Chapter 34 - Venezuelan Party

There is just no end to the good food over here! Hotwell has employees from many nations. Three from Venezuela (and two of their spouses) hosted a party last week featuring Venezuelan food and music. Our hosts were Guillermo and his wife, Daniella; Louis; and Liliana and her husband, Daniel. They cooked the food which was delicious!

Hosts Daniella and Guillermo


Here are pictures of some of the food they prepared.
At the top is grilled cheese; in the middle a type of
cornbread pancake; on the bottom a chicken vegetable soup.


Fried bananas


Shredded chicken, Spanish rice, black beans (to die for!)


Ljuba and me


Franklin (in town from Gabon) and Vladimir


Barbara's husband, Luka, holding Philip, Drazen, Barbara,
Yang and Nebojsa


Kreso and Tania liked the Venezuelan music.


Ante and one of his sons, Marko


Host Daniel behind bar, Spica, Ljuba, Milos, Barbara and Milijana


Bob and Zvonimir


Spica and his wife, Svetlana


Hostesses Liliana and Daniella with Spica


Andrea and Marija


Between rain showers some people went outside to cool off.
Here's Barbara and Buddy with son, Sid.


Milos, Petra, Mena and Veronica. Milos and Mena are
Milijana and Bora's children, Petra is Kreso and Tania's
daughter, Veronica is Guillermo and Daniella's daughter.


Milijana with Marija and Dudo's daughter, Mara, and Mena.


Sooner or later a soccer game always breaks out.


Drazen enjoying the soccer ... and the beer.

Chapter 33 - Fun in Vienna

We had fun in Vienna when Kate came to Austria. St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Kunsthistorische Museum and Schonbrunn Palace were the main places we visited, but we also did a lot of eating and observing people. Thought I'd share a few of the extra pictures with you.

We had lunch in one of the outdoor cafes.


Kate enjoyed her first wienerschnitzel, the national
dish of Austria.


I love the street performers in Vienna. Most of them,
like this lady and the guys in the following two
pictures, stand frozen in a pose.






I tried but never discovered where this guy was going.


In the 19th century, the main course of the Danube River was straightened to allow larger vessels to dock. In the 1970s a parallel channel was cut that created a long, artificial island known as the Donauinsel ("Danube Island"). Today Donauinsel is a haven for cyclists, rollerbladers and beach goers during the daytime, and a party place in the evening with numerous bars, restaurants, discos and food stalls. Donauinsel is about 13 1/4 miles long and from 75 to 227 yards wide.

Donauinsel is centered near the underground station,
and as you can see, graffitti exists everywhere.


You can rent pedal boats, but Bob didn't want to.


There are many different types of restaurants up and
down the boardwalk. We tried Mexican which was good.


There are rides, and you can see the bridge crossing
the Danube.

Chapter 32 - Salsa Party Two

Last weekend Sigma hosted another salsa party in the restaurant/club. The Cuban band was excellent, and lots of people enjoyed the salsa dancing. No, you don't even have to wonder, Bob doesn't do salsa (or any other dance requiring specific moves). No one's going to get him out on the floor unless it's "Old Time Rock and Roll" by Bob Seger or "Honky Tonk Women" (our song) by the Rolling Stones. We just drank beer and watched.

I love the way Milos is trying to read the poster.


The salsa band from Cuba.


Kreso and Tania are always dancing.


Like Bob, Vanja enjoys watching the dancers.


Ljuba and Vanja's bride, Martina


In the distance behind the lights, you can see a
row of clocks. They show the time at Hotwell offices
around the world, including Houston and Beijing.


They're busy behind the bar.


Many people bring their children to these events.
This is Milijana with Milos and Mena.


Petra and Veronica are little cuties.


Mostly the kids sit around, watch the dancers and
have a snack. I've never seen any of them act up
at an adult event.

Chapter 31 - Kindergarten Program

Okay, American friends, listen to this! Austria is the place to have children! When you have a baby here, you get 12 to 18 months paid parental leave. One parent can take it all, or they can split it. Parents get about 350 Euros per month for each child's maintenance, and of course all health care is free. Taxes pay for it of course, but it's nice to see children's needs and family bonding being a priority.

Kindergarten doesn't mean the same thing here as it does in the States. Here kindergarten is for one to five year olds although not all schools take children younger than three. The one in Klingenbach is smaller since the village is smaller; hence, they have three, four and five year olds. There are larger villages one to three kilometers from here who take younger children.

So kindergarten is a combination daycare and pre-school for children under six, run by the Austrian government. Almost all parents send their kids even if the mother is a stay-at-home mom. At the age of six children begin first grade (must turn six before September 1, just like Texas). Kindergarten costs vary, but a fee of about 30 Euros a month is common for children three through five. School lasts about 11 months of the year so for one month you're on your own for childcare if you're a working mom. I think the hours are approximately eight to four. The school in Klingenbach has three ladies running it; I think one is the teacher and the other two are assistants, but I could be wrong on that. All I'm sure of is that one of the ladies is in charge.

A couple of weeks ago the kindergarten in Klingenbach had their end-of-year program, and I went with Ljuba. The children were adorable, as all kids are. They sang songs in Croatian (most people in this area are ethnic Croatian) and German. The children tend to speak Croatian at home, then learn German at the kindergarten. They learn a little English, but serious English education begins later in primary school. Near the end of the program they sang "Old McDonald Had a Farm" in English which delighted me. It reminded me of my kids and grandkids which made me misty of course.

The program was held at the Klingenbach Community Center and had over 100 parents, grandparents, siblings, and other relatives and friends in attendance. Several were taking videos and still pictures. They offered pies, cakes and cookies for a fundraiser (just like America), and of course soft drinks, beer and wine (this is Austria after all).

The program was charming, like so many I've gone to through the years. Some children sang loudly and off-key, one child cried the whole time, they knew the songs and their lines in the skit, and the audience cheered and applauded them effusively.

Sorry the pictures are so dark, but I didn't want to intrude on the parents who were videoing the performance.

The kids on the right in the red shirts are three;
the ones on the left side are four; the group in
the middle are five.






This was a song about sleeping and awake cats.


The skit was about looking for friends among the animals.


These are two of the children in the program later in the
evening. Milos and Mena are the children of two of our
friends at Hotwell. Mena is the one wearing the silver
crown on the left in the previous picture. She was the
star of the skit and didn't miss a line.

Chapter 30 - View from Stephansdom Tower, Vienna

After touring the cathedral and the catatombs, Bob and Kate wanted to go up to the top of the South Tower. I went along and told myself I'd be fine. In the elevator we chatted with the operator who told us he does his job for nine hours every day. (No, I'm not going to do a bad pun about ups and downs of the job.) As soon as we exited the elevator, I felt funny - dizzy, lightheaded, weak-kneed - all the symptoms of the acrophobic. But I soldiered on, just grasped the handrails with a death grip! Luckily they have it screened side and top; they don't want anyone to fall ... or jump. What a mess that would make in the lovely cobblestoned Stephansplatz.

The roof of Stephansdom is so steep that it doesn't have to be cleaned; the rain keeps it clean, and snow seldom covers it. The South Tower, affectionately called "Steffl" (Steve) by the Viennese, is 445 feet high and offers a magnificent view. There are two or three levels on top of the tower - I'm not sure. I sat down as soon as I could, and the foolhardy and reckless Bob and Kate ventured higher. They took all the pictures.



Look how steep the roof is. It has a beautiful design,
too. Bet there were no handrails when they built that roof!




I gradually regained my equilibrium as I sat on
the step. Behind me is the door to the bells.










Brave girl to go so high!