Tree unbundled
- waiting for decorations.
My plan to get Rozalin drunk didn’t work and she remained rock solid all evening. On the other hand Cate and I got hammered and shouted 'we come from the Ukraine' in German and showed passers by our tattoos as we lurched down Singerstrasse on our way home.
Rozalin’s husband must be a good guy because he has all of Rammstein’s albums. It follows that he will also be partially deaf.
We went to a restaurant called Yohm which was chosen by Rozalin. We had the 6 course Degustation menu with wine. The food was Asian, the wines were Austrian and both were superb. It was a feast of epic proportions and if we can ever save up enough money we will do it again.
We both really like Austrian whites wines – which are much better than we thought they would be (I am not sure why we thought that because they have been doing it for a very long time so should have the hang of it by now). But we are not so keen on the reds and have never found reds anywhere that are as good as the best Australian reds. Not this has stopped us drinking non-Australian reds in large quantities and when we were in Provence with Liz and Darryl last year made a significant dent in the French harvest.
We received John Henderson’s Christmas letter and – as he admits – it is not up to the usual high standard. John is very unhappy about the financial meltdown and has used a lot of upper case letters to express his dissatisfaction. He now spends a lot of time sulking and counting the fireplaces in his country estate in Singleton. Christine will whip him into shape and he will be back in form soon.
Rozalin says that it may snow on Christmas day – but is not providing any guarantees. This would be very exciting as I have never had a white Christmas.
It has in fact been snowing today. There was a minor miracle when I received an SMS from Lutz telling me that the glass TV widget was ready. I went to get this and it started snowing but not enough to worry about in terms of driving. I am not looking forward to driving on ice and snow but will just have to tough it out.
The Austrian Times reports today that a survey has found that almost no Austrians are planning to eat Pizza, toast or noodles on Christmas Eve. 50% of people in northern Austria will be eating Carp – as they have done every year since 556 BC. I have offered to do the survey for them next year at no charge and will be able to produce accurate results without talking to anyone at all.
Exciting news today is that our car is on its way to Austria - and Rozalin says it will be delivered next Tuesday. I am going to have Beatrixgasse decorated for the occasion and may have a marching band and jumping castle.
I love Austrian whites. The reds are better if you add a bit of water like the locals do in the Heurigen.
ReplyDeleteDon't know about Austrian wines but Jim and I did a fine job testing some Aussie reds and whites at the White Street Christmas Party on Wednesday night. I was so slow moving yesterday I didn't think to make a comment until now, Friday morning. Simon again provided a fully dressed ham - well you wouldn't want it naked? - which meant that we carried home our specially acquired steaks for another day.
ReplyDeleteI tried to relay your good wishes to as many as would listen but the population is growing and the balance of children to adults is getting out of hand. Don't worry - I don't mean that the oldies are dying out but Tracey in 67 and Jackie (next door to Lauren) are both expecting their third in May and March respectively.
Jackie's daugther Miller was fascinated by Jim and stood next to him looking up adoringly for 10-15 minutes! Can't be anything to do with a likeness to a certain Christmas character! Photos to follow when I can make the camera feed them to the PC.
The challenge of Rozalin and the tattoes remains and will only mean you will try harder!
Cheers, Annie
I also looked at Jim adoringly when I discovered his political and religious leanings.
ReplyDeleteRozalin will be a tough nut to crack. She was married to a GI and lived on an Army Base in the USA -so I think we have met our match there.
Dear Badger and Bunny,
ReplyDeleteWe would have sent you a Christmas card but didn't think to get your address from Possum. We are dead jealous of your white Christmas, even though desperate for Sydney to get its Summer Act together. Hot days and balmy nights pronto, please! Everyone here is missing you, though the blog is almost making up for your absence, what with it being so funny and informative and all. A very happy Christmas to you both, and a brilliant 2009 as well.
Lots of love,
Lil Poss and The Other One