Rain, rain, here to stay

[muckefuck]

I see a chill rainy day like this and think how utterly perfect it would be to spend it at the new place, reading in a quiet corner and sipping tea while listening to droplets pattering off the trees outside. That is, if not for the worry about what so much water coming down is going to do to our seepage problem. We have an estimate for the work, and it's not as steep as I expected, which is good, but it involves construction in common areas, which is less good, as it slows down the entire process and I want to finish moving in now.

Moreover, the only tea we have in the new place is Bosnian hawthorn tea, and I'm already sick of it. I thought it would be rather pleasantly floral, but it's mostly the mint leaves that you taste. That's not bad--I like mint and all--except that there's enough of an aftertaste I'm beginning to wonder if the mint isn't there more to cover up the hawthorn than the hawthorn is there to accent the mint. The translation on the label goes on and on about how good the tea is for your "hart", so I wonder if I haven't picked up something medicinal by mistake. So now I'm kicking myself for not (a) picking up something new at Meinl on Saturday or (b) bringing something over from my old place on Sunday.

At least the reading I can't complain about. I've got a bilingual book of Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill's poetry, which is exquisite, and the English versions are different enough from the originals that I feel compelled to read them both thoroughly, dictionary in hand.

Comments

[richardthinks.livejournal.com]

Julius Meinl? In Chicago? Damn you. Although it looks from the website like they're only doing coffee there? I was going to ask you how the sausages are, and recommend that you stay away from the Stroh.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Where are you looking?

Ooh, I see they have Flammekuchen [sic] at the newest store. We'll have to go back for that!

[richardthinks.livejournal.com]

I remember Julius Meinl more as a really nice supermarket than as anything else... I don't think I've ever eaten or had coffee there. I also have a vague recollection of shopping there in Germany as well as Austria, but now I'm not sure.

[tyrannio.livejournal.com]

I can't find the European sausage any more, I see.

[richardthinks.livejournal.com]

Oh. I see my recollections are just plain old.

The retail division of the group except the high-profile flagship store in downtown Vienna were sold to Rewe by Julius Meinl V. in 1998/1999.
courtesy of wikipedia. Rewe seem to have taken over the low end of the business, leaving Meinl free to soar into the luxury end.

[bunj.livejournal.com]

A few years ago, when the Lyric was doing the Ring Cycle, I ended up sitting next to a nice Austrian couple during the performances. They lived in Philadephia, and came to Chicago for the operas. When I mentioned that Meinl had a coffee shop in Chicago, they ruefully pointed out that most of their restaurants are gone from Vienna.

The Chicago locations are mostly coffee shops, although they do have cafe fare (sandwiches, sausages, light breakfast).

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Bunj, have you had any luck finding more on their Eastern European cafés? The link to "Meinl Worldwide" from their website is broken and other searches turn up more about Meinl Bank (who knew?) than the gastronomic branch.

[bunj.livejournal.com]

I had heard about Meinl bank because of a recent scandal there. On Meinl's website, I found this:

Sales organisations in Austria, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia Slovenia and the United States supply hotels, restaurants, food stores and other institutions with company products.

And when I did a search for 'Meinl' and 'Budapest' I found this website, which describes their business there as "Retail sale in non-specialized stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating".

As far as I can tell, they have some retail operations in central Europe, but no cafés outside of Vienna and Chicago (and what I remember of the Graben store, it was mostly retail with a cafe tucked inside, like a Whole Foods).

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

More evidence of Chicago's Ascension!

[fainic-thu-fein.livejournal.com]

Ní Dhomhnaill is one of my all-time favorites. Which book do you have?

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

The water horse. (Winston-Salem, 2000.) Ceapaim gur díolaimí dá saothair éile atá inti.