Saint Valentine's Day / Valentinstag

Who was Saint Valentine? Apparently, it is a very good question. There were a number of Christian martyrs named Valentine, and until 1969, the Catholic Church recognized eleven Valentine's days. The Valentines honored on February 14 are Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni. There was nothing romantic about February 14 until a Valentine story of love popped up during the middle ages, by which point the original Valentines were completely forgotten. So lost in time are the original Saint Valentines, that the Catholic Church removed the February 14 Saint Valentine's feast day from the Roman calendar.

I would imagine it is for this reason, that Valentine's day is not really celebrated here in Austria. It is so not celebrated that the biggest party in town tonight is Nacht der Vampire (Night of the Vampires) at the Gusswerk which boasts three halls, two dance floors, and eight bars. Sounds like it will be a big party. And, it sounds a little Krampus-y to me, turning Valentine's Day into a vampire celebration.

We went out for a Valentine's Day dinner to Rossbrau. Nikolas likes the fish sticks. It's not far from home and has an American-type feel even though the Ross Burger tastes nothing like a real American hamburger. It's the kind of restaurant that in the USA you would expect to be completely decorated with hearts and cupids and red and pink bunting. Rossbrau was decorated to the hilt, but not for Valentine's Day. Instead, it was bedecked for Faschingsdienstag (Shrove Tuesday, which this year is February 24), the last hurrah before Lent begins. It's Faschingsdienstag party supply displays that have been in the stores for the last couple weeks as well, not Valentine's displays. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Happy Valentine's Day everybody!