Halloween and a Hockey Weekend

Photo Courtesy of Axel Riegler

On Oct. 31, my roommates and I celebrated Halloween with some of our Austrian friends.  Although no one particularly celebrates Halloween in Austria and it is not considered a popular holiday, my roommates and I still dressed up.  My roommates wore togas as my fiancé (Michi Schmieder) and I were soldiers.  We all dressed up and headed to our friend's apartment for a little Halloween party before we went out to the bar.  Axel Riegler had decorated his apartment in Halloween ornaments and accessories.  This made my roommates and I feel as if we were all back home celebrating Halloween.  There were cobwebs, spiders, and candied eyeballs scattered everywhere.  Riegler made a fruit punch that consisted of freshly-cut watermelon pieces and some Austrian liquor (which was quite strong).  Riegler placed a frozen hand, made from a rubber glove containing strawberry fruit juice, into the punch and it was time to celebrate!  We all ate a giant pretzel sandwich and drank the blood-red drink.  We definitely enjoyed our time on Halloween night!

As the weekend approached, my roommates and I decided to go to Klagenfurt to see a professional ice hockey game.  Kate Wheeler's boyfriend, Chris D'Alvise, plays for HDD TELEMACH Olimpija Ljubljana, which is in the first league, Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL).  His team was playing KAC Klagenfurt on Sunday evening.  Schmieder actually had an ice hockey game with his team (ECE Bulls Kapfenberg) in Klagenfurt on Saturday night, so my roommates and I attended that game.  After the game, we all stayed the night at Schmieder's mother's apartment in Klagenfurt for we planned on attending D'Alvise's game the next day.  

Photo Courtesy of Chelsea Illchuk

The next morning, we woke up and drove to a nearby town, Velden.  Schmieder and I wanted to show my roommates the big lake in Carinthia (or Kärnten), called the Wörthersee.  We walked around the town and enjoyed the scenery of the lake before we had to go to the eishalle for the game.  We enjoyed watching D'Alvise's game but unfortunately, his team came up short as they lost 5-2.  Because of the National Hockey League (NHL) lockout, some NHL players were playing in the game we watched.  Klagenfurt defensemen, Tyler Myers, usually plays for the Buffalo Sabres while Klagenfurt forward, Sam Gagner, plays for the Edmonton Oilers.

It was a nice weekend watching hockey, but I think my roommates would agree with me when I say we are definitely looking forward to playing some of our own hockey.  Ten days until our next match against Vienna Sabres!