The One And Only

It´s one of the most expensive food groceries you can buy! The Beluga caviar – produced by the Albino Sturgeon. The Albino Sturgeon is a very rare and vulnerable species which is almost deserted in the open countryside. They grew up to 1, 10 m and age nearly 30 years old. The older the female Sturgeon, the more expensive the caviar is, because the light-coloured caviar is the most expensive.

The name “Caviar” comes from an old Iranian word that means “cake of joy”. Many years ago poor people were eating caviar, because it was non-perishable and they couldn´t sell it. From the 19^th century on caviar was reserved for the rich people.

The only breeder in Austria lives in Grödig, which is located near Salzburg. Whalter Grüll and his son Patrick run a shop where they sell many different fish specialities. But their most expensive, self-produced product is the Beluga caviar. It costs 15€ per gramme!! 1 kilo costs 65.000€ on the world market and only 12 kilo are produced per year.

The Albino Sturgeon is lacking a gene which produces Melanin. Because of this they are white in appearance. Whalter Grüll started breeding the extremely rare Albino Sturgeon 15 years ago. The sturgeons are prone to illnesses and mustn´t stay very long in the sun. Clean brook water, food that contains protein and no additives are precondition for breeding the extremely rare sturgeon. It lasts 12 years on average till a feminine sturgeon spawns the first time.

The Grülls produce the white gold only if somebody asks for it. If they think that the caviar in one female is ready, they take it and let a vet examine the sturgeon. If she agrees that the caviar is ready, the sturgeon is killed and the caviar is harvested by Whalter and his son. The separate grains should not be joined together and the size has to be ideal.

After harvesting, salting and trimming the caviar is sold. When it´s well cooled, caviar keeps 2 to 3 months.

For more information:

http://www.prosieben.at/tv/galileo/videos/558-die-teuersten-lebensmittel-der-welt-clip (a video which is unfortunately in German :( I´m sorry!)

http://most-expensive.com/caviar-world

The assassination of the charismatic president

At the 22^nd November, 2013 will be the 50^th anniversary of the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, also known as “JFK”, was the 35^th President of the United States, serving from January 1961 until he was assassinated in November 1963. He lived from 29^th May until 22^nd November. He was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, and died while his journey through Texas in Dallas. He was travelling through Texas, because he wanted to raise funds for the upcoming US presidential election and to arbitrate the argument in the Democratic Party. Kennedy’s wife Jacqueline Bouvier-Kennedy accompanied her husband on a business trip the first time. Because of his belief in the equality of Afro-Americans – you have to try to think like people in 1963 did – Kennedy had a narrow majority in Texas. Also his foreign policy, the Cuban missile crisis in particular, wasn`t accepted of the people.

At the day of his assassination Kennedy planned to speak to the inhabitants of Dallas. Mr and Mrs Kennedy were driven in a car without top by William Greer, a secret service agent. In the car also were G

overnor John Connally, his wife Nelli Connally and the second secret service agent Roy Kellerman. A lot of people cheered Mr Kennedy and his wife and nobody knew that this was the last day of the president.

Suddenly there were several shots! One shot had passed right through the neck of the president, but didn´t kill him. Another shot hit his head. Despite all efforts to resuscitate “JFK”, the 35^th president died because of his severe injuries. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was inhumed on the national cemetery at the 25^th November 1963.

After the assassination of the president the police and the secret service agents were looking for the fugitive assassin. They took Lee Harvey Oswald into custody and claimed him to be the culprit. Oswald always denied being the murderer of John F. Kennedy and claimed to be innocent. He was murdered by Jack Ruby, during his transferral to prison.

The assassination of his beloved president was a great shock for the population of the US. Until today Kennedy is one of the best-known presidents and will surely be in the mind of the people.

If you like this topic, you could look at this link for more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy

The Smallest Festival Theatre In Austria!

Have you ever heard of the smallest festival theatre in Austria? No? Then you really missed something!

Until a couple of weeks ago I also didn´t know it. At the first look it seems to be like every other house in the small village Thalsdorf, Carinthia. But it isn’t. If you enter this house, you enter a completely different world. It´s a world full of magic and fantasy, which fascinates everybody. The dreams of little children and childish adults come in this world true.

It takes Mr Popek - the owner of the festival theatre - nearly one and a half year to get a play ready. The scenery and the marionettes are all handmade by Mr Popek. He also is the only puppeteer at the theatre, because he doesn’t want other people to play at his puppet theatre. It’s his passion and he has a lot of fun.

There are only twenty to twenty-five performances from September to March, because Mr Popek doesn’t perform his plays in spring and summer. But it isn’t easy to get a ticket for his performances, although they are free. You can only go to the puppet theatre, if you’re invited by Mr Popek himself! Only close friends and people he likes have the chance to get a ticket.

He made six plays by now and they are all unique.  I’ve seen his newest play “Hoffmans Erzählungen”. All his plays are based on famous operas. Mr Popek chooses plays he likes and then creates his own interpretations of the famous operas. While he is playing, an audio CD with the music and the speaking of the people is playing in the background.

I was fascinated from the play and I didn’t mention that the play was three hours long, because it was so great. I really recommend Mr Popeks little festival theatre, because if you haven’t seen a play at this theatre you don’t know what magic is!