This is what i found out or got confirmed by my experience in the last few months:
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT AUSTRIA
-family and friends, of course.
-tasty dark bread, which I have only found in Europe so far.
-tasty affordable wine - a glass of good white wine under 2$!
-buildings that are 200, 300 or even 1000 years old.
-strolling around in the inner city in Vienna to admire the Hofburg, Opera, museums, cathedrales.
-good public transportation.
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT CALGARY (in other words: what i missed in Austria ;-)
-the friendliness of the average stranger, the average stranger in Calgary smiles at me; the average stranger in Austria looks at me - let's put it that way - not that friendly.
-the politeness of drivers, people waving at me when i let them in front of me in my lane. I didn't get any friendly waving in Austria, only fists, fingers and honking.
-non-smoking coffee houses.
-Alberta blue sky - although upon my return the Alberta blue sky was hiding behind clouds for three days - hopefully that changes soon :)
Vik is so awesome to let me stay in his downtown apartment - here is a view from the balcony (this picture is dedicated to car fan Emil)
view from the 11th floor - down...
...and towards downtown.
Now, i am about to recover from my jetlag and the cold I caught on the plane - so that i have enough energy to find an interesting job!
