Today I've mostly bin...

[maisie ladybird]

Have fun SparkOut, I'll be joining in from the UK.

[LAT]

I can't even find the puzzles, just guff about how to register, accommodation and past history etc. No hope for me.

[Bunnylump]

I don't see any point in even looking at them (for them?!) When I've looked in the past, I couldn't even understand them WITH the answers! Mind you, I can't do those MUMS / SUMS / CISRA puzzles that you lot all sail through either.

[LAT]

That's not what I've heard Bunnylump. I thought you were usually quite helpful.
I don't expect to be able to do the puzzles either though, but I was quite interested in seeing what they were up against. After all, for once, this is over the weekend when I have a bit more free time than for most of the other hunts which tend to be Monday to Friday.

[Bunnylump]

Perhaps you have to register to be able to see the puzzles?

[Wulfruna]

Good Luck Sparkout - hope you have lots of fun meeting the challenge! Where in Austria is it? I love Vienna! Hope you get lots of Wiener Schnitzel and Sachertorte to inspire the brain cells......

[Bunnylump]

So, how many of you went out for a walk in that lovely, glittering sunshine today? And, oh my gosh, wasn't it COLD? I did enjoy jumping on all the icy puddles though!

I must say, I'm beginning to wonder if my bum will ever thaw out though!

[LAT]

Were you sliding on the ice?

[Bunnylump]

No, just jumping on the puddles to get that satisfying "crunch" - the ice was about 1cm thick. Almost as good as bubble wrap in Newcastle.

[chazzie]

Loving it....our equivalent to Peter Pan...

I also enjoyed a walk in the cold sun ..was lovely .best bit was the parts where I thought I was going to get muddy but no because the mud was frozen

[giraffe]

It wasn't that cold here yesterday. Some of Friday's snow is still lying, but it was raining when we came back from our walk, and the mud was definitely slippery, and the puddles weren't frozen.

[Bunnylump]

And today...SNOW! Unfortunately it's a bit too melty to make a snowman this year.

[chazzie]

Yes was in your neck of the woods this am and saw the snow...luckily it didn't hamper travel plans and this afternoon had a much warmer walk than yesterday!

[SparkOut]

Sorry, not been much time for looking in here. Part of the thing is that the winners of last year's hunt host this year's. The hunts have a "theme" chosen by the hosting team and there's usually a big opening event, which will give clues to the "first" website where puzzles may be found.
The hunt is hosted on-campus at MIT - there is no official Austrian connection, beyond the fact that a number of our team come from Europe and a significant percentage of the Europeans are Austrian. Last year they had a group meet for participation, and this year I joined them, flying to Wien and hiring a car to drive to Linz for the hunt meet.
Puzzlingwise it's been a bit stiff this year. Officially the hunt is still on, but we are done here now, I'm turning in.
Goodnight!

[LAT]

Hope you had a good time anyway SparkOut.
At least now I don't feel quite so stupid for not being able to find the puzzles.

[Bunnylump]

Just laughing at some of the posts which have been appearing on my Danish friend's Facebook page. She came here two years ago when we did a Burn's night do, and was so impressed by haggis that she took a photo of it. She has just posted it as her profile picture, and her Swedish and Danish friends are all completely perplexed as to what it is. One asked "What does it do?" I was tempted to post something about them being wild animals that live in the Scottish mountains, with legs on one side shorter than the other so that they don't fall over, but I can't help thinking it might fail in translation...

[LAT]

I'm laughing at that. I can only imagine their puzzlement!

[Bunnylump]

She's coming here on Saturday to revisit the haggis experience. Also on the menu is: Scottish loch salmon salad with heather honey dressing, slow - cooked venison, neeps and tatties (obviously) all followed by cranachan. I suspect that a wee dram or two may be in evidence too...

[LAT]

Sounds yummy. Can I come too?

[Wulfruna]

She's coming here on Saturday to revisit the haggis experience. Also on the menu is: Scottish loch salmon salad with heather honey dressing, slow - cooked venison, neeps and tatties (obviously) all followed by cranachan. I suspect that a wee dram or two may be in evidence too...

That sounds like my dream menu It reminds me of an amazing meal we once had on Skye which had an incredible haggis starter all soaked in a whisky cream sauce. And of course, being on Skye, the culmination was to round off with a generous dram of Talisker, the ultimate and unique malt whisky......