What Comes From Austria?

Just a little list of some things that hail from Österreich:

10. PEZ Candy | was first marketed as a compressed peppermint sweet in Austria. The name PEZ was derived from the letters at the start, the middle and the end of the German word for peppermint, Pfefferminz.

9. Lipizzaner Stallions | beautiful world famous dancing white horses. Click here to watch a video.

8. Sigmund Freud | the father of psychoanalysis... the id, the ego and the superego.

7. Red Bull | I definitely would have thought this was an American invention...the pace of life here doesn't seem so Red Bullish, but this crack drink's headquarters lie right outside of Salzburg. Can you imagine Fräulein Maria takin' back a Red Bull and vodka singin' "Doe, a Deer" in dubbed speed?

6. Sacher Torte | dense chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot jam in the middle. If you've ever been to the wondey French Gourmet Bakery in Houston, you've seen this. I always liked how it had those little triangles on every slice with "Sacher" written on them.

5. Apple Strudel | all of the pastries here (and they are everywhere) are delicious!

4. Mozart | Austria has a rich tradition in music and is home to many famous composers, but you see Mozart's face and name the most. Franz Schubert, who composed my all-time fave, Ave Maria, is also from Austria.

3. Brüno | Sacha Baron Cohen's latest offensive character is a gay, Austrian fashion reporter. I I think the movie comes out this weekend in the States. Here is the trailer. Note to my parents and Art's parents: you probably won't appreciate.

2. The Sound of Music | when Americans think of Austria, they think of The Sound of Music. Funny that most Austrians have never seen the film and are irritated by this. I say it's not such a bad thing! This is what happens at the train stations in Europe.

1. The Governator! | I went and saved the best for last. Not only is Arnold Schwarzenegger from Austria, but he is from Graz.