Chicago, Screenz Internet Cafe, Saturday, October 21, 2005, 10:25
am
Hello from Chicago - Multiple Austrian Connections
So the two of us expatriate Austrians are staying at the Arlington
House Hostel, in itself an exciting experience, to be immersed in
this environment of young (and older) travellers from all over the
world.
We got going early again this morning, at about 7 am. In the shower
room Linda and I were talking and joking to each other in our Austrian
dialect, all of a sudden a woman in her mid to late forties said,
in German, "Am I hearing Austrian being spoken around here?"
It turns out that she is currently in Chicago with her 22 year
old daughter who is working as a nanny in Boston. The two ladies
got away for the weekend to Chicago. Linda and I said how astounding
it was to run into someone from Austria during our trip to Chicago.
Well, it was time to get breakfast so we headed east to Clark Street,
one of the main restaurant areas in Lincoln Park. We strolled northwards
and bumped into a bakery / restaurant called "Austrian
Bakery" which was open at this early hour. Of course we
went inside and we saw a whole assortment of beautiful baked goodies,
a variety of breads and rolls, and a glass display case full of
cakes and pastries.
There we are in front of all the delicious goodies
One thing that Austrian cuisine has is great pastry and great breads.
As a matter of fact, Austria's loaves of rye bread, with their crispy
crust, can hardly be found anywhere else, even in Toronto, where
you can generally find foods from all over the world. You really
have to go to a very specialized bakery that will make these types
of loaves from scratch.
Well, this place had them, and talking to the owner we found out
that he hails from the same province as Linda and me: "Steiermark"
or "Styria" (in English), whose capital is Graz, Austria's
second largest city. The young man who owned the bakery had completed
his apprenticeship in Graz, and both Linda and I had gone to university
in the same city. What a coincidence.....
We enjoyed a beautiful breakfast with different types of breads
and sweets, and then we were approached by a young lady sitting
at a table next to us who asked us in German if we were from Austria.
Of course we confirmed and she indicated that she was from Salzburg
and was currently studying medicine in Michigan.
So within about an hour and a half we had met 3 Austrians from
3 different Austrian provinces in Chicago. I sometimes go years
in Toronto before I run into anybody from my home country, so this
Austrian connection was definitely surprising.....
Well, it's a cool, grey and rainy day, but we decided we would
defy the weather and made plans to head to another one of Chicago's
interesting neighbourhoods: the Pullman
Historic District.
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Chicago' splendour |
Sculptures in front of the Wrigley |
"Corn cobs" |
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Related Articles:
Hello from Chicago - First Impressions
Hello from Chicago - What a fabulously
photogenic city!
Hello from Chicago - Multiple Austrian
connections
Hello from Chicago - A personal tour
of the Chicago Cultural Center
Hello from Chicago - A visit to the
Pullman Historic District
Hello from Chicago - Chinatown and
Second City
Hello from Chicago - The Field Museum
and "Pompeii - Stories from an Eruption"
Here is our brand-new Chicago
Travel Guide
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