Bieber Behaving Badly
Canadian pop phenomenon Justin Bieber left some memorable impressions on his European tour this spring. It began when the 19-year-old Bieber didn’t have legal documents for his pet capuchin monkey. German authorities seized the animal from his private jet. Now animal rights advocates are trying to block Bieber’s representatives from retrieving the monkey. Later, while [...]
Raiffeisen’s Upward Sustainability
The new Raiffeisen tower, which opened last month on the Donaukanal, is now part of the ever-changing Danube riverscape. The building, shaped like the prow of a ship, points into the gentle curve of the canal, as if about to set sail. Vienna’s relationship with the Danube (and its meanderings) has a turbulent history. In [...]
The Truth About Legalising Drugs
Three years after decriminalisation, Prague is slowly but surely replacing Amsterdam as the mecca of Europe’s drug scene. “Cannabis has become somewhat of a complimentary item for a lot of tourists,” says Karolina Korvasova, a part-time guide. “Dumplings, beer, marijuana – this seems to be the young man’s tourist diet here in Prague.” In January [...]
Five euro bill 2.0
In May, a cashier could surprise you with a new €5 bill in your change. The new paper money will be brought into circulation on 2 May in Austria and throughout the eurozone. The modernised bills have been planned for years and were developed to tackle insufficient security and to keep the bills state-of-the-art. The [...]
Regional Elections
Stronach’s Gloss and Glory, 5 March by Michael Völker All together 130,000 people in Lower Austria and Carinthia voted this Sunday [3 March] for Team Stronach. That is indeed a strong showing. Even prior to the elections, this ‘test-tube’ party was, in fact, able to form a parliamentary group, and yet has achieved even more [...]
Central Europe’s Nationalist Paradox
Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, a nationalist? On the contrary. Would he then sign partnership agreements with large foreign investors? And Slovakia’s Robert Fico picking up right-wing voters and thus shifting toward nationalism? Hardly, or he wouldn’t be dedicating so much energy to saving the country’s largest private employer, the U.S. Steel ironworks in Kosice, which the [...]
When Immigrants Were Welcome
Since anyone can remember, residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital Sarajevo have been feeding the pigeons that swarmed the city’s central market Bascarsija. It didn’t matter to the hungry birds whose hands – Muslim, Croat, Serb, Roma or Jewish – dispensed the corn and bread in this multi-ethnic city. What mattered were the crumbs, and [...]
Authentic Asian Dining in Vienna: Oh, Holy Basil!
This business of authenticity can be very elusive. Enticing the Viennese to compose their own dishes from the elements, as the Thais do, leaves many diners perplexed. But several young ventures in Asian cooking are now serving up successes with traditional tastes and techniques of the Far East, and setting in motion a new trend [...]
Green Austria: Smoke and Mirrors?
Meeting the 2020 Kyoto Protocol targets has been a struggle for many countries. Some have scaled back their original commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; others have withdrawn entirely. In emerging markets, most notably China, emissions are on the rise. In China a new coal-fired power station is being built every few days. In Austria, [...]
