A little cultural treat

Thanks Calamity,

Now we must rhyme something with SECHS....

I loved the German numbers - full of SECHS and ZEHN - which I promptly compared with SEX and SIN!!!!! (big grin)

I never think of myself as being superstitious - but, I keep coming across this in my wallet for the past twenty plus years =



My edelweiss, picked for me by a wonderful lady.

I hadn't heard of Edelweiss as a good luck charm, but some Scots like to carry a sprig of white heather in their wallets.

Thanks for all the little goodluck bits.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful year to come, full of family warmth, delightful surprises and extraordinary moments of bliss.

Welcome 2005!

sechs = sex ... when we visited with ehbeth in germany some years ago, her "liebe onkel hans-werner" (they had a great time squabbling and insulting each other in german !) would send her to the baker's to get 'sex broetchen' to the great amusement of all. hbg

sometimes it doesn't pay to have a father with a good memory





so what did i do?
i marched into the bakery and said, in my most clear, precise and not quiet voice

"Sechs, bitte"

Piffka, in the old days an Edelweiss was considered a
very special gift, as it only grows high up on the Alps
and one has to climb quite a distance to find one. So naturally
it was a treasure.

danon, I bet it was a special lady

hamburger, Rachel, my 9 year old giggles every time
she hears "sechs" pronounced.

Yes, welcome 2005 - we're ready!

Cruel, ehBeth, cruel!

ehBeth,
You should not feel bad about the stories. Let me tell you a true story about the time my MIL sent me to buy a broom!!
She told me how to say= I want a broom - in German. I went to the merchant, following her directions, and found the store - went in and asked if they had a bar!! Broom=besel. Bar=beisel. (in Vienna of course, only, - I am not sure if beisel refers to a bar anywhere else in the world. Vienna has it's own language.) As it turned out - naturally, - the young lady spoke perfect English - so I bought the broom and proudly took it back to my (then) MIL.

Another time - in Innsbruck, actually in Hall in Tirol - a suburb - we checked in to a really neat gasthaus and a little after dark I was asked to go down and get a cold plate and two Pepsi's. After practicing how to order these things I went down to get the items. It was in the bar, and finally after standing for what seemed forever, the waitress said something to me in German - I had no idea what she said, so I ordered the cold plate and two Pepsi's - in German - like I was told. The entire room became silent. The young lady said something else to me. I have no idea what she said. So, I ordered the COLD PLATE and TWO PEPSI'S again - although not so loud - because it was VERY quiet at this time in the bar. The lady actually asked me to repeat the order again. I did. She disappeared for a long time - the conversations around me started again. Finally, after a very long time the waitress appeared with a tray about three feet across filled with cold cuts - set it down on the bar - and then pulled out TWO huge TWO liter bottles of Pepsi and set them down by the HUGE platter of meat. After deciding that I had had a trick played on me I payed for the platter and drinks only to have the waitress - with the hugh platter of cold cuts on her shoulder turn to me and say in PERFECT English " Oh, would you please bring the Pepsi's?" The whole room broke up in laughter and as I departed with the drinks, I smiled and gave them all a bow.

Good stories - huh?????

True story.

Nice story, danon!

cultural treat
a BEISL is a cosy little neighbourhood pub where you can find drink and sustenance, and in the evening sometimes a little musical entertainment. when we were in vienna in 2001 we had many of our late-evening meals in a cosy little BEISL . hbg

cultural treat
da kommts halt ins BEISL um einen kaffee mit schlag und dazu an stampler obstler. you are all invited ! hbg

I'd rather go "zum Heurigen"

No hamburger, explain to the Americans what a
"stamperl Obstler" is, hehe.

I'd say it's a big shot glass of 90 proof fruit juice!!

Mmmmmm

Short story=
In the mid 80's, I borrowed a five gallon copper still from some older friends who had it during the depression. I made a really tasty Slivovitz from some ripe plums that I had previously fermented. It was for the fun of it only - took a loooong time to make about a half gallon. grin.....

danon : you sure seem to know what to do with ripe plums ! did the 'revenooers' close in on you yet ? ... OBSTLER = heavy duty destilled fruit juice, usually kirsch, plum(slivovitz) or pear. hbg

hamburger, No, the 'revens' did not raid me. I found it to be a fun thing to do once - but, it's a heck of a lot cheaper and easier to just go to the local package store and buy a bottle... lol

Nuther quick story=
I live in a dry county in the lower middle of the "Bible Belt". There is a small community located near the center of the county that in the late 60's consolidated themselves and promptly voted themselves "wet"!! They are all very well off people now. It is the package store I go to and have gotten to know the people there. I was told that their daily gross is about $3500. A really good business and very well located. Oh, about a mile or so from the store is International Paper mill.


I could not at first remember the year that I attended the New Year's Concert in Vienna. I did remember that it was the first year that Lorin Maazel conducted and everyone was wondering if he, being American, would conduct with the 'feeling' that all Vienna loves in their music. He was very successful during that first performance in winning the hearts of all. I looked at Google and the year was 1980.

"1980: The Yearly Change
When Boskovsky was forced to relinquish the concert of 1980, the Philharmonic chose Lorin Maazel, an internationally prominent conductor, to direct the concerts through Jan. 1, 1986. In true Viennese fashion, the multi-talented Maazel also took up his violin on occasion during the concerts as a tribute to the traditions of Strauss and Boskovsky. "

After the performance we walked the few blocks to the Hotel Sacher where we had lunch. Maazel walked in soon after we arrived and all in the small room stood and applauded him as he entered. His performance conducting the orchestra that day held all the magic one associates with the timeless music involved. It was a good day.

Thanks for pointing out why the Edelweiss is considered lucky and is so rare, CJ. That makes sense. According to popular lore, the reason the white heather is lucky is that it doesn't grow on the gravesites of Highlanders. It is also rare, shades of purple being the typical color for heather. (Hmmm, which means purple heather can grow on the Highlanders' graves and the graves are everywhere?)

I looked up the Latin name for Edelweiss (Antennaria) and checked to see if we have any in the USA. I know the relatives of Edelweiss as "Pussytoes." As far as I know, they're not known for anything lucky.

we watched the new year's concert with walter cronkite from vienna yesterday. he also visited one of the cafes that we enjoyed(of courrse, i can't remember the name). a toronto travel agency has a special to the end of february : return flight toronto>vienna on austrian airlines and two nights hotel for less than C $ 700 ! we feel like taking off - but probably won't. hbg

If I may correct, you Piffka, the Latin name of Edelweiss is Leontopodium alpinum (there are a number of varieties, most of them ornamentals), a plant of the family Asteraceae.



http://plantsdatabase.com/go/804/

A scientific proof read/summary (pdf-file) here: A review of Edelweiss

Just heard in the news that the 'Sternsinger' in our diocese (1.7 million Catholics) [to be correct: not that of my pasish, but where Lippstadt belongs] collected this year 30% more money than the 2.1 million € ($ 2.85 million) last year.

The money is collected - in whole Germany - for children projects worldwide.
In advance, already 420.000 € ($ 550.000) (from the all-over Germany collection) were given as starting aid for South Asia.

That's very commendable Walter.


Why don't you tell us a bit what's going on in Germany
right now during Carneval Season. Any pictures?

You mean Carneval, Fassenacht, Karneval, Fasching etc?

<What did I do that I'm punished so hard?>

Carnival in Germany