On our weekend getaway in Vienna, we photographed some beautiful places in the city and at Schoenbrunn. The items below definitely are not so nice. Here are some of the funny and strange things we saw instead...
We went past the Prater Amusement Park (one of the oldest in the world) and noticed this bank machine ("geldautomat" in German). Is somebody trying to tell us something, perhaps a scathing message about gross consumption? What exactly is in the pig's right, um, hoof? And why is he winking at us??? I have absolutely no explanation as to why the bank, neighborhood, or city would erect and keep this thing, but there it is!
OK, so these chips (sorry, crisps) are not Austrian, but they decided to stock them so they're fair game. The brand is called Real Crisps and they certainly know how to get attention. They offer flavors (sorry, flavours) like Roast Ox and Ham & English Mustard (seen below). It's a little hidden, but the black bag with the picture of a rugby player is a flavor called Real Strong Cheese & Onion. Probably want to brush the teeth after those. By the way, they deliver worldwide!
We're still on food and drink, but this time it's not the item itself, but the presentation. We were at Wine & Co looking for some Austrian wine to take back with us. (Gruner Veltliner is a favorite of ours because it tastes great and is such a bargain.) Frau A noticed that the "international" section had the wines from Germany! OK, technically that's correct, but we think it's just a jab at their larger neighbors.
We had already tried "Pope Beer" (Papst Bier) but since Benedict XVI hails from Germany, the Austrians had to do something. So they have the Twelve Apostles Wine. The label also says "Papst Besuch Wien 2007" so perhaps it was vinted for the Pope's visit to Vienna that year? It's a "special edition" per the label, and at six euros for the bottle you at least know God isn't trying to rip you off.
Finally, we have a little something from the Technical Museum. We saw their awesome exhibit of musical instruments, but they also had extended section on music in general. In this case, one room focused on music and pop culture, and it had "artifacts" from various pop stars or concerts. The most interesting was this: the McDonalds garbage that 50 Cent threw out after eating his meal on tour in 2004. What can you say to this? A museum immortalizing trash from 50 Cent?
