Tony and Sissi built their own house some years ago and they enjoy entertaining there. It was a beautiful day, almost Spring-like, and we ate outdoors under a canopy on the patio. Grilled ribs, chicken, and wurst...fresh salad...homemade spreads...good red wine...assorted veggies.
They have three boys, all adults. Nice kids. I don't want to sound like an old asshole, but there's something wrong with the way most kids aren't being taught normal social skills these days. (Note that I didn't say there was something wrong with the kids, but rather with their upbringing.) Whereas Tony and Sissi's kids were taught to be, and are still expected to be, friendly and hospitable to guests. I saw one quick example of one of the boys checking his phone for text messages while at the table, but the rest of the time the boys joined in the conversation like the adults they are, instead of what I usually see, which is adults who behave like spoiled five year olds who don't even pretend to be interested in the guests.
Tony is one of those guys who can do anything and who's very creative. He built the house, he has become a really good photographer, can cook like crazy, and is a great gardener. I walked around the yard and saw lots of herbs and vegetables, berries, a fruit tree or two, even a chestnut tree. I loved looking down on the ground near the table and seeing lettuce and basil growing there...
After dinner we had coffee, and this:
Fantastic grappa! Your mission: 1) find this 2) buy this 3) invite me over to help you drink this. A special request for my paisano Mod.
After lunch B and Sissi went into the sun porch (which ironically was shady) and laid down on the beds and chatted a while. Tony brought his laptop outside and we sat at the table looking at his photos. He's really good. He likes doing portraits and still lifes, and has experimented with some stuff using Photoshop...my favorites were a series of pics where a person is outside, standing in the foreground. Near the person is a frame through which one can see the background in focus, while the rest of the background outside of the frame is out of focus---as if the frame is acting like reading glasses or something to bring things within it into focus. He's going to enter these pictures in a show later in the year.
A flower in the garden, Tony and Sissi's house.
-----We drove back to Vienna to catch an outdoor movie. They show a lot of outdoor films in Vienna in the summer in all sorts of venues, but we were anxious to catch Billy Wilder's WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION on the roof of the fantastic (check out the pics, on this link:) Hauptbücherei (main library).
But when we schlepped our way to the top of the roof, the ticket seller told us the film was only in German, with no subtitles---B had read that the film was to be shown in English, with German subtitles. So, shit.
We went home and had the last of the chili, with some rice, and a decent but inexpensive red wine.
The day did not suck.
1 comment:
Sorry, my friend. But this is not available in the USA. Not can I find anyone that will ship it here.
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