Skating the Dream

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Highlanders Roast Turkey in Game 1


Kelley Davies at drop of the puck

The Neuberg Highlanders beat Team Turkey, 16-0, Friday night at Kapfenberg. We came out strong as we took advantage of the game within the first few minutes of play. Our time on offense seemed to triple our opponent's. The puck seemed to be in Turkey's defensive zone for most of the game. After observing our opponent's talent level, however, I noticed that our team, including myself, let up a bit. We did not skate as hard as we could have, and we did not make simple plays. It's always difficult playing down to your opponent's level but we seemed to do okay for our first game. We have some work to do but it was a good start for us. We play Turkey again on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at Kapfenberg. Click here for a full recap of our game. If you can't read German, I suggest translating it on Google Translate, at least that's what I do.

After the game, the team ran outside to cool down. We began running around a swimming pool, but then, we all decided that it would be a good idea to jump in. Thus, we all took our clothes off and hopped in. I suppose we were in a way "cooling down," but just in a pool. After we all showered and got dressed, some of my teammates and I went to the Sport Hotel, which is next to the hockey rink. We had a drink to celebrate and we were starving after the game, so we ordered toast. Don't be fooled by the word "toast." The toast here in Austria is mildly different than what you would think of as toast in America. Austrian toast is a ham and cheese sandwich that is toasted and served with Ketchup. This obviously differs from the American toast which is just toasted white bread, usually with butter or jam. Eventually, we left the Sport Hotel and our temptations led us to McDonald's to get more food and Eis, or ice cream. After our second meal, my roommates (Courtney Bradley and Jessica Jenkins) and I returned home. Gute nacht!

Photo Courtesy of neuberg-highlanders.at

Friday, September 16, 2011

The Day Before the First Game

In less than 24 hours, I will be playing in my first Eishockey game with my new Austrian team, the Neuberg Highlanders. But before I begin talking about preparation before the game, I must announce that my first "insider" article for the newspaper, Kleine Zeitung, has been published as the newspaper arrived on the doorsteps of many Austrians this morning. As a journalism major at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., I did not find it difficult to write the article, especially since I was able to write it in English. The sports journalist, Christoph Heigl, did his best to translate my words into German for the surrounding community. In addition to my article being published, Courtney Bradley, Jessica Jenkins, and I highlighted a photograph for another article discussing the Neuberg Highlanders' upcoming two-game series against the Turkish National Team on Friday and Sunday.

After discovering these articles in today's newspaper, my roommates (Courtney and Jessica) and I went to Kapfenberg for practice at 2:45 p.m., or 14:45 according to Austrian time. In practice, we mostly worked on in-zone situations and breaking out of our zone. We also practiced our powerplay for the first time. Julia Willenshofer (16), Courtney (19), and I make up the forward line of the powerplay while Jessica (20) and Bettina Angerer (20) paired as the defensive unit. We seemed to move the puck really well, even as the Turkish coaches watched our every move. After practice, we met in the locker room to vote for captains. Congratulations to Martina Kneß as she received the most votes for team captain! She will lead the Highlanders along with assistant captains Willenshofer and Angerer.

After we left the hockey rink, Courtney, Jessica, and I stopped by the grocery store to grab some items for a nice meal the night before our big game. We returned home after a short inconvenience and I made a delicious pasta dish to get us ready for our first game tomorrow against Turkey at Kapfenberg at 8:00 p.m., or 20:00! Wünscht mir Glück!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

A Day in Vienna

Albert-Schultz Eishalle

Yesterday, my roommates (Courtney Bradley and Jessica Jenkins) and I spent the day in Vienna, Austria. We had a wonderful tour guide, Neuberg Highlanders' trainer Axel Riegler, to escort us around the city. First, we drove to the Albert-Schultz Eishalle, which is an ice hockey rink in Vienna and the home of the hockey association, the Vienna Capitals.

From there, we hopped on the subway which took us straight into downtown Vienna. We walked to Schloß Schönbrunn, which is considered the most important cultural monument in Austria according to www.schoenbrunn.at. Schloß Schönbrunn consists of the palace, the park, and the oldest zoo in the world. After much walking, we needed to rest and refuel our bodies. We stopped at a restaurant located at the front entrance of the palace. As the waitress gave Courtney, Jessica, and I the menu, our eyes lit up at the surprising English menu we were handed. This was the first English menu we had come across during our time here in Austria, besides the menus at McDonald's and Burger King which do not count.

Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral)

Once we finished lunch, we jumped back onto the subway and traveled to Stephansdom, or St. Stephen's Cathedral. This Romanesque and gothic cathedral stands in the very heart of Vienna. Since I take an interest in architecture, I found this building to be the most moving of our trip. After marveling over the cathedral's exterior architectural details and discovering its important cultural significance, we moved on to the next thing on our agenda and one of the highlights of the trip...shopping! We seemed to be overwhelmed by how many stores surrounded us, and ultimately, we only shopped in a couple stores; however, we seemed very satisfied with our purchases.

After shopping, we made our way down the street and arrived outside Wiener Staatsoper, or the State Opera. The Viennese architect, August Sicard von Sicardsburg, planned the structure of the opera house while interior decorator Eduard van der Nüll designed the inside. After enjoying the exterior design of the opera house, we walked to the Burggarten, or the castle garden. In the castle garden, we visited Mozartdenkmal, the Mozart monument, and Das Schmetterlingshaus, The Butterfly House. Afterward, we thought it would be a good time for a cocktail. We returned to the center of town and took an elevator up to the seventh floor of a building. We arrived at a sky bar and relaxed with a drink.

Riesenrad (Giant Ferris Wheel)

After a moment of a rest, we took the subway to our final attraction of the day, the Riesenrad (Giant Ferris Wheel), which was built in 1897 and is located at the entrance of the Prater Amusement Park. The park is now considered one of Vienna's most popular tourist attractions. Unfortunately, we did not ride the ferris wheel, but we did try something a little more thrilling. I forced Jessica and Axel to ride a roller coaster with me even though they quivered with terror. The roller coaster did not seem as thrilling for some as it was for me. I smiled and laughed as we left the ride, but Jessica and Axel had blank stares on their faces. When asked to go on the ride again, they both answered simultaneously with a simple, "No." The exciting, but scary (for some), roller coaster ride marked the end of our trip and we traveled home. We took the subway to Axel's car, and the children (Courtney and Jessica) slept in the backseat for the one-hour car ride to Mürzzuschlag.

We had a fun-filled Saturday off from ice hockey practice, or "training" as they call it in Austria. We return to the ice today at 4:15 p.m. for an hour and a half practice. Tschüss!

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Burg Oberkapfenberg (Castle Oberkapfenberg)

I met with Christoph Heigl of "Kleine Zeitung" today to discuss our project for the newspaper. I will be writing "insider articles" for the newspaper after each game, or "match" as Austrians call it. Heigl picked me up at my apartment in Mürzzuschlag and we drove 20 minutes to a castle, where we would be having our discussion. The castle is called Burg Oberkapfenberg and it is located on a mountain near the Neuberg Highlanders' home ice hockey arena in Kapfenberg. The castle was old, rustic, and gorgeous. The view from the terrace of the castle could take your breath away. This experience marked the first time I had ever seen a castle in person. Heigl and I proceeded to tour the castle, but we noticed a certain section had been blocked off. A rope separated us and a spiral staircase, which led to the cellar downstairs. We found it easy to step over the rope and walk down the stairs. As we tiptoed down each step making sure no one could hear us, the sun's light began to vanish and it seemed to be getting darker, and darker. We arrived at the bottom of the staircase to find nothing but a pitch-black cloud of darkness. The only light we had seemed to be the flash from my camera, so I began snapping photographs throughout the room in order to actually see what was down there.

Eishalle (Ice Hall) and Sport Hotel

After sneaking down to the cellar, Heigl and I decided that we were not done snooping around. We walked back up to the main floor but thought it would be a spontaneous idea to hop over another rope, which blocked people from going up the spiral staircase. For a second time, we tiptoed our way up the stairs and approached a room. As we entered the room, we found a doorway leading to a large banquet hall. This hall has been used for wedding receptions, according to Heigl. After observing the Medieval Times-themed banquet hall, we walked down to the main floor to take a seat in the castle's restaurant.

With great sadness, Heigl and I discovered that the restaurant had closed at 2 p.m. and would reopen at 6 p.m. I had practice at 6 p.m. so we could not wait to eat until then. We drank Wasser (water) and "Cola" to start. The restaurant's staff was kind enough to make a meat and cheese platter with fresh bread for Heigl and I. Hiegl introduced me to Kren, which is horseradish grated from the root. It was served with our meat and cheese platter. It resembled a grated mozzarella cheese but spicier. We enjoyed a bier (beer) with our meal. Heigl also informed of a special drink here in Austria called "Diesel." Diesel is a mixture of beer and Coke, or "Cola." It apparently is also known as "Shady" in the United States, our waiter said. We finished our meal and drinks, and when we looked at the clock, it was 10 minutes until practice time. We rushed down the mountain in a gray mini van. It seemed quite dangerous at the time as the mountain had only thin, winding roads. I eventually made it to the ice hockey arena and got dressed in my gear in no time at all.

Our head coach was absent from practice today due to his heavy workload, so our trainer, Axel Riegler, controlled the practice. We did mostly 1-on-1 drills, 2-on-1 drills, and 2-on-2 drills. At the end of practice, we made a miniature ice hockey rink at one end of the ice. With one net on each side of the boards facing inwards, we all stood on the blue line looking into to our minuscule ice surface. We played a 3-on-3 small-scale ice hockey game to end the practice.


Left to Right: Me, Courtney

Gute nacht!
"Schlaf gut," as our manager, Margret, taught me tonight. It means "sleep well" for those of you who don't know German, myself included.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Glasbläserei (Glassblowing)

"die Hyäne"

Happy Labor Day to my fellow Americans! Labor Day isn't celebrated in Austria, but the roommates and I spent the day doing some other activities. Courtney, Jessica, and I had the day off from hockey so we planned on visiting our "sponsor" family. The family basically offers to pay for our expenses here in Austria and helps support overseas players. Our manager, Margret, picked us up at our apartment since we didn't have our car yet. She drove us to the family's house in Neuberg an der Mürz. As we pulled in the driveway, the family's dog, which Margret said looks like a hyena, greeted us with a wagging tail and barking mouth. The mother of the family had been biking on the mountain at the time we arrived. Unfortunately, bad weather forced her to stay in a cabin on the mountain until the rain subsided, so we were unable to meet her. Perhaps another day.

When raindrops began falling from the dark gray sky, Margret decided to take us to Kaiserhof Glasmanufaktur, which is a hot-glass studio focused on the creation and display of contemporary glass art using a technique called glasbläserei (glassblowing). Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble, or parison, with the aid of a blowpipe, or blow tube. Courtney, Jessica, and I admired the glassblower from a far, as we had no idea that we would actually be trying the technique for ourselves. We each made our own hand-blown glass watering bulb, used to self-water plants. In the United States, they are also known as "Aqua Globes." We chose the colors we wanted our bulbs to be. The glassblower blended the colors into the molten glass and formed the glass into a raindrop shape. Then, he handed the blowpipe over to us, and we each blew into it to form a bubble at the end. We let our bulbs dry and within a few minutes, we were able to take them with us.

The rain continued to pour as we left Kaiserhof Glasmanufaktur, so we ventured to a café next door until the storm passed over. Margret and I each had a Caffè Latte while Courtney and Jessica ordered "Cola," as they call it in Austria. We finished our drinks and by that time, the rain had died down. Margret drove us home. I cooked homemade chili for my roommates for dinner. We ended the night enjoying our meal with some bottles of beer.

bis morgen!

Friday, September 2, 2011

Kaspressknödelsuppe

Former Quinnipiac University teammate and former Neuberg Highlander, Elyse Cole, suggested I try kaspressknödelsuppe (cheese dumpling soup). Kaspressknödelsuppe is a speciality among Austrian cuisine. Unfortunately, I have yet to try real, authentic kaspressknödelsuppe, but since I love to cook, I decided to make it from scratch once I got home from practice. The star of the dish is of course kaspressknödel, which is made by mixing bread crumbs, milk, eggs, onion, freshly grated cheese, freshly chopped parsley, salt and pepper into a coarse dough. Roll the dough into dumpling-sized loaves and fry the them in butter. I used butter and olive oil. After frying, you drop the dumplings into a beef or chicken broth. I used chicken broth. It was not a difficult dish to make and it actually turned out quite delicious. It even satisfied the taste buds of one picky Canadian, Courtney, who doesn't seem to like anything besides ketchup. Below are some pictures of my meal!

I really enjoyed making this Austrian dish. If you have any other suggestions on which Austrian foods I should try or cook, feel free to send me a message! Gute nacht!

The Things I Find on My Runs

Guten Morgen! I have been running nearly every morning here in Austria. Sometimes (Well, most of the time) I get a little sidetracked while running in such a beautiful, scenic place, and I find some things that I feel are worth taking a picture of. I wanted to share some of these pictures with everyone. While I run, I listen to music on my iPhone, so I used my iPhone to take the following photos. I apologize if the quality is not the best.