Austrian-style fun

Well, I've been talking about it long enough so I thought it was about time.... I went into town and tried on dirndl Friday! In case you aren't sure, dirndl is the traditional style woman's dress from southern Germany/Austria. Think St. Pauli's Girl or Oktoberfest-- yup, that's it!

Amy, Audrey, Joe, and I went to find a good store and found one with a gorgeous purple dirndl in front... but I saw the price on the dress-- 880 euro!! So much for buying one! I thought. We went in anyway and I was surprised how relaxed the staff was-- a group of English speaking 20-somethings around expensive clothes never goes without all sorts of fuss at home. They simply pointed us towards the room and left us be. There were all sorts of cute, pretty, and awful dirndl and all sorts of prices-- from 150 euro for a short length dirndl to the painful 880 euro for the pretty thing in the window. I grabbed an armful and went to try on... but I felt a bit lost-- how do you tie the apron? do I unbutton each button to put it on or can it flip over my head? How's the undershirt work? Just in case any of you find yourselves trying on dirndl-- unbutton each button, there are funny snaps on the skirt-- you did not rip it, the undershirt just feels funky, and tie silk aprons in back. :)

The first dirndl I tried on was very traditional-- plaid with a higher neckline. It was very much what I think of when I think of old Germany-- like when everybody wore these!! The next dress I tried on was very Christmas. Black bodice with red flowers and a red striped apron. Very pretty! But soo Christmas-y. Then I tried on a grey and light green dress. Omy. SO pretty! A bit more modern aka the neckline dips a bit. It looked so nice, the price wasn't bad.... I'm preparing to become the wacky German teacher. I own a dirndl! :)

We did another thing we've been needing to do for quite a while... we went out to eat! I know, trivial but it was long overdue. We had no idea where to go, which explains why we haven't gone out! We even got online and looked into it. We finally decided to go to Weiβes Roβ, a traditional German/Austrian guest house/restaurant. Best. Choice. Ever. The food was absolutely awesome and the prices were great too. I am glad I found it-- I'm taking the family in a month! I had the tastiest Cordon Bleu! Mmmmm!

Another bit of shopping I did this week to add to my classroom someday-- I bought 3 children books from an author that Katharina recommended and we watched a bit of a documentary on. His name is Janosch and his most-beloved character is a wooden duck striped like a tiger, resulting in the creative name Tigerente (Tiger-duck).

That's been my week of fun! On the menu for this week: Monday- test in Sprachkurs. Tuesday- test in Grammatik. Wednesday- jump around. Friday- Krampus parade. Saturday- Venice!

Alles liebe!