Kaprun's Alpine Reservoirs

Kaprun's Alpine Reservoirs!

The elevator up the mountain

Look mommy.... a Glacier

That Alpine hut isn't so far....

Oh wait....

Maybe it is pretty far....

Damn that hut is high up!

We so in love!

A kiss at the top of each mountain!

Mmmmmm Traditional noms!

Austrian Knitting

Because it's not just all fossils in Austria! I have also been doing some knitting/designing while I'm in Austria. 

I'm knitting/designing some traditional Austrian Stützen (tall socks). They are knit in green because all Gosau (the place where I am working) socks are green (The colours denote where the wearer is from)!

The stitch patterns all reflect aspects of my thesis such as the sponges on the front or the corals on the side :) More info later when I have the pattern/socks finished!

I have also been knitting a shawl with some awesome yarn I found in Germany! I am extremely lucky to be one of the few PhD students that get to pick the area where I want to do my field work. For two summers now I have spent ~3 weeks in the small town of Gosau in the Austrian Alps. Everyday, on the way to my field site I pass by the beautiful glacial lake, Gosausee. When I saw this yarn, my mind lept to the beautiful colours of the lake and I knew I wanted a simple shawl that I could knit on the evenings with a simple watery pattern. 

An so now I am please to introduce The GOSAUSEE SHAWL

Loving Gosau

So, as I said in the last post, we are back in Gosau...and it has been amazing!  The last three evenings have been just getting better and better.  The first evening we went out for supper at the Kirchenwirt.  As we walked up we could hear the music playing and knew it was going to be good.  What we didn't know was how good it would be.  The first image is of Kasespatzle, the Austrian version of macaroni and cheese (but WAY BETTER).

The next photo is Rowan's meal, which was also delicious beyond belief... schnitzel and butter spatzle all drowned in a pfefferalm sauce (a creamy mushroom and pepper sauce).

While enjoying this food we were treated to live music and traditional dances by a group of young folks.  There were descriptions of each dance, and though it was all in german so we couldn't understand, they were still wonderful to see.  Particularly they had some "slappy" dances where the males would circle while slapping their legs and feet in rhythm (through the night these dances dissoled into silly slap-fighting "dances").  After the meal, the ladies went around offering a variety of schnapps to everyone that was eating there.  When most of the patrons had left, Rowan went up to a group of the performers that were still on the stage to ask for a sample of the special schnapps in a wee barrel (carried over the alps around the neck of a St. Bernard dog), and was treated to a dance... after which we both joined them for more drinking, singing, and some broken conversation.

The next evening was spent at a beer tent were a band was performing a variety of North American/UK songs and some people where two stepping to everything, even if it wasn't remotely country music.  We met some people that we had seen the night before and shared a table and many beers with them.  After some more beers and talking, we were invited to a grill party that they were hosting the following day.  It started pouring rain during our time at the beer tent, but thankfully there was a free taxi service that was able to bring us to where we were staying.... which ended up being right next door to the people we had met (gotta love small towns).

This bring us to last night and the grill party.  After a day in the field (yes, we've still been working amidst all of this), we walked through the back yard to the neighbours where a big fire was burning and coals were warming up on a hibachi.  The landlady from the place we were staying also came over with some very special schnapps that she had made herself.  It is a schnapps that is mostly made only in Austria and it comes from the fruit/pinecones of the Mountain Pine trees.  SO GOOD! It's basically an alcoholic version of maple syrup (if maple syrup was more of a drink)

Anyways, I think I'll end my stories there and leave everyone with a few photos from our field work days.

Back in Gosau

Some will probably recall from the last time we were in Austria that one of the places we visited was Gosau... a lovely alpen town that ends at a small lake called the Gosausee.  Our first day of field work on the surrounding mountains provided this wonderful view.

Summertime in Austria

Well, the weather stations may say that it is supposed to be raining and thunderstorms, but the hostess at the hotel said it was supposed to be summer-like starting yesterday.  She knew what she was talking about, it started a little misty, but soon was bright and sunny out:

Eisreisenwelt... Day 1

Proof that we are not fair weather scientists

Also, some really big beer in Munich!

Greetings from Germany and Austria

There will probably be more detailed, exciting, and photo filled posts to come, but since the first round of photos finally came off my camera, we figured it was time to do a quick post.

For those of you that aren't yet aware: Rowan and I are in Germany and Austria again.  Officially, the reason is to meet with Professors and do field work for Rowan's PhD... unofficially, we're here to enjoy as much wonderful beer, open air, and Alps as we can.  So, as a bit of a preview, here are a few snaps taken from the last couple days.