Hello From Chicago - Multiple Austrian Connections
By Susanne Pacher, Thu Dec 8th
So the two of us expatriate Austrians are staying at theArlington House Hostel, in itself an exciting experience, to beimmersed in this environment of young (and older) travellersfrom all over the world. We got going early again this morning, at about 7 am. In theshower room Linda and I were talking and joking to each other inour Austrian dialect, all of a sudden a woman in her mid to lateforties said, in German, "Am I hearing Austrian being spokenaround here?" It turns out that she is currently in Chicago with her 22 yearold daughter who is working as a nanny in Boston. The two ladiesgot away for the weekend to Chicago. Linda and I said howastounding it was to run into someone from Austria during ourtrip to Chicago.
Well, it was time to get breakfast so we headed east to ClarkStreet, one of the main restaurant areas in Lincoln Park. Westrolled northwards and bumped into a bakery / restaurant called"Austrian Bakery" which was open at this early hour. Of coursewe went inside and we saw a whole assortment of beautiful bakedgoodies, a variety of breads and rolls, and a glass display casefull of cakes and pastries. One thing that Austrian cuisine has is great pastry and greatbreads. As a matter of fact, Austria's loaves of rye bread, withtheir crispy crust, can hardly be found anywhere else, even inToronto, where you can generally find foods from all over theworld. You really have to go to a very specialized bakery thatwill make these types of loaves
from scratch. Well, this place had them, and talking to the owner we found outthat 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 thebakery had completed his apprenticeship in Graz, and both Lindaand I had gone to university in the same city. What acoincidence..... We enjoyed a beautiful breakfast with different types of breadsand sweets, and then we were approached by a young lady sittingat a table next to us who asked us in German if we were fromAustria. Of course we confirmed and she indicated that she wasfrom Salzburg and was currently studying medicine in Michigan. So within about an hour and a half we had met 3 Austrians from 3different Austrian provinces in Chicago. I sometimes go years inToronto before I run into anybody from my home country, so thisAustrian connection was definitely surprising..... Well, it's a cool, grey and rainy day, but we decided we woulddefy the weather and made plans to head to another one ofChicago's interesting neighbourhoods: the Pullman HistoricDistrict. About the author:Susanne Pacher is the publisher ofhttp://www.travelandtransitions.com. It deals with travel toforeign countries and is chock full of advice, tips, real lifetravel experiences, interviews with travellers, insights,cross-cultural issues, and many other features. Participate inour travel story contesthttp://www.travelandtransitions.com/contests.htm and win greatprizes, a fabulous cruise to the Amazon. Life is a Journey -Explore New Horizons. |
