Adventures with languages
What is Kaiserschmarrn? Kaiserschmarrn is a pancake with a difference. It’s a traditional Austrian and Bavarian dessert served in most cafes and mountain huts (Almhütten). It originated as a favourite dish of the Emperor (Kaiser) Franz Josef I of Austria, who lived in Vienna about 100 years ago. It’s a thick scrambled pancake with raisins,…
Bilingual dictionaries can be dangerous things, we were told at school – especially if you’re still at beginner level in one of the languages and you haven’t yet developed a “feel” for it. On the other hand if you know the languages well, dictionaries can be useful and interesting. If I look up a word…
If you look back to your childhood and teenage years, can you see where your interests, passions or even your career, started? We’re always hearing stories about people like Andy Murray and how they started playing tennis aged three, so it’s interesting to think about yourself and what you liked to do then. I thought…
In my recent blog post “From revolutionary to biscuit entrepreneur”, I mentioned how exciting it is to see a friend being interviewed on TV. It’s also exciting to see a friend’s name on the ...
Vienna sightseeing The Schönbrunn Palace was on our list of “must dos” when we planned our trip to Vienna last summer. We had 6 days in the city and planned quite a bit of sightseeing as well as the ...
Eating out in Austria If you’re planning a trip to Austria, it’s useful to know the special names of a few foods and traditional dishes you’ll find in Austrian cuisine. On my own first visit, I ...
French markets in the UK For a short time, in a small space, you can be in the UK but pretend you’re in France. You just need to visit one of these French markets coordinated and organized by Muriel ...
“Es zieht” and other graphic German words Literally, “Es zieht” means “It’s pulling.” Air is being pulled from outside the building or vehicle and causing a draught. There are so many graphic words in German, especially the compound nouns. Think of “Staubsauger” (vacuum cleaner; literally, dust sucker), or “Handschuhe” (gloves; literally, hand shoes). They’re easy…
In mid-April this year we felt the first strong spring sunshine. From then on we could look forward to about 6 months of longer daylight and warmer temperatures. Annual celebrations like Christmas and Easter punctuate the darker days and colder weather, but then in our family we have birthdays to celebrate in the warmer months. …
