Austria--day 5

After all our walking the past couple of days, today we took it easy. The girls were still kind of jet-lagged, and slept in this morning, and the "old people" and I just enjoyed sitting around watching Mia (my 2yr-old cousin--yes, really my cousin as in my uncle's daughter) and chatting with Omi.


Michi had a special dinner lined up for us so, in the afternoon, we killed some time while waiting to be fed by checking out the local mall.

One thing that has really changed since the last time I visited Austria (18yrs ago) is how globally-standardized fashion has become. The last time I visited, the clothing trends in Europe were just a little different than they were in America. Now, not only are all the Austrian teens wearing the exact same clothes as their American counterparts, they are buying them at the exact same stores. The mall we went to had all same things we are familiar with at home from the European-based stores like H&M and Benneton to good old American Crocs and Converse. (We did see a crazy high-top thong sandle that was pretty unique though.) The one visible exception to this standardization was the Tracht (traditional folk clothing).

I have never seen so many young people wearing dirndls and lederhosen! Even little Mia had her own pair. Emily wanted a dirndl immediately, but all the ones we had seen were way too expensive--I'm talking almost as much as her plane ticket! At the mall we found two stores selling more budget friendly Trachten, but unfortunately not in Emily's size. They did have some lederhosen swim trunks that I tried to talk Grandpa into buying, but he went with an edelwiess embroidered polo shirt instead. More classy, I must admit, but not as much fun. And while we looked at the clothing, Natalie found something she thought was more interesting--stuffed animals.


In the evening Michi took us to dinner at a Buschenschank. ("Buschenschank started to spring up in the 18^th century when Emperor Joseph II decreed that owners of vineyards were allowed to sell wine as well as non-alcoholic beverages and cold food on their own premises. If the Buschenschank is open, the custom is to display a "Buschen", or bunch of evergreen boughs, over the entrance.")

The food was delicious--traditional breads, cold meats, salads with plenty of pumpkin seed oil and, of course, yummy desserts. Natalie was battling a stomach ache and didn't really feel up to eating, but Emily tried a few new things. Looks like she liked it, doesn't it?