Fall bike tour in Styria

Our last bike tour before the winter set in was in Styria (Steiermark). We followed the Radweg (bikepath) R2, and it took us along the Mur river. This was a 2 day trip (150km), and we stayed overnight in Leoben, and ended in Graz. The path was so well signed I had to take a picture with the sign to express my admiration for the bike touring infrastructure in Austria. 

Nils starting out in Unzmarkt

Switchgrass! A biofuel.

Leoben

Leoben

Post-ride appetizer

Museum we had to stop in

The bike path restaurant had boar stew with spatzle...better than a  cliff bar!

Bike path sign!!

Some of the things we love about Vienna

1. The trains. The trains in Vienna are insanely nice and usually have bike storage. They go everywhere, and have pretty good food and drinks in the dining car. Completely lovely.

2. Museums quartier. Hanging out on bean bags, or the cool lounge chairs they provide after seeing an exhibit is the best way to just let it all sink in. Cute cafe's abound, but the fro-yo was a little taste of home. 

3. The food. This is how the noodles are made at Ramien, a great Ramen shop in the 6th. They shave off bits of this dough ball and make amazing curry noodle soup. Plus you can eat a schnitzel that is bigger than your torso. Very exciting.

4. The prater. We live nearby a massive park with great dirt running trails. There are tons of families and kids playing outside all day, and loads of places for adults to stop and enjoy a coffee or beer while the kiddies romp around. For some reason, the adults get the shaft at parks in the US, the least they can do is give you a nice espresso stand! Not to mention a glass of prosecco...We went there and tried to read in the grass but the people watching was so good we just stared at everyone the whole time.

5. From the city, there are amazing day trips to great hikes. Here are some pictures of our trip to the Schneeberg two weeks ago. We took this adorable salamander painted train up to the top, had lunch, and hiked down. After stopping at two  food huts for a huge lunch and then a sweet dumpling covered in vanilla sauce, this is probably the first hike where I have gained weight. Oh Austria, you and your comfort food.

6. Vienna is a bike town! Who knew?

7. Our neighborhood, the 2nd district. We had quite a hard time figuring out where to live, but here we have an Asian store with fantastic frozen dumplings, a large park (see above), and the best farmers market you have ever seen. 

Things are different here

In Vienna, a few things have struck us as different, unique, culturally entrenched, or maybe better described as just plain odd. Here is the list, and I'm sure it will grow as time goes on. 

1. While walking down the street, nobody moves out of your way and would in fact, rather shoulder check you than move slightly in either direction.

2. People still smoke, roller blade, and tan, kind of like in the '80's. 

3. Thou shalt not cross a street if the light is not in your favor, lest you be barked at by an elder. 

4. Customer service is purely an American tradition. 

5. The check out process at the grocery store is a competition to see how fast you can simultaneously bag your groceries and pay, while being spoken to in gruff German, in numbers that are backwards to the native English speaker (e.g. 58 is ocht (8) und funfzig (50), so you hear the 8 then the 50, leading my sad little brain to think EIGHTY! until I realize it is fifty. 

6. Whipped cream is the new salt and pepper.

7. If you are younger, you have to say hello first. 

8. If you meet someone, you have to shake their hand.

9. If you leave a place, you have to say goodbye. No sneaking out the back like a wimpy salamander.

10. Bags are not provided at the grocery store. I often carry piles of groceries home teetering on top of each other. 

11. Men pee in public, usually in a corner. Modest! 

12. Children drop trow and pee in public constantly. Usually on a tree.

13. Bras and thongs are worn under exercise attire. 

14. Drinking cans of beer on public transportation is normal and classy. 

15. Large amounts of bread, whipped cream, and cured meats can be eaten and you will not become obese if you are Austrian and you hike regularly with fancy Alpine walking sticks. 

16. Dogs are better than children. 

17. It is important to always have alcohol on hand in case anyone stops by after 10am. 

That is all I can think of for now...Tschuus!

The importance of meeting your people

This past weekend in Vienna, we were non-stop social. On Friday night, we met up with a couple a family friend set us up with. Kind of a two on two blind date. Except they brought another couple, so it was a four on two blind date. As it turns out, both the women have PhD's in science and are amazing and hilarious. One is from Iran and the other from the UK, and both have found jobs after about six months of looking. It was refreshing and intimidating to realize how there are all these great people, with PhD's, applying for the same jobs as I am! Yikes. The next day, we went to the Vienna wine walk in the hills with our good friends Kira, Chad, and Kellie. We walked up into the vineyards and had crisp glasses of local Gruner Veltliner and Riesling...until it started pouring rain. Then we walked down and caught a tram home before meeting some other friends for Bolivian food later (can you believe how many people we saw? so unusual).

Kellie, me, Chad, and Kira

I want to tell you about Sunday, but first I have a story. Last Wednesday, I went on a bike ride by myself around 4:30 in the afternoon. We have a good loop in the hills that takes 1.5 hours, so I was going to do it and be home in time to make dinner. This ride requires that at the one little cobble stone town, you go left and not right. Well, I decided to go to the right. Thinking it would connect back up to the main road, I just kept going, and going, and going and then I came across a dirt road. I thought, perfect! This must take me to that other dirt road so I'll just keep going. Well. Two hours later, I am descending a mountain bike trail on my carbon fiber road bike and trying to search for a cell phone signal to call Nils and tell him I'm not dead (yet). As I dismount and climb over roots and rocks, I finally get through and he tries to download a cell phone tracking app to find me and come get me on his bike. To make a long story short, I finally get to a road and tell Nils he can stand down on the search and rescue. This road takes me to another fork, and I have no idea which way to go until two nice cyclists with bright lights come and offer to escort me home because it is too dark to ride (damsel in distress!).

They were the nicest people, Robert and Martin, two super awesome cyclists from Innsbruck, and we were sort of laughing about the whole thing by the time I got to my street. We exchanged information and they offered to take us mountain biking Sunday. We met up with a whole group and had a great time in the trails above Vienna until Nils' rim separated and we had to split off and go home. All in all, it was a great weekend. Meeting new friends is hard as an adult, but somehow we just keep meeting all these great people, which makes Vienna feel a little more normal for us. Not quite home, but normal, which is an improvement from alien. To friends! Cheers.