Apples of the Earth and Chicken of the Sea

Three times now here in Vienna I've been served dishes that combined potatoes and tuna and I must say they're pretty good, the tuna gnocchi being the best, kosher even if you leave off the parmesean (is that how it works?).  Also, the Esterhazytorte, hands down the best torte.  Leaves the Sachertorte in the dust, eating its hazelnut crumbs.  Am I considering leading the trend of elastic-waisted pants?  Why yes, yes I am.

Some other observations of Vienna:

1. At any given constructions site, at least three males though likely many more, ages varying from 3 yrs on up to 80, will be up against, even leaning over the fence to observe the work at hand.  Basically, construction sites draw crowds.  This happens in Germany too but the Germans are more demure, they stand back a ways and watch quietly.  Here though there is much more engagement.  It's like a team effort with the citizenry.  Yesterday I observed a mini lecture some man was giving his wife about the pavers being used on the Fussgangerzone refurbishment.  Granite is better because it is more magical?  Clearly my German vocabulary is limited by the fact that I've mostly only read documents on sensory perception theory and the Harry Potter books.

2. Fruit and bears I've never even heard of.

3. It's heartbreakingly hot here.  Like, right now, I'm in a crumpled heap on the floor, feeling sorry for myself.  At least Mississippi has air conditioning.

4. I've found that I can ward off the Haydns peddling concert tickets in the Altstadt with the same death-stare that I mastered and employed against the Lyndon LaRouche campaigners at UCLA.

5. Prater Park has trampoline cages!  I'm sure that's not what they're called, but, well they're hard to describe.  A bank of square trampolines separated by soft netting.  I'm guessing they're used for exercise but they look like a bouncy castle subdivision.  Ultimately, they're kind of creepy, each with a different 7 yr-old inside, shrieking as they jump up and down, a little too much like the lemur exhibit at the San Diego Zoo.

Okay!  Back to work!  I finished at the archives yesterday and now I am not allowed to leave my seat until I finish my abstract and my conference talk.  It's just me and the cracked Obama-Biden mug that I discovered with some delight in the cabinet of the apartment I'm subletting here against the world.