Well hellooooo there! Remember me? After an unplanned yet necessary break from blogging, I am back and excited as ever to be! If you follow ye old blog’s facebook page, you may have noticed I posted about my family and friends being here over the holidays. What a magical and crazy time we had! With 11 visitors in all resulting in 10(!) separate trips to the airport, our apartment here in Vienna was buzzing with loved ones who came from no fewer than 4 U.S. States and 2 countries. I played tour guide for nearly 3 weeks and my loved ones and I enjoyed some memorable wintery days with visits to the Weihnachtsmärkte, strolls down the twinkle light, chandelier-lit Graben, and much much more. The Californians arrived with shiny new jackets and boots. Glühwein was drunk. Ofenkartoffeln eaten. The Wiener Sängerknaben sang and Sacher Torte was tasted. Miraculously, both Santa Claus and the Christkind found their way to our Christmas celebrations. 3 parts of Austria were visited, many tunnels driven through, and 1.5 days were skied. No one broke a bone!  Then New Years fireworks were watched, sparklers twirled, and all of us waltzed around a friend’s living room with a lovely view of Schönbrunn in the distance. It was jam-packed and non-stop, but oh so fun.

And then one by one and two by two, they left. I bid Auf Wiedersehen to them as they returned to where they came from, leaving me here in Vienna with a heart full of memories and a hamper full of sheets.

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Life is returning to normal and with that is of course the intent that this little blog will too. Amidst all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, SushiandStrudel turned one! (I’ve technically been writing it since late summer 2011, but I only began to publish the blog on 01.01.2012.) To mark the occasion of turning this ripe old age, ye old blog got quite the birthday gift and was mentioned by BBC Travel. (See here.) Not exactly sure how that happened, but I am so flattered and say danke, danke, danke! The best Geschenk of all of course remains that I’ve somehow found readers through this little project of mine. I appreciate everyone’s comments and emails so much; I love hearing your recommendations, how this blog has helped you navigate life (well, the culinary aspects of it anyway) in Vienna, and of course, what brought you to this corner of the world.

In short, I look forward to continuing to share my dining adventures and babbling banter with you in 2013!

…back later in the week with a funny story from New Years that resulted in a lovely new restaurant find. Watch this spot!