Reasons to Fall in Love with Vienna

I was so excited to finally experience "The City of Dreams" with the man of my dreams. Vienna was not the backdrop of the popular Leonardo DiCaprio Blockbuster film Inception, but it was home to one of the greatest interpreters of dreams, Sigmund Freud.  Ohhh and of course musical prodigies Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Gustav Mahler and Joseph Haydn all worked in Vienna at times in their lives. Pretty cool history, right?!

Ten years ago, mom and I made a mad dash through Vienna, and I remember being impressed with my hurried experience. This time around, I was looking forward to two days of drinking and breathing in the sights and sounds of Europe's most desired holiday destination. 

This will be a quick blog that simple highlights a few of the things that I loved about Vienna. You really have to experience it for yourself, and now I can say from personal experience that you must visit in December. Christmas just seems to come alive in Vienna. 

Why I fell in LOVE with Vienna:

Reece and Chris in front of St. Stephen's Cathedral.

-St. Stephen's Cathedral is beautiful even though it is being restored. It also is in the center of Vienna, so it serves as a great landmark. 

- In Vienna, we met up with Chris' best friend, Reece. It was great to travel with a friend, and since he lives in Europe now, we foresee a few more of these joint trips in the future. 

- The subway system (The U-Bahn) is super easy to figure out, so even though we were staying 6+ miles out of town, it only took about five minutes to get from our hotel to St. Stephens. 

We visited Krah Krah the first evening we arrived in Vienna, and would recommend it. 

- There are several great little pubs in the center of Vienna, and since I was traveling with two dudes, we checked out several of them. They were happy with the beer selection that was available. 

- In 2005, Vienna was ranked (by Economist Intelligence Unit) as the best city to live in for quality of life. In 2011, it was ranked second to Melbourne. It would not take much to make me move to Vienna! I can see why people love the city!

Der Graben (translation - "the trench") Street 

 - Famous Der Graben Street is great to strolling and window shopping. All of the shops are high end, but their window displays are all decked out for the Holidays. I think we must have found ourselves on this street four or five times. 

- The statue (that we are standing in front of) of the Pestsaule is one of the most prominent pieces of sculpture in Vienna, even though the statue was placed there as reminder of the 1679 plague that visited the city. It is beautiful and haunting. 

Beautiful and ancient St. Peter's Church Vienna. 

 - Around every corner, an architectural delight awaits discovery. 

Chris and Reece - just exploring the city.

Yummy food at Bermuda Brau in the city center. 

 - Even though we did not find a juicy burger for lunch in Vienna, we did find a great place called Bermuda Brau. At night, the place turns into a hopping bar, but during the day, traditional Austrian food is served at a reasonable price. 

Our first experience in a Christmas Market - Christkindlemarkt. 

 - I fell in love with the European Christmas Market in Vienna. Vienna's Christkindlemarkt is set against the backdrop of picturesque City Hall. Choirs perform inside City Hall through the Holidays, and the music just spills out onto the market. (beware - this market is packed with tourists)

- I tried hot wine (or Austrian Gluhwein) for the first time at Christkindlemarkt, and I decided that America is missing out on this amazing Christmas tradition. 

Front view of City Hall. 

 - You can find all sorts of gifts at the Holiday Markets. Of course some are homemade, but then there are some that are shipped in from China. Reguardless of where the gifts come from, the markets are a fun Christmas experience. 

-While Christkindlmarkt is Vienna's most recognized Holiday Market, we found a smaller one called Spittelberg that was easier to navigate. There were fewer tourists packed into the same area, and the prices were better on the Spittelberg market.

- There must be around 15+ Christmas markets in Vienna, and I believe we only stumbled upon four or five of them. You could spend a week in Vienna and never run out of Holiday cheer. 

- After I dragged the boys all over Vienna in search of Christmas-market-cheer, we found a great little Tex-Mex place at the end of the Spittelberg market. I cannot remember the name of the restaurant, but we just had one drink in the trendy setting and went in search of a burger. 

(Chris and I don't typically crave hamburgers, but we had not had one since moving to Serbia, so we were craving one in a big way. And McDonald's was definitely not on our radar.)

- After a long day of walking and exploring, we stumbled upon a random hole-in-the-wall-bar that seemed to have reasonably priced food and drinks. Once we sat down, Chris opened the menu and discovered that the place served burgers! We had given up on our search for the perfect juicy burger, and we ended up getting one anyway! It was a glorious end to our first day in Vienna. 

A must see in Vienna is Schonbrunn Palace, and we were headed there on day two.

Euro Rail Adventure #1

Vienna, Austria - in the middle of the Holidays - it was one of my dreams, and it was a dream about to come to life!  

Since we had a ride to Budapest, Chris and I decided to hop on the Euro Rail bound for Vienna. Ten years ago, my mom and I had gallivanted around Europe utilizing the Euro Rail as our main mode of transportation. It all seemed so effortless, but then again, I was just following Mom's lead. She was the one checking train schedules, dishing out the cash, wading through language barriers, booking hotels, haggling with greedy taxi drivers, and constantly trying to make the last connecting train. She was in charge, and I was just along for the ride. This time around, Chris and I were in charge of our own adventure. 

We purchased really cheap round trip tickets from Budapest to Vienna, and boarded the train. 

My favorite travel partner - checking for our non-existent seat assignments. 

From what we could tell, there were no "normal-train-seating-type-cars"; every car we passed was a sleeper or private car. So we just picked one. We boarded about 20 minutes before departure, and the car was already packed full. Chris walked the length of the car, and there was only one room with two free seats. We opened the door and greeted our four new travel buddies. Aughhhh, a comfortable seat to call "home" for the three hour trip to Vienna. As we pulled out home made sandwiches and good reading material, I hardly noticed people standing around in the hallway outside of our secluded room. Chris (forever the observant one in our marriage) pulled out his ticket and got all fidgety and anxious. 

"Lana, everyone is looking at that placard on the outside of our door. I cannot see what it says from here, but do you think I should get up and see if maybe our seats are reserved for someone else? I don't see anything on our tickets that says we have to sit anywhere specific. . . . Should I go look?"

"Ohhhh, honey, we are sitting. Don't worry about that silly little placard; read your zombie book and enjoy the ride! Vienna here we come!"

Happy to go to Vienna!

The train pulled out of the station, and Chris let out a little sigh of relief. His book appeared and as he was about to bite into his sandwich, our glass door slid open. 

I should always listen to Chris. He is (almost) always right, and our first Euro Rail adventure was no exception. 

An older couple walked in and produced tickets for our seat numbers. We were completely caught off guard. No one even gave us the option of reserving seats. Do you have to reserve a seat on these trains? Maybe the ticket lady just forgot to give us our seat assignments. Where else were we supposed to go?! We calmly went back and forth with the couple trying to figure out why we did not have seats. In the end, we WERE in their seats, and we were somehow left "seatless." Sadly, we vacated our little glassed in room and tried to find an empty space in the already full hallway. 

Thrown out into the hallway. 

At least we were traveling lite. 

And there were seats built into the wall. It could have been much worse. 

The trip was not nearly as comfortable as it could have been, but really, what are you going to do besides laugh. It was pretty funny having to get up every time someone walked the hallway, rubbing bellies with the heavy train conductor, and enviously watching the sleeping girl who was taking up one seat for her booty and one for her feet. Next time I will listen to Chris when his inquisitive side wants to clarify every little detail. We needed just a little bit of clarity on this trip.

We definitely learned what to ask on our return trip,

and after all, isn't life all about the journey and what you learn along the way??

Three long hours later, we arrived in Vienna. The train station is just beautiful and it was simply a pre cursor to what awaited us in the magical city. 

Ohhh, and there is a MAC store in the train station. I instantly knew that I would love this city. 

Zvezde Granda - Belgrade, Serbia

 Zvezde Granda - You go Find that Rising Star!

It's not exactly American Idol, but perhaps you could say it's sort of like "Serbia's Village Idol." The show is your typical singing show where contestants perform some variation of pop or pop-folk song, the judges do their judging thing, and then viewer text-votes ultimately determine the destiny of each performer. 

Zvevde Granda literally means "Grand Star" and "Grand Production" is the Serbian record label and production company co-owned by non other than Serbia's own Lepa Brena! 

(Seeing her in concert is on my Serbian "bucket list.")

Another fun-fact-to-know-and-tell is that Sasa Popovic, The Ryan Seacrest character on Zvezde Granda, used to be the accordion player in Lepa Brena's first 80's band. He looks super nerdy, but apparently ol-boy is quite the savvy business man. You go Sasa!

Okay, so why in the world am I giving you an overview of Zvezda Granda? 

Because I was in the crowd last weekend cheering on Subotica's own Daniela Petrik! How is that for a random, blog worthy experience?! It was a blast!

This is Daniela, greeting her fans before the show, and posing for a few pictures. Naturally! 

When Chris and I first moved to Serbia, we were shocked by how stunning ALL of the girls were. They all have long, super blonde or super dark hair, and the stores only sell once size, small and skinny, because they all have to be on the same diet. Did I mention that all of the girls seem incredibly tall?! Legs, legs, legs everywhere you look! Daniela has 6-inch heals on that definitely give her a little extra height, but even if she is not naturally the tallest of the bunch, she is no exception to the Serbian-beauty-queen-stereotype. She has the look that Zvezde Granda is scouting for. Her dress also reminded me of the white swan in the recent Natalie Portman flick, Black Swan. 

The rest of the contestants. 

Daniela flair.

More flair. GO DANIELA!

Darko - thanks for the invite! Ohhhh, and thanks for being Daniela's cousin! 

OMG - LEPA BRENA!

So, I knew that Lepa Brena was co-producer of Zvezde Granda, but I really didn't expect her to show up! I think I screamed the loudest when she walked up to the judging table. Our seats were directly behind her, and the whole time I contemplated greeting her in English . . . after all, she had lived in Florida for 8 years. I didn't do it though, and I am kicking myself for it now. The only people brave enough to ask the Serbian pop idol for her picture where the 10-year-old girls. 

One thing off my Serbian "bucket list."

Daniela's performance. 

Had to take a picture because her outfit was horrendous. I don't care who you are, that is bad!

This is the last picture I took because I thought it was so fitting. In this picture you can see a lot of excited fans cheering for that dark haired beauty, and in the middle, a distinguished elderly couple. They just smiled the whole time. No clapping, no screaming or waving of t-shirts or posters. They just smiled. They reminded me of my grandparents who were honest, gentle, simple, hard working farmers in Canada. 

It looks like the entire village came out to support their little rising star, and baba and deda put on their Sunday best for the occasion. Just thought it was cute.

In the end, Daniela did not pass. Sad. To be quite honest, I did not recognize or even understand any of the songs, so I thought she did as well as any of the other girls. Of course I am a little biased, but it seemed that the judges were slightly biased as well. For instance, that horrendous butterfly outfit received almost the same score from the "stylist judge" that Daniela received for her styling. Does that make any sense to you? Me either.  

Seeing Zvezde Granda live was totally an experience, and although she did not pass, I wish Daniela the best in her future career. Keep singing girl! 

Famous Lepa Brena

". . . . the most popular singer of the former Yugoslavia." - Wikipedia 

Found on Novinite.com - probably a picture from around 2004. 

A month after arriving in Serbia, I remember seeing massive billboards announcing a concert by some short-spiky-haired-blond named Lepa Brena. Then a little later, in October, I heard that this Lepa Brena sold out the Belgrade arena on not one night, but two nights in a row! That means that for two nights, 40,000-ish people were screaming her name and just dying to get their posters signed after the show.  Didn't "lepa" mean "pretty" in Serbian? 

So who was this "Pretty Brena" woman anyway? 

Found on Wikipedia - picture from her 2011 Belgrage show. 

I got really interested in this former Yugoslavian pop-star-sensation, so of course, I went straight to Wikipedia. 
Where else?

According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, Fahreta Jahić Živojinović (her given name), was born in 1960 and by the time she was 22, she released her first album called, Cacak, named after her home city. Her second album title translates to "Mile Likes Disko," and when my friends were trying to explain this pop sensation to me, "Mile Voli Disko" was the first song they had me listen to. Click on the link if you want to hear it for yourself. 

By 1991, she had released 13 albums, become an undisputed sex symbol, traveled through the Balkans performing to sold out audiences, acted in a few movies, and even managed to become a symbol of a united Yugoslavia. She married a Serbian tennis player named Slobodan Živojinović in 1991, and they moved to the States.  In 2000, she released a 14th album that was not very well received; so as a result, she retired for 8 years. Apparently she has a few homes in Florida, an apartment in Monte Carlo, and of course a home in Belgrade, Serbia, so it seemed that her and her family lived a good life in "retirement." Of course there is a lot more to her story, but those are just a few highlights. 

She returned to the music scene in 2008 and has since released two hit albums. She celebrated her 51st birthday by performing two sold out shows in the Belgrade Arena. Those where the shows that got me interested in this 51-year-old-pop-star-sensation.

She has loads of songs that can be found on YouTube, but this song just cracks me up. The translation is most likely skewed, but regardless, the theme of the song is pretty hilarious. 

Lyrics to Uske Pantalone (Tight Pants):

I love her as tight pants
these carry only the prima donna,
I love her as tight pants
these carry only prima donna ...
From alley to alley in the ...
all the sighs of the guys in the ...
What is sweeter than sugar candies,
tight pants, tight pants
what it adorns my white grandmother,
tight pants, tight pants
Guys say I'm fine material
I am girl which is rarely found,
I tell guys that's fine material
that girl as I rarely find ...
From alley to alley in the u. ..
all the sighs of the guys in the ...

Found in a Google search - Has to be from the 80's!

Thanks Balkanmedia.com for letting me use your pic. This is sort of what she looks like now. 

I decided that while I am not a fan of her music style (not to mention I cannot understand a word of it without Google Translate), I wanted to see Lepa Brena in concert before I left Serbia. 

Stay tuned for the next blog! 

Thanksgiving - bez Turkey.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday; but I love it for more than the three-day-food-comma and hours of endless football viewing. Take a look at this picture. That is my family. My amazing, constantly growing, fun-filled, life-giving, fabulously spontaneous, wholesome and encouraging . . . 

FAMILY. 

My parents (the two pilgrims in the middle) believe that community (not meaningless possessions) makes you rich, so they have always focused on living their best lives intermingled with the lives of others. When I was a kiddo, my parents started doing just about everything with three other young families. So we're not 'technically' related, but we are just about as close as any family could every hope to be. We all grew up together - went on houseboat trips every summer - shared a ski lodge in the winter - traded prom dresses - got into mischief - fell in love and then fell out of love - went to each and every graduation and birthday party - found any excuse for a dress up party (as seen in the picture above) - and walked through really good and really hard times together. 

This picture speaks a thousand 'Thanksgiving' words!

It is not at all politically correct to dress up like pilgrims and Indians, but we do it almost every year and we take loads of pictures, enjoy a tasty potluck, and the lay around for hours enjoying the company and laughter. 

Maybe it all clicked on our wedding day - when a torrential downpour tried to ruin our entirely outdoor wedding and the "first day of the rest of our lives," - maybe that is when Chris and I realized that our lives would never be "typical." When we watched all of our friends and family salvage our fairytale, perhaps in that moment, we realized that we could never do life alone. We were created for community, and we felt it deep in our souls. Maybe that was the moment when we realized that our hearts were longing for something different - for an adventure that would shape us and mold us into a dynamic couple that deeply loved others. We promised each other in that moment that we would never do life alone and that where ever life put us, we would be part of a vibrant, loving community of people. 

- Thanksgiving 2011 -  

I wanted to make Thanksgiving special for our new friends in Serbia, but it had to be done "bez" (without) turkey. You can find turkey here, but my tiny oven would not accommodate a turkey, casserole, and a pie all at the same time. So, adios turkey tradition. I hope they don't mind chicken instead!

While I am used to a Thanksgiving where you can hardly count all of the dishes, I have never actually brought anything to contribute to the potluck. How, you may ask, did I manage to get a free ride to family dinners for 28 years without contributing one morsel of food?? I asked myself the same question! Perhaps this year was my year of payback! All of our Sebian friends offered to bring food, but I insisted that I would prepare everything myself. This was an American holiday after all, and I wanted to treat them. 

I started researching Thanksgiving food (cause remember, I have never done this on my own before), and  I used google translate to figure out how baking powder and cream of mushroom translated in Serbian. My sticky notes, containing my shopping list in Serbian, and I headed out to the grocery store in search of all necessary Thanksgiving ingredients. I quickly learned that ALL casseroles contain some sort of canned ingredient that is impossible to find in Serbia, but I found a recipe online for homemade cream of mushroom. There is a wealth of random stuff online! During my supermarket excursion, I was able to find baking soda, not baking powder. I bought baking soda for my cookies . . . that's almost the same as baking powder, right? 

Chocolate chip cookies = a very American dessert! 

You can look forever, but don't expect to find chocolate chips in Subotica! For a second I was sad, but then I got resourceful and turned two chocolate bars into scrumptious chocolate chunks. Instead of brown sugar, I added extra white sugar and a spoonful of honey. The cookies turned out really well, and one of our guests said that the cookies were his favorite part of the meal. Housewife score! Forget the fact that I labored for hours over the meal! The cookies took about 10 minutes to make!

Hey, at least they were a hit!

After about six hours in the kitchen, this is what we ended up with! Two salads, corn, a broccoli casserole, white wine chicken, creamy mashed potatoes, an apple pie, chocolate chip cookies, and wine of course! Chris was worried that I had overcommitted myself, but with his help, we were done on time, and we all enjoyed a great meal. 

Where is your dishwasher when you really need one?! Ohhhh . . . yeah, that's right, I am the "housewife-dishwasher" these days! Chris watched football, and I tackled this dissaster.
Did I sign up for this? 

Out on the Town - Subotica

 When we started planning our big international move, the two things that most frequently popped up on "Subotica" Google search were the Narodno Pozorište u Subotici (National Theater of Subotica - now under construction) and pictures of The Code nightclub. While looking for a suitable home to rent, Chris was the first to lay eyes on our new city, and the report I heard back from him went something life this: 

"Lana, that beautiful theater is gone! I mean it is still there - sort of, but those Roman-looking pillars are completely covered up with a billboard and everything else is under construction!" 

Picture borrowed from Wikipedia 

It is true. The National Theater has been under construction for several years, and this once stately building has become more of an eyesore than a stunning piece of architectural history. It seems that a lot of the money to complete the reconstruction has gone missing, and responsibility keeps being passed from one construction company to another. Chris and I would love to attend a play here before our three year contract is up, but the locals seem skeptical that these doors will welcome theater goers any time soon. 

The Code nightclub is still open and hopping, so after three and a half months, we figured it was time to check out one of the hot spots in town. The truth is that Chris and I did not want to go out alone, and we finally were given an excuse to put on our dancing shoes and show Subotica our "moves" (if that's what you want to call them. . . ). 

Hey there DJ!

Our friend was the DJ for 70's Night at The Code, and I don't need too much convincing to dress up, make a fool of myself, dance, and have fun with friends. Chris sometimes needs a little more coxing after a long week at work, but in the end, he is the best dance partner a girl could ask for. 

We started the party at our place and then headed out to The Code around midnight. We had a great time and we danced and simply enjoyed being with our friends until the wee hours of the morning. The non-stop night life in Serbia is not for the faint of heart, or for those who have to wake up at 6:00 a.m. I've heard that our first night out in Subotica does not even come close to the night life in Novi Sad and Belgrade. We will have to rest up before we attempt going out in either of those cities.  

It is easier to find 70's attire for women. . . "70's" somehow turned into "plaid and blue jeans" for the guys. 

Me and Lela.

Chris, Darko and Marko

My fabulous dancing queen - Sanela.

So, everything I wore was from my closet. My best friend just said to me, "Lana, anything that you can wear to a theme party should probably find its way OUT of your closet." She may be right, but at least I had an outfit for the occasion, and all of my friends had a traveling disco-ball dancing right next to them. 

The last three pictures are borrowed from The Code Facebook page. 

Ohhh, this is the fabulous Rade. He gets paid to dance at The Code on the weekends, and he is a hairdresser by day. He will probably be my new Serbian hairdresser.

The best dance partner in the world. We have fun!

I love this picture! Totally sums up the evening.