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Jun 8

Happy Father’s Day

“On behalf of every man
Looking out for every girl
You are the god and the weight of her world
So fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do…”
– John Mayer, “Daughters”

Me and My Dad

Me and My Dad

Today marks Father’s Day in Austria but you are unlikely to see too many Austrian Papas during the Pfingsten holiday tomorrow bending over their shiny new envy-inducing deluxe gargantuan grills. Dads here will be lucky to get some special breakfast and a “Happy Father’s Day” let alone some cool socks and a cooler full of ice-cold Ottakringers. Father’s Day in Austria has been celebrated since 1956. However, as an Austrian children’s website states (http://kiwithek.kidsweb.at/index.php/Vatertag), unfortunately it is still not considered particularly significant. Maybe it’s because, for many Austrian Dads, every day is still father’s day evidenced best at 19:30 each evening. While Mom slaves away in the kitchen over the Frittatensuppe, dad props his feet up on the Hocker, flips on ORF 2, and eyes page three of his Krone until he is summoned to the dinner table. But if the amount of guys opting to take their share of maternity leave in this country is any indication, Archie Bunker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_Bunker) will soon be giving up his armchair in Austria too. The kiwi site thinks that Dads deserve to be honored in Austria, just like in the US, and I couldn’t agree more.

My dad taught me how to throw a baseball, shoot an arrow and change a tire. Together we hunted night crawlers, mowed the grass and attended Indian

Me at Indian Princesses

Me at Indian Princesses

Princess meetings. He read me books, taught me chess and made me a lifelong NPR listener. When I said I wanted to move to Europe after college, rather than talk me out of it, he said, “Well, then you better learn how to drive a stick,” and proceeded to undertake the dangerous mission of training me to do so. My dad was and remains the ultimate world’s best dad. He made me feel like I was the most beautiful, smartest, funniest, most capable person in the universe to him and set me out into the world as someone who had learned from home what it meant to care about others and approach life, open-minded and open-hearted.

THANK YOU, DAD! And Happy Father’s Day! (a week early where you are, and today where I am – though you deserve to be celebrated every day)

And if you’re a dad, be sure to be a great one. You can make a difference that will last a lifetime. Just ask your daughters.

Interesting Tidbits:

Did you know?

According to the “Men on Maternity leave” website and the page “Real Men go on Maternity leave” (http://www.maennerinkarenz.at/), two of three men in Austria want to go on maternity leave and share in the responsibility for raising their kids. A typical arrangement nowadays might include the mom taking 12 months maternity leave and the dad two. But the parents can choose how to split their maternity leave time here and they may even split half -half or dads will take the major chunk.

According to the Austrian magazine “News” (http://www.news.at/a/vatertag-alleinerzieher-oesterreich-statistik ), 9000 Austrian men are raising their kids on their own.

According to the Austrian newspaper “Kleine Zeitung” (http://www.kleinezeitung.at/nachrichten/chronik/3648893/suesses-hochprozentiges-fuer-den-vati.story), a bit more than half of all Austrians celebrate Father’s Day but only a third actually think it is significant. About every 4th Dad gets a present and it is usually something sweet or something with an alcohol content.

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Jun 2

My friend and I do a Lifeball selfie
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Celebrating Life in the “Garden of Earthly Delights” at Vienna’s 2014 Lifeball

A couple of years ago I had to catch a 6 am train to Budapest. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I boarded the subway expecting nothing but a quick ride to the train station. But when I boarded the U-4, I noticed that the only other person in my wagon at such an ungodly hour on a Sunday morning, was a handsome young man sitting in the next set of seats sharing his bench with a rather large plastic pink flamingo. Austrians might like garden gnomes but I have never witnessed them escorting them on outings via the U4. And a flamingo? This is Vienna, not Miami. Pigeons and magpies but no flamingos.

Vienna Lifeball 2014 Entrance Bracelet

Vienna Lifeball 2014 Entrance Bracelet

Baroque Couple

Baroque Couple with stunning body paint, gorgeous costumes and bashful smiles

By the time we had reached Schwedenplatz, I started to worry about them. Was this city worldly enough to tolerate a a lonely guy, with only a plastic flamingo as a companion?

At Stadtpark, a group of two girls and a guy, also in their early twenties, boarded our train. I determined then and there that if need be, I would exhibit the civil courage necessary to defend my fellow passenger and his fine feathered friend. Thus, we’d be three against three. First a smirk, then a shameless smile, and before we’d even reached Karlsplatz, the three of them were barreled over in laughter. At 5:15 am on a Sunday morning mind you. The young man played it cool and politely feigned obliviousness. But then one of them had the audacity to address the elephant in the U-4.

Me and my friend at the Lifeball 2014

Me and my friend at the Lifeball 2014

“What’s up with the flamingo?”

And this past Saturday evening, as I made my way, slightly self-conscious, to the Vienna Rathaus donning a sparkly grassy green ballgown, flowered heels and tights, white-feathered, garden party hat and discreet fairy wings, I feared there may be a person or two who, at the worst, would question my state of my mental health, at best, my fashion sense. But as I reached the barriers, a group of  about 20 guys standing beside the security guards cheered and high-fived me with a, “Hey!!! Way to Go!!! Lifeball! Yeah!”

Some charmingly mischievous Lifeball Guests

Some charmingly mischievous Lifeball guests who I thought may have walked in from Alice in Wonderland

Fascinating Creatures at Vienna's Lifeball

Fascinating Creatures at Vienna’s Lifeball – they looked intimidating but smiled (only one time) when I asked for a photo with them

Because nowadays, everyone in the city knows the annual event of the Vienna Lifeball and everyone welcomes its. Once a year, Bill Clinton flies into town to get together with the founding father and “face of the Lifeball”, Gery Keszler. Together they work to increase AIDs awareness while raising money to battle HIV and AIDs. The red ribbon event is one of the biggest and most spectacular of its kind in the world. And IT WAS SPECTACULAR.

This year’s theme was, “Garden of Earthly Delights” and the costumes were extraordinary. The stairs and rooms of the Rathaus were over-flowing with peacocks, baroque couples, walking lawns, snakes, flower-pots with legs, Medusas, swans, farmers, gnomes, butterflies, bird cages…If you could find it in a garden, it was there too. Live music in the courtyard, (remember Erasure?), discos in countless rooms, pole dancing, massage parlors, and a “Oops!-your-costume/hair-needs-a-quick-fix” room. Amazing. Fun. Prominent people, famous people, politicians, costume designers, singers, actors, actresses, and ordinary people like me. All getting together for a great cause and a wonderfully unforgettable time.

Me and Peacock Man

Me and Peacock Man in his wonderfully gorgeous golden and blue costume.

Garden Gnome from the other side of the fence

Black Leather Garden Gnome from the other side of the fence –  Hitler had forbidden gnomes

Which brings me back to that flamingo. The athletic young man with the bird? A dancer who had delicately balanced his flamingo atop his head while opening the Lifeball that year.

Now it sat tamely by his side. But his night of partying was not yet over. The group invited him and his feathered companion to a bar at next stop. They disembarked together, talking, laughing and enjoying themselves and I smiled. No longer about the flamingo, but about living in a place tolerant and worldly enough where  flamingos, Lifeballs and Conchita Wursts can not only be possible but celebrated.

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Lifeball

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Ball

 

Vienna's Lifeball welcomes prominent guests from around the world

Former US Pres Bill Clinton and US Ambassador to Austria, Alexa Wesner, were amongst the VIP guests who attended to 2014 Lifeball at Vienna’s Rathaus

Lifeball 2014 with Conchita Wurst

Lifeball 2014 with Conchita Wurst

Can you find Conchita Wurst in this photo at Vienna's 2014 Lifeball?

Can you find Conchita Wurst in this photo at Vienna’s 2014 Lifeball?
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May 2

Roses in Burggarten
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Frühjahrsmüdigkeit – the Spring My-Butt-Is-Draggin Syndrome

 We all know the feeling. Spring has arrived, the birds are chirping and the flowers are blooming. In Vienna folks emerge from their concrete abodes, the grass is rolled out along the Ringstrasse and not a park bench in Stadtpark is free. The roses in Volksgarten have shed their burlap winter coats and the cafes on Graben have moved their tables out on the cobblestones.

Inarguably the most beautiful time of year in Vienna. Everything is alive with a whistle its lips and a hop in its step. Except—

Well, you’ve been feeling a bit more tired than usual haven’t you?

In fact, around 2 pm every day now for the past few weeks, you find yourself faced with an important dilemma. If you’re at work, the challenging question is: “Nepresso Expresso ala Clooney with Livanto, Capriccio, Volluto or Cose?” (just definitely no Decaffeninato) and if you’re at home, “A quick run or maybe a nap? Bed, couch, lounge chair or perhaps just a catnap here at the desk for a minute or two?”

Why are you so darn tired lately?

Maybe It's Time for A Catnap

Maybe It’s Time for A Catnap

If you spoke more German, you’d know. You’re suffering from Frühjahrmüdigkeit. Don’t worry, it’s not catchy and the condition is only temporary. And if you live in Austria, it is considered extremely common and your laments will fall upon the sympathetic ears of fellow sufferers.

But what is it and where does it come from? Just for you — a scientific explanation to justify why you can tell your loved ones to scram while you enjoy your afternoon siesta on the hammock.

Here it is: Daylight increases with spring and sets the balance of your body’s melatonin and serotonin into disarray. Melatonin is a hormone in your body that helps control sleep cycles and serotonin helps you be haaapppy. In winter, your body produces more melatonin (think of hibernation). And as the two hormones start battling it out in spring, you start to kinda feel like you have a long-term hangover without having had the fun of dancing on the the tables the night before.

But no worries! It won’t last. Take your siestas, drink your espressos and your body will adjust. Or better yet, go for a run. Really, You’ll enjoy it. Eventually. I promise. The chestnut trees and wild garlic are blooming in Prater and the air never smelled sweeter.

And hey! It’s spring! The Gelato shops and Canal beaches are open too. Enjoy it!

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For fun:

George Clooney Nespresso ad (just wait for soccer ad to end) http://www.blick.ch/people-tv/ex-miss-lauriane-trinkt-mit-george-clooney-nespresso-id2500482.html

In German:
Austrian Chamber of Pharmacists: Österreichische Apothekerkammer: http://www.apotheker.or.at/Internet/OEAK/NewsPresse_1_0_0a.nsf/webPages/7681BADDE53EB9AAC1256FEE00310DF6!OpenDocument

Articles in English:

Chicago Tribune Article of Wed April 21, 2001: Spring Fever affects many when seasonal malady hits:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=20010425&id=RglPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RR8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6399,2668119

Dr. Roher’s Blog “All Things Psychological” Spring Fever, Do You Have it? May 16, 2010:

http://droherphd.com/blog/spring-fever-do-you-have-it/

Wikipedia gives a pretty good take on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_fever

Scientific American: May 22, 2007 article: “Fact or Fiction?: ‘Spring Fever’ Is a Real Phenomenon”

Scientific American – Fact or Fiction?: “Spring Fever”

Baltimore Holistic Health Examiner, March 14, 2012, “Spring Tiredness”: http://www.examiner.com/article/spring-tiredness

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Apr 22

Vienna's Pummerin Bell

When the Bells Fall Silent and Fly to Rome

Silence speaks when words cannot.

One of the most magical moments of the day in Vienna is 7 pm when the bells throughout the city start to ring. Their ringing times are slightly off-set so that as the baritone clangs of one church begin to fade, the ringing tones of another commence. No matter how many years I live here, I never tire of that sound and it is something I truly miss when I’m away.

Door Bell Sign Vienna

This door bell didn’t fly to Rome, she’s at the entrance of Rotenturmstrasse 19.

And for the past few days, I have missed them once again. Because wouldn’t you know it — in Austria (Germany, France and perhaps more parts of Europe), the bells pack up their things on Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday) after the service commemorating the Last Supper, and all fly to Rome not to be seen or heard from again until Easter.

Why?

Good question. No one knows for sure and therefore theories abound. Some of these include:

1)      They’re off to get a blessing from the Pope (as if he doesn’t have enough going on this time of year)

2)      Think there’s better food in Rome and they’re going there to enjoy it (quite possible given the great Italian pizza, pasta and ice-cream)

3)      Want to get away for a while to recuperate (we all can relate and Rome does have some great shops)

4)      To eat with the Pope (again, he seems pretty busy)

5)      To return with an Easter message from the Vatican (plausible)

6)      To go confess (oh the sinful lives of bells! Can you imagine: “Forgive me Father for I have sinned.” “What is it this year, Pummerin?”)

7)      To fetch the Easter eggs to drop down into the yards of Austrian country kids and the apartments of their city slicker counterparts. (kinda of like Italian pigeons who target American tourists with their own little fun droppings)

The Gloeckl Beer of Graz probably doesn't fly to Rome either.

The Glöckl Beer of Graz probably doesn’t fly to Rome either.

Perhaps in a show of a solidarity, or unwilling to work when the others aren’t (maybe a union thing) or maybe just a bit depressed but for whatever reason, when the bells fly away, the organs all take a hiatus too. But they don’t spread their organ wings and lift off, they just give everyone the silent treatment while the bells are gone.

And though I might often times enjoy the sound of silence, I also recognize that historically, before iPhones and Smart Phones and reminders and ring tones, bells served an important civic function. Back in yesteryear, it took a bit for pocket-sized watches to be inventedand not everyone could afford one. And try lugging a sundial with you to the pub. For this reason the church bells would inform folks where the fires were, when public entertainment events like executions were taking place and when they better get themselves back home to the wife from the pub.

Graz Clock Tower

The three bells in the Graz Clocktower probably took off for Rome too. The Hourly Bell (Stundenglocke) that rings on the hour, every hour; the Fire Bell (Feuerglocke) that would vary its ringing according to the district of Graz that had a fire and the Poor Sinner’s Bell (Armensünderglocke) that around 1450 marked when someone was being executed and in the 1800s became the Closing Time Bell (Sperrstunde Glocke) marking the closing of hour of the surrounding pubs (was he in for a serious sentence from the wife if he chose to ignore is? Something satisfying about it having once been the executionar bell).

So the function of the bells had to be replaced while they were absent and who better to do the job than the unpaid volunteers who have no authority to protest? Yep. Come on stage, altar boys and girls. Cause you will be working your rattles, large and small, in place of those bells. But it’s not all slave labor for the boys and girls. They are often rewarded for performing this public service with Easter eggs, chocolate or other small culinary tokens of appreciation.

Rattle (Ratschen) played by the altar boys and girls while the bells are in Rome.

Rattle (Ratschen) played by the altar boys and girls while the bells vacation in Rome.

Meanwhile the bells remain silent throughout the three climactic days of the Catholic calendar – the Triduum Sacrum, the “Holy Three Days” which include the Last Supper on Holy Thursday, the suffering and Crucifixion on Good Friday, and the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter Night.

As I write, the bells have returned again to their proper home and are ready to ring for me again for another year. Good to have you back home again!

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Here’s some additional sources about Vienna’s Pummerin and the Bells Flying to Rome:

Details in German about Pummerin and as soon as you click on the website, she’ll ring for you so pump up the volume: http://www.stephansdom.at/dom_im_detail_pummerin.htm

A video (in German) about Pummerin with good shots of her so watch it even if you can’t understand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2rPKEzoYLE

Die Presse (Austrian daily newspaper) article about the “Bells Flying to Rome” legend: Presse Article on Bells

Vienna's Pummerin Bell

Pummerin Bell in Vienna’s St. Stephan’s Cathedral. She hangs in the north tower and is the third largest bell in Europe and the fifth largest in the world. She only rings on particularly religious holidays and on New Year’s Eve (cause she’s a bit of a party girl).

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