Observations about the universe, life, Lausanne and me

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Back from Vienna

The girlfriend and I have come back from our well-earned (at least in her case) week in Vienna, where we touched base with friends and family.

Like every time I visit my old haunts at the Vienna Technical University, I also participated in the old Viennese tradition of urine-imbibing. Dating back to the 18th century, where doctors used to diagnose diabetes in their patients by tasting their urine, this tradition is still upheld by the members of the academia in Vienna. Customarily the urine (either your own, or that from a good friend) is drunk out of Erlenmeyer-flasks, like on the picture on the left.

Since it is an acquired taste, teenagers often mix their urine with beer or wine, but in my opinion that rather cheapens the whole experience.

3 comments:

  1. Ha! I know beer when I see it (or apple juice mixed with dishwashing liquid, maybe). Urine doesn't have that many suds (ahem. don't ask me how I know). So, in other words - I don't believe you, you need more people.

    Hope you're well.

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  2. Busted! Too true, the flask only contained beer. Still, it was very cheap beer, Gambrinus if I remember correctly, the beer of choice of the homeless and students in Vienna, so it wasn't too far from urine.

    Alas, I have to destroy your hopes, as I was quite down the last few weeks - hence no posts of mine. The dark side of relationships is that they have a dark side, and it is dark.

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  3. Just saw your reply, sorry - why blogger neglects to send followups to those of us who choose the name/url commenting option I'll never know.

    I'm really sorry to hear about your relationship troubles - not least because it was quite entertaining to read about your attempts to provide vegetarian fare for the lass in question, while concocting up obscenely carnivorous dishes in her absence.

    I've had some rocky spots myself this summer, but I don't presume to know what you're going through, since it appears you were with her for quite a good while. I hope there's a happy ending in sight, and soon!

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