Stormy Weather

Up until recently I missed the stormy weather of the Midwest (as I noted in a post awhile back). Well the past few days Vienna has been making up for that but I must admit I haven't been missing such weather as much this year with all that you people in U.S. have had to deal with. Even the storms we've had in Vienna have been a bit of a pain with Euro 2008 in town (luckily they have left everything standing though). Two nights ago those of you in the U.S. lost the game's TV feed while I watched the storm from our balcony. The company behind our flat was hosting a nice party for their employees and I stood outside and cheered on the storm as it sent a roller-cart full of dirty dishes flying towards a car with two waiters chasing after it (the wind/cart duo won the race). Later it really picked up so I got Kathi to join me for the show that was now being presented free of charge from our living room window. After a few minutes half of the tents set up for the party were ripped out of the ground, sent flying up about 7 stories, then sent crashing into the side of the building (the office not our flat), before finally smashing into the ground (all to near the guests). Luckily no one was hurt and they moved the event inside after the unexpected entertainment, but they were really lucky as the next morning we realized the tents were heavier then they appeared as 5-10 windows had been shattered and a few marble-like side tiles were destroyed. All-in-all a very impressive storm for Austria, but in the future you can keep those on the U.S. side of the Atlantic as I become more and more accustomed to only the occasional rain and small clap of thunder.