Back to food. Always back to food.
Michael may not be into song cues but he does love food. I love food, too, but maybe not quite as robustly (or I just don't want to be robust). That means that part of my personal balancing act when we travel is eating enough to keep him happy but not so much that I can't fit into my jeans for the long flight home.
Austria is trying my resolve. My pre-arrival research recommended that we engage in the age old Austrian tradition of eating coffee and cake. No problem, you think. Coffee pared with cake is pretty standard, right? Sure. Once a day. After dinner. Maybe in lieu of lunch on a rare occasion. And maybe for breakfast when you first move out of your parents' house and you think, "Ha, I am a grown up now. I can eat, say, CAKE for breakfast if I want to and nobody can stop me."
For most of us, however, this does not become a habit. Not so in Austria.
Coffee and cake are apparently consumed ALL DAMN DAY. Much like my explanation to Michael when all the cookies disappear in one day....Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snack. Here coffee and cake ARE breakfast, a late morning snack, lunch, and a late afternoon snack (nearly an appetizer for heaven's sake). And then an after dinner dessert. Every time you turn around people are sitting around drinking coffee and eating cake.
And just to be clear I don't mean English tea biscuits. I mean CAKE. Sachertortes. And Strudels. And well this stuff:
Austria 1 Georgia 0
Michael may not be into song cues but he does love food. I love food, too, but maybe not quite as robustly (or I just don't want to be robust). That means that part of my personal balancing act when we travel is eating enough to keep him happy but not so much that I can't fit into my jeans for the long flight home.
Austria is trying my resolve. My pre-arrival research recommended that we engage in the age old Austrian tradition of eating coffee and cake. No problem, you think. Coffee pared with cake is pretty standard, right? Sure. Once a day. After dinner. Maybe in lieu of lunch on a rare occasion. And maybe for breakfast when you first move out of your parents' house and you think, "Ha, I am a grown up now. I can eat, say, CAKE for breakfast if I want to and nobody can stop me."
For most of us, however, this does not become a habit. Not so in Austria.
Coffee and cake are apparently consumed ALL DAMN DAY. Much like my explanation to Michael when all the cookies disappear in one day....Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snack. Here coffee and cake ARE breakfast, a late morning snack, lunch, and a late afternoon snack (nearly an appetizer for heaven's sake). And then an after dinner dessert. Every time you turn around people are sitting around drinking coffee and eating cake.
And just to be clear I don't mean English tea biscuits. I mean CAKE. Sachertortes. And Strudels. And well this stuff:
I thought I couldn't be anymore surprised after nearly a week now. But there we were at the Naschmarkt early this morning and, of course, needed to stop for coffee and something. In the pastry shop window we saw something that looked like a big, old, chocolate-coated, dairy queen cone dusted with snow. Hmmmmm. We thought. Guess we should see what that is so we bought one from the slightly amused looking woman at the shop.
And what was inside of it under all the snowy coconut and chocolate?
Whipped cream. An ice cream cone filled with whipped cream coated in chocolate. I have to say that my throat still tightens a little bit just at the thought of all that sugar.Austria 1 Georgia 0
Hah! It's part dessert, part practical joke...maybe that's why the clerk looked bemused...
ReplyDelete"You guys...I sold another Tourist Cone today...!"