60 years of ULK - the public session

Yesterday marked the 60th birthday of Markus' Dad and as it was a Friday, usually one of the busiest days of the week in his pub "Treffpunkt Göd", there was no way out but to celebrate with all his friends and customers at work. For us family there was a good opportunity to for a big surprise, as due to other commitments none of his children was able to help him out running the pub that night. That at least was the part he knew.

For a change no bad surprise coming in through the back door

Behind the scenes we have been planning though that all Ines, Stefan and Markus show up early afternoon and provide Kurt with time and space to enjoy his day with the numerous friends that ware expected. Hence we jumped into the car around midday, picked up Ines from work and fought our way through the normal craziness of the early Friday afternoon traffic outbound Vienna, heading south towards the tiny village of Aschau. The trip was Jakob's first longer journey away from Vienna and driving - as long as its not stop-and-go traffic - seems to have a relaxing effect on him. Upon arrival we met Stefan& Viki, put on our uniform for the night - T-shirt featuring as large "60" in the front and a picture of Dad aged 20 on the back - and entered the complex via the large garden through the backdoor. The surprise was a full success as Dad was sheer speechless and could not believe to see us but was very happy to do so.

While the afternoon of that super-hot summer day was rather quiet with respect to guests and congratulators the pub was pretty packed by 1800 and we all of us had lots to do. While Markus - who has not been working as a waiter since 13 years - and Stefan were at the helm behind the bar, Ines - basically co-running the pub throughout the year alongside Dad - was the "running" force in the outfield and Dad did have time to sit down with his friends and have a longer chat. At this point of time we got the strong confirmation that our surprise worked out just as it should: provide Kurt with time for fun and leisure with friends.

While for us children, who had to return to Vienna in the morning the night finished latest at 0400 Kurt stayed on with the last guests a while longer and when Jakob made us get up at 0700 Dad just got into the car to go home. Obviously he is used to those working hours, but still it’s quite something to work through a night like that. The family celebration - which we will host in our place on Tuesday - will for sure be not lasting until the morning hours and will be much more relaxing for all of us.

Jakob, Kerstin & Markus