This little piggy went to market...

But these little piggies stayed at home and were so hot they couldn't be bothered to do anything except loll about in the mud!

Wir fahren fahren fahren auf der Autobahn...

Last weekend found us on a wine-tasting trip to Styria (Steiermark) in south east Austria.

We had a great couple of days with our friends Gerhard and Lotte who took us around and showed us the sights, smells and tastes of "the heart of Austria".

Here are some of them:

We visited woodland pigs (more of them later), a bear sanctuary on the Slovenian border (their penchant for carrots was remarkable) and a deer farm in near Graz.

During our trip we visited several Weingüter (vineyard) including

• Weingut Tement
  
• Weingut Birnstingl
• Weingut Erich & Walter Polz
  

We even found some wine varieties which neither of our jaded palettes had ever tasted! Imagine that if you can!

Morillon - which is a variety of Chardonnay and very tasty

Schilcher - very pink and VERY sharp (apparently, in murder cases in times gone by, it was taken into consideration when sentencing whether the defendant was intoxicated on Schilcher!)

Sämling - normally served colder than other white wines, and referred to by Gerhard as a "für die Frauen". We quite like it!

Sounds of summer

I have been really busy and a tad distracted recently and the hot weather has been sapping the energy from my weary body to the point where posting a blog entry has almost made me swoon at the thought of the expended energy (that's my excuse for my laziness anyway).

Today I have been sat working by the noisy open window (possibly more of that later) of our lounge with the swallows wheeling and darting above the rooves outside. They shrieked as they fly by like excited children and reminded me of the (pleasant) din created by the kids in the street where I live in the UK as they run and squeal and laugh and run some more up and down and up and down. It made me feel a little homesick.

I noticed there was a lot of fast feathered activity around one particular area across the street and realised the there must be a nest under the flashing of one of the buildings immediately opposite. I decided to see if I could capture any of the aerial aerobatic antics with my camera.

Needless to say, I think I took about thirty photos and this is the only one that captured anything other than brick, slate, tin and sky.

I fear the people who live opposite may now think I am a peeping tom!

A pain in the neck

I mentioned earlier that i had pulled my shoulder attempting to rid the room of flies. Well, last night, it was quite painful and I didn't get a particularly good night's sleep.

Tim went out to the chemist down the road this morning while foraging for bread rolls for breakfast, looking for some potent unguent to apply that would remove the pain without frying my skin in the already searing temperatures.

What he came back with was Dolorex Spray which you spary on and leave to be absorbed. There aren't many ingredients but the only ones I recognise (the main one is Diathylaminsalicylat, which I have no idea what it is or does when it's at home, or abroad!) are menthol, camphor, glycerine and water.This stuff is fantastic though, it was cooling and a little numbing on the skin and the only slightly disconcerting side effect was that it made me smell of mothballs and old wardrobes. After a couple of applications during the day my shoulder feel almost normal again. I need some of this in my bathroom cabinet at home!!! Although after doing a quick "google" on it, it appears to only be available in the UK as an animal medicine!

Not a word!

The good, the bad and the ugly

Tasteful bits courtesy of Antonia and Tim. Thank you, yum!

Thou shallt have a fishy

Last Thursday was, for Tim a day of conference stuff so after a perusal of the guidebooks I decided to re-trace (more or less) yesterday's steps and visit the Shedd Aquarium in the Museum Campus, then back via the Millennium Park. The weather was bright and sunny like yesterday, but rather colder and the walk was brisk to prevent me freezing solid.

I've always been slightly obsessed with these places and feel the thrill like a little boy at the sight of the big fishes, the crocs and turtles squeal (inside) and tingle with unease when you finally do spot the spiders and cockroaches after peering round their glass enclosures for ages (I didn't take piccies of the insects ~ sorry).
I spent most of the day there amidst the screaming kids and "live" coral reef dive exhibits and finished my visit with a delicious meal in the (thankfully now) quiet restaurant in the basement with an amazing view over the lake.

I didn't have the heart to have the fish!

To everyone their own Gackerl Sakerl

There is a move from a government body in Vienna to make it illegal to allow your dog to foul the pavement and not clear it up. Speaking as someone who, within hours of arriving, had inadvertently stood in a small "deposit", I entirely agree that this is a reasonable request/demand.

The Austrians are a nation of dog lovers and there are apparently enough dogs in Vienna alone to produce 15 tons of, erm, droppings (as they are referred to here) every single month. Judging by the size of some of them though (the dogs, not the owners), this amount of matter could easily be achieved by a relatively small number of the more ginormous sized Hunds after an over indulgent dinner.

So far, this "clean as we go" initiative (sorry Gracie) doesn't yet have any great presence on the streets. The only presence I have seen on my travels (and photographed) so far is this charming little fella encouraging you take a "Sackerl" (small bag) for your dog's "Gackerl" (I'm not entirely sure of an exact translation for this, but I'm sure you get the idea and if you're a bit lost, the pictograms at the bottom should help you work it out). I think it's a shame that Mr Dog doesn't actually have any "Sackerl" attached to him to distribute as I expect he is supposed to have, I fear this may be wanton sabotage.

Being such a posh place, the populace of Vienna (like Nice in France) don't seem to think that such unpleasant laws/directives/initiatives apply to them. Therefore, if you do come to visit us, or this fair city, I'd encourage you to watch your step.

***kin' dogs!

There are dogs everywhere! Big dogs, small dogs, friendly dogs, snappy dogs, rat-sized dogs, donkey-sized dogs, yappy dogs, howling dogs, nervous dogs and stupid dogs.

They are on buses, on trains, on the underground, on the street, in restaurants, in cafes, in smart suits, in handbags, in trolleys, on laps, on seats, but mostly, on my nerves!

There are those of you who may know that I have asthma, and that my biggest allergy is, and always has been, dog. I don't make this up, as some people believe, I am allergic to dog!

I don't hold it against "them" (dogs per se (and apologies in advance to Tosca, Basil, Molly and Brin for any offense I may have already caused)) I hasten to add, and in social gatherings I often find it quite endearing (while simultaneously immensely irritating) to be singled out by the dog as the only person present who doesn't love them, but generally I do try to avoid them.

At home this allergy is fairly manageable. With judicious use of anti-histamines I can quite happily go to friends houses where there are dogs present and enjoy a fairly "normal" time, ensuring my inhaler is close to hand, that i don't come into contact with soft furnishings or upholstery, or of course, dog.

Here though, any surface I might come into contact with may be/is more than likely to be contaminated with purest essence of dog.

Thank goodness for ever present fast working pills!