Vienna at Night: A Magical Place

The magic of Vienna comes alive after dark.

After the Danube game, Christie and I said goodbye to our teammates and caught a quick metro into the city of Vienna.  The following morning we were catching an early train out to Budapest for two days, but that still left us the hours of 11pm until 2am to explore the Grand City of the Hapsberg Empire.  While the city itself is on par with Paris for its overall feel and scale, its true charm comes alive after dark when the beautiful old city is lit up for all to enjoy.   

The Natural History Museum, just one of the countless imposing buildings inside the "Inner Ring."

This 30 foot tall wooden door leads into the Old Section of the city where large parks, Baroque buildings, and cobblestone streets give it a timeless feel.

Few people realize how large Vienna actually is.  Today there are around 1.6 million people (not counting the dogs), yet in the year 1900 it was the fifth largest city in the world! (Behind only New York, London, Paris, and Berlin.)   It served as the home for those infamous Hapsbergs and the Austrian Empire, who ruled from the city from 1273 until 1918.  They were lovers of music, fine wine, dancing, chocolate, and coffee... and it shows in the way this majestic city is laid out.

St. Stephen's Cathedral is at the very center of town and is the Baroque spoke from which this city spins.  Yes, I have considered a career in writing captions.

One thing Emperor Franz Josef did in the 1860s was tear down the Old City wall and replace it with a grand 190 foot wide boulevard that circles the center of the city.  As a basic rule of thumb, everything inside this ring is cool.  Our exact walking route began at the edge of the ring, at the Museums Gallery, crossed the Natural History Museum and meandered into the Old Town.  We explored the imposing Hofburg - comprised of a number of blocks-worth of buildings - and then proceeded into the main shopping district.  Unfortunately, it was late on a Saturday night and the stores were closed, so Christie was unable to buy anything.  Eventually we reached the center of the town, St. Stephen's cathedral, and we amazed by how it shot into the night sky.  

While she didn't find him at Como, Christie finally found her man...

"I like big butts and I cannot lie." Sir Mix-A-Lot, 1994.

This quiet street was filled with quaint hotels, leading to...

A pub showing the final four!

Of course, the most authentic way to end your romantic Vienna night walk is to find an English-style pub at 3am to watch the FINAL FOUR!  It was almost surreal seeing a large crowd of people inside a pub at this hour watching the last 8 minutes of the UConn - Michigan State game on ESPN: America.  To be more accurate, I think I was the only person watching, but it still made me stop and say to myself, "Am I really watching the Final Four in the middle of the night from Vienna?"  Such is the case when you play American Football in Europe!

~ J. Twice

The Danube Trip (Unofficial Version)

Coach Duke poses before the game with Danube Linebacker Jon Agbar. In the small world that is football, Jon played for Duke a few years ago. No word yet on if Coach approves of his new hair cut.

The trip to play Danube was, as always, an adventure. The six hour bus ride (including pre-game meal at a roadside diner) was fairly uneventful, although the commaradarie that is established through these trips cannot be underestimated. Yet once we arrived at the game, I knew the fun would begin (see above.)

I always thought you cheer for the TEAMS... hmmm...

Pre-game huddle break.

Unfortunately, I had to play the game (which we won - FULL REPORT BELOW!!!) so I don't have pictures during the actual contest, however it must be noted that Danube has perhaps the best (extended) pre-game ritual so far in the Austrian football league, complete with Josh Groban love ballad and full introduction of their mascot, Puffy. I assume Puffy is sort of a take-off of Puff the Magic Dragon (yes, who lived by the sea and frollicked in the autumn mist) however this has not yet been confirmed. This momentum allowed the home squad to run back the opening kickoff for a TD, but luckily we played well enough after that to win.

My favorite post-game ritual: hanging out on the field talking with friends and family!

Christie and Lili were all smiles!

Although it wasn't all fun and games. Christie had to get her quotes for the post-game report she files for our raiders.at website, so she was busy chatting with players and coaches. Way to put on the "reporter" hat Christie!

Christie with defensive end Mario Rinner. No, Mario, the girl is mine.

Asking the hard questions with Santos. Congrats on the first win as head coach!

The candid picture of the wide receivers and QB...

... and the serious picture of the WRs and QB.

The coaching staff was all smiles after the victory. That is, those who knew I was taking this picture.

After getting on the bus, we made the obligatory stop to McDonald's. For the record, the Micky D's in Austria are some of the nicest in the world, complete with real flowers, fire places, re-fills (yes, European refills!), and a McCafe. We shut the place down for about an hour, before Christie and I had to split for our train to Vienna. Good times!

Your typical 9 pm rush at McDonalds.

While the rest of the team chatted, our "always cerebral" right tackle found a minute to catch up on his current events!

~ J. Twice

Game Recap: SWARCO Raiders 52, Danube 35

Jakob Dieplinger cruises into the endzone for one of his two touchdowns. (Schellhorn)

SWARCO Raiders (52) at Danube Dragons (35)

J. Twice looking deep over the middle. (Schellhorn)

After a long and very involved pre-game show, the Danube Dragons ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, but after that the show belonged entirely to the visiting team. The SWARCO Raiders scored on every full offensive series in the first half, showing great execution and balance. On the first series of the game quarterback Jason Johnson threw to Andreas Pröller to get the silver and black on the board, 7-6. Soon after that Johnson connected with Pröller for the 2nd time to put the SWARCO Raiders up by eight, 14-6. The frustration soon got the best of the Dragons, as safety Wolfgang Irbinger kicked SWARCO Raiders running back, Florian Grein while he was on the ground after being tackled, resulting in Irbinger’s ejection from the game. This didn’t faze Grein, however, he immediately took it to the house for Innsbruck’s 3rd TD of the game, 21-6. Danube answered on a deep post pattern from quarterback Ryan Rufener to import receiver Brian Stein to keep the Dragons within 9 points, 21-12. Following that the SWARCO Raiders got sneaky when Johnson lateralled to Matt Epperson who hit Andy Pröller for a big gain to set up a touchdown by Grein to make it, 28-12. Finishing off the 1st half, receiver Jakob Dieplinger scored on a long run to take the SWARCO Raiders into halftime with the lead, 35-20.

Running back Flo Grein. (Schellhorn)

Jakob's second TD was a little more dramatic. He finished the day with 8 catches for 133 yards. (Schellhorn)

The second half began where the first half left off. Johnson found Pröller from 3 yards out to make it 44-20 and later hit Dieplinger again for Johnson’s fourth touchdown pass of the contest. Despite giving up a few big plays the SWARCO Raiders’ defense contributed by creating numerous turnovers. Defensive back Markus Krause recovered a fumble and linebacker Phillip Margreiter stepped in front of a slant for an acrobatic interception. Robert Balazinec finished out the SWARCO Raiders scoring with a short field goal to make the score 52-27 early in the 4th quarter. Head Coach Santos Carillo said that he thinks the SWARCO Raiders’ defense did a decent job of containing the run but that there is still a lot to improve upon. Defensive end Mario Rinner echoed his coach’s sentiments by saying “we are a young defense but everyone did their job today and it’s good to see leaders emerging.”

Big hit by the SWARCO Raiders defense.

Matt Epperson slices through the defense.

The Innsbruck club played a much more disciplined game this week, limiting penalties and careless mistakes. Quarterback Jason Johnson, who was given the game ball by Head Coach Carillo, thinks the SWARCO Raiders are on the right track. “I was very happy with the way we improved from week one, especially with the way we were able to keep the Dragons off-balance by mixing the run and pass. We will need to make a similar improvement for next week when we play the Vienna Vikings, but it definitely feels good to get this first victory.”

3 TDs for Andreas Pröller this week.

The first official win for Head Coach Santos Carrillo.

FINAL STATS:

Jason Johnson - 21 for 28, 256 yards, 4 TD.

Jakob Deiplinger - 8 catches for 133 yards, 2 TD.
Florian Grein - 20 rushes for 117 yards, 2 TD.

Andreas Pröeller - 7 catches for 61 yards, 3 TD.

NEXT GAME:

The SWARCO Raiders travel to the Vienna Vikings on Monday, April 13th for a Easter Monday holiday matchup. As always, you can catch all the live action on raiders.at.

GAME RECAP by CHRISTIE JOHNSON.

The winning QB gets the pretty girl!

NOTE: All the pictures (except this last one of Christie and I) were taken by SWARCO Raiders official team photographer Florian Schellhorn, and are copyright to him. You can contact him and view his full photo galleries at www.footballpics.info. GREAT JOB FLO!!!

~ J. Twice

WIN OVER THE DRAGONS

On Saturday our team played a great game, beating the Danube Dragons 52 to 35. Our offense was very efficient, scoring TDs on our first 7 full possession. We have lots of pictures, stories, and more, but are in Budapest so have VERY limited computer access.

Will post a lot more soon... thanks for your patience.

cheers,

j. twice

Week 1 Graz Game Highlights

Here is the video recap of our first game against Graz.




J. Twice

4 Countries, 1 Day: A Fantastic Voyage

Leaping for Liechtenstein!  The highlight of our crazy day had to have been the small, but incredibly cool, country of Liechtenstein.  (Also the world's top producer of false teeth.)

HOW DO YOU MEASURE THE QUALITY OF A DAY?

Such is the question I pose after experiencing a thrilling ride home from Milan through the Swiss Alps and back to our home in Innsbruck, Austria.  It was an incredible experience, and one that is hard to compare to normal days back home.  

You could begin by counting the number of different countries you hit: 4.  

Or the number of miles driven: 376.

Or better yet, the meals you ate:  

Pesto Linguine at Lake Como for lunch.

Juicy Ribs in St. Anton for dinner.

But even that doesn't paint the full picture.  Instead, here's a little "photo-essay" of our crazy ride north, and should hopefully help nudge you to taking a visit here 'across the pond' - because where else can you experience such a variety of things in such a short period of time.  Only on the "REALLY PLAYING FOR PIZZA ROADTRIP!"

7:58 am: I awake to discover that our hotel in Milan was officially recommended by none other than Raiders Offensive-Line Coach NICK JOHANSEN!  No wonder it was such a great place to stay!  (And they had free cappuccino, a big bonus!)

9:03 am: On our way out of Milan, our trusty GARMIN wanted to point out EVERY SINGLE PIZZA JOINT POSSIBLE.  Click on the picture to get a true grasp of how many pizza places there are in a large Italian town!

9:45 am: First Stop -- SAN SIRO STADIUM in Milan.  This world class facility plays home to not one but two of the world's top soccer clubs: AC MILAN and INTER MILAN (that's the jersey I'm wearing.)  The closest thing I can compare it to is the Meadowlands in New Jersey which hosts both the NY Giants and the NY Jets.

9:48am: Yes... the Curva Nord is strong here in Milano... all the way since 1969.  (Bryan Adams wrote a song about them didn't he?)

10:07 am: Christie poses with an AC Milan statue, which may or may not be of recently signed David Beckham.

10:31 am: Matt holds up his favorite player's jersey on AC Milan, Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho.  Isn't that Jerry Rice's number?

10:45am: On our way out of the stadium, and despite numerous "eeeempossible's" from stadium security, I make a mad dash down a ramp and snap this shot of the interior of the stadium.  I was severely scolded and given 14 hand gestures, but it was worth it!

11:45 am: Heading north out of Milan, we reached the city of Como on the south banks of Lake Como, one of the most picturesque and exclusive lakes in the world.  These sleepy cities come alive in the summer and are absolutely gorgeous.

12:03 pm: Following the book "1,000 Things to See Before you Die" we hit up #347, the Villa D'Este hotel, from which "all other luxury hotels in the world take their cue."  While I didn't find it that extravegant, it had an amazing view and a lunch menu that averaged $54 per item.  We decided to move on.

12:37am: A half hour north of D'Este we found a cool lake site ristorante where we had the place to ourselves.  We dined on pesto linguine and seafood spaghetti, with of course Tiramisu for desert.  While chatting with the waiter, Christie learned that George Clooney might live within one kilometer of the restaurant.  On goes her reporter hat...

12:45pm: The tiny village of Laglio on the west side of Lake Como has a post-card worthy harbor (and excellent screen saver :-)  It also boasts...

12:46 pm: A fisherman who happens to be George (not Clooney) but knows the location of that ruggedly handsome actor that we all know and love.  Look at the intensity on Christie's face as she studies where the lone fisherman points.  And it really is... 

12:47pm: GEORGE CLOONEY'S HOUSE!!!  Yes, Mr. Suave lives here, and has a palatial mansion that is complete with its own gated boat parking (for the Bat Boat?) and acres of gardens.  While the fisherman told us George is currently in the U.S., he failed to mention that David Beckham and Posh were house-sitting!  If only we would have known...

2:11 pm: Pushing north, we burst into Switzerland and straight into the Alps.  Breathtaking!

2:33 pm: The four amigos were loving life, although we had to strap Matt down in the back to keep him from trying to ski.

2:56 pm: The snow was THIS tall!

3:55 pm: Breathtaking mountains.

4:15 pm: Snowed in huts.

4:33 pm: Snow that looks like marshmallows.

5:45pm: As the sun ducked behind the mountains, tiny villages like this one here (driving too fast to jot down its name) became lit up in a spotlight.

6:55 pm: On our way north, we stopped by the twin ski villages of Davos and Klosters.  They are also on the list of 1,000 Things to See, and in the winter they play host to the British Royal Family as their piste of choice.  

8:08pm: Seeing the Liechtenstein border made us jump for joy!  Rock on Liechtenstein!

8:44 pm: Bold.  Powerful.  Really Small.  Liechtenstein welcomes visitors to its peaceful valley.

8:49pm: The castle in Vaduz, the capital city of Liechtenstein, still is home to the royal family.  As Europe's last remaining true monarchy, the royals are also the richest - estimated to be worth around $4 Billion.  (This allows the young prince to date Victoria Secret models.)

10:08pm: Is there any way better to cap off the night than with a hearty "Prost" in St. Anton?

~ J. Twice