Sarah Rabl

It is 6 p.m. on a mild Easter Monday in downtown Vienna. I slowly but steadily stroll up to Stephansplatz from Rotenturmstraße, watching children with their grandparents slurping some ice cream. I take a spoonful of the frozen treat while the sun warms my skin, and I decide that spring has finally come.

The skyrocketing prices of petrol triggered an increased use of means of public transportation in Vienna. Over 10,000 new customers have bought year passes(Jahreskarten) within the past six months, according to the Wiener Linien, a number that usually takes a year to achieve.

“Public transportation allows you to travel more cheaply, faster and more conveniently,” said Günther Steinbauer, head of the Wiener Linien, in an interview with the Austrian daily Kurier. Also, the Austrian Railway, the ÖBB reported a 10% increase in the number of passengers, especially commuters, since the beginning of the year.

A striking blow or a smart political maneuver? Chancellor Angela Merkel’s directive to temporarily shut down seven of the 17 atomic power plants in Germany came as a response to the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan. Or did it? Strangely enough, her decision also came just days before the Mar.27 regional elections in Baden Württemberg.

Pragmatic or not, her action was also in response to a demonstration initiated by some 250,000 people in Germany’s biggest cities against the use of nuclear power. Maybe.

Ah, to be a princess for a night! Just once, I wanted to be like Cinderella in the fairy tale, going to the grand ball, dancing until the early morning hours with her prince! When the pumpkin turns into a Vier-Spanner coach and four horses…

 

The irresistible taste of nougat melting on our tongues amidst cascades of pure chocolate joy, mingles with the freshness of apple and the spiciness of cinnamon, making our taste buds rejoice. This is surely ecstasy – it’s like Christmas in our mouths.

 

Arigona Zogaj (18) returned to Austria on Nov. 24 with her mother Nurije and her younger brother and sister Albin (11) and Albona (10), four months after the family had been deported to Kosovo. The return of the Zogajs marked the end of a three-year fight to stay in Austria, bringing them back to Frankenburg in Upper Austria where the mayor, a local priest and many neighbors had supported them. Arigona plans to train as a nurse; her mother has resumed her former job in a poultry factory and her siblings are back in school.

 

Dear Diary,

A train journey to Vienna on a rainy and foggy Monday morning was, for once, my venue for my private ‘philosophical investigations.’ The scenery passing by, my eyes fell on the colored autumn leaves that seemed to have been painted in such bright colors by a talented artist, now slowly falling to the ground, ripped off with gentle inevitability by the cold October wind blowing through the branches.

Dear Diary,

At times, it comes back to me how much I miss my music. Ever since I took my big leap into the wide world, I was unintentionally forced to leave behind bit by bit the traces of my musical identity. This might sound strange now, but how could I transport an approximately 1,80 X 1,10 meters tall, and roughly 30 kilos in weight half way across the world?