Things I like and things that are "Mist"

Sorry, bad pun. Mist is a German word that is more emphatic than "crap" but not as crude as "shit."

Things I love that are uniquely Wiener/Österreicher/European:

• Mozartkugeln (Mozart Balls).
  


• Manner Schnitten
  


• The prevalence of music. See previous blog posts


• The Vienna Philharmonic. Yes, they get their own bullet in my list. Amazing sound, amazing organization. I saw them play all of Smetana's "Mein Vaterland" last week and it was great. The concert hall where they play (Musikverein) has a different protocol for standing room. There's one decent sized spot in the back of the house that has a railing in front. There's no other structures besides the wall in the back, and it's flat, not tiered like the Staatsoper. You get your 5 euro ticket beforehand, line up maybe 45 minutes before the start, and maybe 15-20 minutes before downbeat, a buzzer sounds, and it's a free-for-all. People run, literally, elbow each other and jump over railings to get to the front of the stehplatz section. I stood next to some 80-some year old women, and even I was uncomfortable standing for 2 hours. These people are troopers.


• The U-Bahn


• Kebap Sandwiches


• Käsekrainer - a brat-like sausage that is injected with cheese and eaten like a hot dog. Sounds kind of gross, tastes amazing.
  


• The Saturday flea market at the Naschmarkt, and the Naschmarkt in general
  


• Extremely inexpensive wine and beer that tastes quite decent

Things I miss about America/St. Paul/Denver/Lamont:

• The ability to read and understand the entirety of a food label.


• Practice rooms


• The oboe studio


• Toilets, 'nuff said


• Knowing where west is


• Playing in an orchestra


• Ultimate Frisbee


• Living near school

That's all I can think of at the moment; maybe I'll add more later. By the way, David, you're slacking. Write some posts.