan was to spend some more time with Curt's high school host brother and get to know his girlfriend, Maria. Who knew that we would eat so much great food, too? Friday night, they took us to a Greek restaurant where we stuffed ourselves, drank a bit, and laughed our way through several stories.

Saturday afternoon, I took a little break to meet a couple of knitters I'd found online. Bockstark Knits and Elemmaciltur picked me up at the hotel and we went to the cafe at the end of the block. We spent two and a half hours speaking in "code" and talking about living the ex-pat lifestyle. They are delightful and I'm thrilled that they've started a podcast so I can keep up with their German lives even after we land back in MN. There might even be some yarn swapping in our futures.... (I had so much fun chatting with them that I forgot to take any pictures. We all forgot to knit, too, though we did show off our WIP's - see? code!)

Saturday afternoon, Till and Curt gave up on me and headed into the Englischer Garten for lunch. I managed to track them down in the beer garden and joined them for a bite to eat. Maria came a bit later and we enjoyed a lazy afternoon in the park. We left just as it started to rain. While M & T started dinner, Curt bought flowers and we took naps.

apperatifs

We were treated to a five-course, five-hour Italian dinner that was to die for! Champagne cocktails on the balcony, prosciutto and melon, salad, roast beef with kohlrabi, panna cotta.... There was a moment when I thought we'd never cook for friends again; we'd been outdone. But, most of you don't get to sample the cooking prowess of these two, so I guess we'll keep hosting now and then.

nothing tops good food made by good friends

Sunday, we took a long stroll through Munch with Maria and Till before we caught our train "home." Most blogworthy thing we saw: surfing in a stream.

surfing in a landlocked city

We returned to Vienna for a scholarly week. Curt had class all day Tuesday through Friday and Monday! I finished my German class. It was hard to say goodbye to my new friends knowing that it may be too hard to communicate with each other to stay in touch. Here they are (minus two who fell prey to the sore throat that passed around our classroom table):

Deutsch 1A students from Turkey, Venezuela, VietNam and Spain, with a teacher from Vienna

Saturday, we took a car tour with Marie and Florian, Curt's WU "buddy" and her boyfriend. They took us to a heuriger in Sooss where we had a great lunch overlooking the vineyards and bought several bottles of wine. Then, they drove us up a mountain for a view over the city. It was too hazy for good vista photos, but we had a ball.

On Monday, I got up early to have breakfast with Angelika and her Texan "sisters."

Tanna, Angelika and Sue, as they welcome me into their "family"

After coffee, rolls, jam..... Gino took us over to the neighboring school where he (mostly) followed the directions of the kids and they enjoyed watching the Americans attempt the training tricks too. It was a rowdy lot and so much fun!

Gino's tongue post-work reminds me of Loyd's on a hot day

After 'school' we spent a lovely afternoon laughing in the kitchen, the garden and on the kitchen deck. I'm sure you can imagine that we were very well fed. There was Prosecco and Gugelhupf. There was lamb tagine on almond couscous. Then, perfectly steamed salmon on farfalle. Dessert was rhubarb tartlettes and espresso. SOOOO good.

the Dining Room's chief supervisor

This last one is my favorite photo of the day. Gino had had enough of the photos, but I don't mind that he's looking away. The expression on Angelika's face is just right - happy, loving and so warm, just like her.

Another couple of friends it will be so hard to leave.

So, does that make up for the lack of photos lately?