A year + ago, I moved, and had to switch from gas to a glass cooktop
or whatever they call it. I felt like I had to learn how to cook again,
I was burning stuff or it wasn't coming out right or just sucked in
minor ways somehow. This condition subsided after a couple of weeks.

Now I'm in Vienna on vacation in an airbnb place with gas, woo hoo!
But the cookware sucks and again I have to adjust, this time more than
one variable. Also, it's a tiny stove with three burners, the fourth
spot for letting your hot stuff sit there I guess. I'm not complaining,
just observing.

Throw in the added dimension of language, and preparing food for oneself
and one's family becomes a bit of an adventure.

Some more food observations over he

These Germanic people live up to their reputation for precision and
analytic leanings. I notice that you can get several different versions
of mayonnaise, clearly labeled "80% fett" or "35% fett" or it seems really
all sorts of gradations of fett to suit your exact mayo fett-ness needs.
None of this vague "light" stuff a la USA. I went with the full strehgth
stuff of course. Also, their "licht" milch is clearly labeled "0,9 % fett".
No rounding up here to the nearest 1%, nein!

Senf (mustard) in toothpaste tubes. Love it.

It is possible to please six-year-olds when in unfamiliar surroundings
if you can concoct something familiar in the kitchen. I made a lucky
guess that the gemischt ground meat (shut up Sheldon) was part pork
and part beef, and would make some decent meatballs. I was not wrong
and everyone was happy. I also guessed right that some crushed
tomatoes plus a small can of something tomato-y with a picture of a
basil leaf on it would be a great start for some red sauce. tert 2,
German 0.

You have to weigh your produce yourself. A kindly cashier clued me
in to this feature. Huge contrast to my experience in Italy where
you are not supposed to touch the produce (this is based on extremely
limited experience so I can not say it represents all or even more
than 1% of actual practice in that country).

They have Kettle(tm) brand chips here. I was kind of surprised to
see that. I guess I didn't keep up too well with the last decade of
that company's ownership/distribution/trajectory.

Can't go wrong with baked goods here. Well, I imagine you can if they're
sold wrapped in plastic from a factory but I'm not interested in that
stuff. Pizza on the other hand is probably better in Italy.

It's a little depressing to see two McDonalds'es within ~200 meters
of Stefansdom. One would have been acceptable, but two? Why?? I would
send a letter to the appropriate Ministry but I'm too self defeating
for that sort of thing.