Kleine Wäschemaschine

I have found that the appliances here tend to be smaller.  The standard size of an oven, fridge, and washing machine seems to be about third smaller than the size of their US counterparts.  Now, most of these don’t give me much trouble.  It forces me to keep my fridge cleaned out and have only the necessities, and I honestly don’t plan on cooking a 10 lbs. turkey any time soon either.  The only machine that truly bugs me is the washing machine.  You can see in the photos below just how small they are.  This is the actual size of a penny in relation to my washing machine:

When we lived in Texas, as sad as it is to admit this, I usually only had to do laundry once every two weeks.  Then, it only took me a day to get it done!  Now, I do laundry about every two or three days.  This is compounded by the fact that the washing machine is also the dryer.  When it gets done washing, it automatically starts drying.  It’s a novel idea for small apartments and RV’s, but it goes about it an odd way.  There are no drying vents, so it dries by hot condensation…it simply steam dries the clothes.  When you take the clothes out, they actually feel damp for a minute or two until the steam dissipates.  So, not only can I fit in about a third of the clothes into this machine, but the entire cycle takes around 4 hours. 

I didn’t understand just how bad it was until we went home for Christmas.  I went downstairs to do laundry, and I divided my clothes into my usual 15 piles preparing for the small girth of the washer I had been accustomed to for the past 4 months.  I put in one pile…hmmm…I think I could add another.  I put in the second…yep, I can keep going.  I put in the next and the next…I added clothes until I finally put in the last…all in one load.  The total time for me to do this load in Vienna: 136 hours, Morrison, TN: 2 hours.  Ok, that may be a slight exaggeration, but it certainly seems like it!  And what’s worse is I don’t even have children yet.  I’m afraid I may end up moving my living quarters directly into the wash room when another human being is adding to my pile! 

Maybe this is why so many Europeans look like they haven’t washed or ironed their clothes in weeks.  I simply believe that their mothers/wives have gone on strike.  Most people think that the WGA strike was the Writers’ Guild of America demanding compensation for DVD and internet production.  Nope…it was the Washers’ Guild of Austria demanding larger machines and faster cycles.  Let’s all hope for my sake that negotiations go in favor of the Washers!

Salzburg, Our Second Home

From January 29 to February 3 we got to experience our second home in Europe – Salzburg, Austria.  I call it our second home because we will be spending approximately 1-2 months there out of the year for Jeremy to play at various festivals and celebrations!  It is only a 3 hour drive from Vienna with lots of pretty views along the way.  Salzburg is the birthplace of Mozart, and we were there for Mozart Week. 

Salzburg is a very quaint and idyllic little city.  It sits right at the foot of the Alps, so the scenery is beautiful.  Even though it is the middle of winter and all the trees are bare, it is still wonderful to see.  Some of you might know that this is the city where the world famous “The Sound of Music” was filmed.  We will be staying here all of August, so I am anxious to see the city in full bloom during the summer.  The bed & breakfast we stayed at had a wonderful view of Untersberg, the closest mountain peak.

We were able to do a little touring in between Jeremy’s concerts/rehearsals and my ill-timed cold.  A lot of the tourist attractions were closed because they were out of season, but it was simply fascinating to just walk around and take in this old city!  One of the main sights of Salzburg is the Hohensalzburg Fortress, which sits up on a huge hill overlooking the city.  Apparently it is one of the largest medieval castles in Europe.  You can take a lift up to it and get a breath-taking view of the city. 

I enjoyed just walking down Getreidegasse Lane too.  This is a long, very narrow, cobblestone street where the peasants used to live back in the day. It is known for its characteristic iron signs that hang over the stores.  Now, it is transformed to the premiere shopping area of Salzburg.  You can get everything from Louis Vuitton to McDonald’s!  

We also discovered Café Fürst, which is the original maker of the chocolate Mozartkugeln that Jeremy and I love.  You can only get the originals in Salzburg, and they come in blue & silver foil instead of the red & gold found in Vienna.  They were FANTASTIC!  We ate probably 3 dozen of these bad boys, and I don’t regret any of the extra weight I put on!    

Unfortunately, since I was sick, I was not able to get out much in the cold weather, so I got to spend some quality time with my bunnies in the hotel room (yes, they came with me).  While in the hotel room I really came to appreciate our Slingbox that allows us to watch American TV from our computer.  There’s nothing like sitting in a hotel in Europe and watching a little Lifetime!  In August, I promise I’ll take a more bountiful supply of photos, but for now, this is all I have! 

Click here for more photos!