Hallstatt

We found some extremely bad coffee during our travels. Darryl had a cup at the Festung in Salzburg and agreed with me that it tasted (as reported in a Blog in November last year) like boiled kitty litter. How do they do this?

As Baristas no longer exist in any place we have seen – and all coffee is produced with the press of a button – it must be the coffee they use. Do they recycle the grounds and put them through more than once?

Don’t they ever drink their own coffee? Surely one would only have to try it to realise that it is poisonous enough to kill a NSW Politician.

Beats me. I had three coffees on the last trip that went straight into my “10 worst coffees of all time gallery” – and they have to be really bad to get there. Two I could not actually drink – and when I need caffeine I will drink almost anything.

I wasn’t sure about Nespresso machines when they first appeared but have grown quite fond of them. You can be guaranteed a cup of consistently good coffee. And anyway – our Jura is a push button machine so I can’t be too snobbish about the whole business. But we did take a long time to find the coffee that suited us best.

Yesterday was very windy and at times was quite cool. I spoke to the Ducks in Stadtpark and asked them if they were prepared for winter but they were non-committal. I am sure they are – after all it happens to them every year and while they may not like it much they have probably gotten used to it.

I am sure they would envy their Ducky relatives in Australia where it doesn’t get very cold at all. Although recently they would have a lot of trouble getting the red dust out of their feathers.

I am buying a new telephoto lens for my camera so that I can get close-ups of the Ducks. I know you love these photos so will let you have a selection in winter.

We are all looking forward to winter and fires. I have immense piles of firewood in the lounge room and some emergency reserves in the basement and it won’t be long now before we have our first fire and test the new Funkenschutz.

The most interesting part will be seeing if the fire brings the cats together. While relationships have improved markedly there is still much hissing and snarling. This may be overcome on cold nights when the cats lie in front of the fire and – of necessity – will be very close together.

At some stage Sissi will get too close to the fire and get singed. This is inevitable. I am keeping a bucket of water handy so that I can douse her when then need arises.

It is news day and – as usual – the Austrians have been finding innovate ways to merge with infinity. I will not bore you with the details and will merely provide the headlines.

Driver in Hospital after Pig Truck Smash
Sore loser butchers Billiards rival
Teenage cleaner sets himself ablaze
Pensioner burns himself to death smoking in bed

There are of course many more – but many of the protagonists lacked imagination and fell off mountains or under tractors – and this is very old hat here.

Liz and Darryl have gone to Budapest and a few other places and will be back next Monday. I will take them to Melk Abbey – I haven’t been there for…let me see….three weeks.