For the second time I was lucky enough to have the pleasure of meeting with the inimitable Portia of Australian Perfume Junkies, this time accompanied by the lovely Michael, also a perfume nerd par excellence (Quote: “This would be a very hard trip to survive if I weren’t into perfume.”), who also contributes to APJ.
Sandra and I met the two for breakfast at French Bistro Le Bol (I know, but they already had their share of Kaffehauskultur and both value a good croissant!).
I look abysmal – it is true that the camera adds 20 pounds – but Portia looks very suave in that photo.
After kisses and introductions, gifts were exchanged (chocolates for Portia as he has too many perfumes already 😉 and Australian tea towels and perfumes for Sandra and me), brie, croissants, salmon and goat cheese were consumed and much hilarity ensued.
I’m not sure anyone in Portia’s company had ever experienced a dull moment.
After breakfast we repaired to the Espace Chanel, a beautiful Chanel counter devoted solely to Les Exclusifs. Both Aussies bought something, Coromandel EdT for Portia and Cuir de Russie extrait for Michael, who trustingly had to rely on my advice, since no testers were available for the extraits. I hope he is happy with it!
I had to run then unfortunately to get my sons, but the separation was not to last very long as we had dinner plans that very evening.
Portia, Michael and I met again at 7.30 for dinner at Nascha’s, this time with my husband, the man I suspect Portia really came to see, I was just along for the ride. 😉
Porta and The Husband – happily united!
The Husband is for some reason highly beloved by dear Portia and the two of them had a blast. So did Michael and I by the way, as he is a really lovely person, interesting, witty and intelligent. The food was excellent and the time flew. We had to relieve the babysitter by midnight (and rise for work at 5am the next morning), so we had to say goodbye all too soon.
Michael and I
I hope the Aussies make it a habit of coming to Vienna once a year, because I miss them already.
Please note the huge Martini glas in the foreground which might be partly responsible for the very happy faces in this picture.
Portia and Michael are not done with Europe, far from it. Right now they are visiting with Val, the Cookie Queen in Salzburg, then they’ll move on to Paris and London meeting Perfumistas left and right. I look forward to reading all about that on APJ and quite possibly various other blogs.
Olfactoria's Travels 
Off to role play in Salzburg right now ….. Portia and Michael Von Trapp.
Raindrops on roses, and whiskers on kittens ……… Many hugs dearest B.
xxxxxxx
We were talking about the atrocity of eating Schnitzel with noodles just the other day! Have fun and let us know about it! 🙂
Naschas ? Really ? (a pity I couldn’t accept the Invitation, would have loved to meet Ms P. Thankfuly, I had a lovely evening too : with Tara in London).
Really. It is a new location (on Petersplatz, no longer in Garnisongasse) with a great new cook! We must go there for breakfast (or lunch, or dinner) soon!
I wish we could have beamed ourselves to London for the evening, that would have been even better. 🙂
Portia brought you TEA TOWELS from my homeland?? Are you tea towel deprived in Vienna?! Are Australian tea towels the world’s best? Do let me know if you ever need a care package! 🙂
Mind you, I am fussy about tea towels myself. Hate yucky old tea towels. I replace mine quite often and scent them with eucalyptus soap.
Hahaha, yes she did! We do not have a shortage of tea towels, but we certainly do not have Australian sights on them. Mine has a map of Cairns. 🙂
The Eukalyptus soap is a great tip, I’ll try that right away, thanks!
P.S.: Vanessa of Bonkers is a great tea towel expert too, she should do a post on the possible correlation of tea towelism and Perfumania.
Oops, just checked, it’s lemongrass soap in my tea towel drawer, not eucalyptus. But my idea is to choose something strident enough to cut through the scungy smell that tea towels tend to get no matter often they get washed and line dried. I know that smell well. My mother was both fastidious and frugal. She cleaned everything that didn’t move but she would wear the tea towels down to threads before replacing them. Urk.
Sounds like we all have fine taste in tea towels!
I’m on it! 😉
Excellent! 🙂
Oh my gosh! I thought I was the only tea towel aficionado I knew! I really do get one from every place I visit. My tackiest is from the Roman Baths in Bath. It has a decapitated teal and grey head floating in the middle of the ruins!
And my classiest one if from Barcelona. Of course 🙂
Ha, that is too funny! Vanessa of Bonkers even expored the correlation between tea towelism and perfumania in a blog post inspired by this one! You fit right into the mold! 😉
I am going to look for that blog post right now! Excited 🙂
How lucky you are to get to hang out with Portia. Looks like a good time was had by all. That’s some martini! Too bad you only had one day. It sounds like they are having the grand tour over there so I look forward to everyone’s stories.
I live a good place apparently, lots of Perfumista traffic coming through: 😉
I look forward to the following stories as well!
the martini was actually regular sized, the glass just seems huge because of the perspective. i swear!
Portia in Vienna! Sounds like a Tin Tin comic. Yummy fun.
The tea towel tip is great. I will investigate the lemongrass soap option, unless Annmariec updates again on the scent situation.
Now we need you to take on Europe! 🙂
What a fun time! Can’t wait till it’s our turn in London next week.
B you look as radiant as ever and I love that lip colour. From Portia’s proximity in those pics I’m afraid it does seem to be true that The Husband is the main attraction 🙂
We hope to read all about your London meet up! 🙂
Thanks re the lipstick, you are so kind AND perceptive – I love that color, it is Tom Ford Shine Lipstick in Bare.
The Husband was at his most charming! 😉
Thanks. I thought I could spot the Tom Ford quality there. It really suits you.
Thanks! I bought a back-up today. *grins*
Love the photos! I would love to know more about tea towels…and scenting them?
Are they the same as dish towels? tell me more!!!
They are dish towels (as far as I as a non-expert can discern, they look like that to me at least).
Scenting them is a new concept to me as well but it is a fantasic idea, since it is hard to get them to smell good after some time of regular use.
It looks like your evening was a hoot, and yes I did notice the martini glass too!
We love APJ here in Oz.
Hijacking this topic…you can put soap like lavender or sandalwood in the sheets cupboard too, the ultimate luxury!
We love APJ over here too! 🙂
I do that with frangipani soap. There is a bar tucked into each of the bath towels in my hall cupboard. Frangipani does not grow where I live and I’ve not found a perfume version that I love. I enjoy it through the soap. I admit that the it’s a hazard. A bar lands on my foot if I yank a towel out too quickly. 🙂
That cupboard must smell wonderful!
And so does your foot when a bar hits it, that should help you get over the pain! 😉
Thanks for sharing – love the photos!! But what is with the guns on the wallpaper!? Are you sure you’re in Austria, and not the US? 😉
Ha, I didn’t even notice the guns but focused on the kissing lips instead. It’s all a question of perception. 😉
Fun!!! You look as radiant as ever, Birgit, and everyone looks very happy. Glad you had such a great visit, and I’d love to smell Cuir de Russie in extrait form. I think that would be a pretty safe blind buy, considering how good it is in EDT form. 🙂
Cuir de Russie extrait is the same as the EdT but of course it is richer and deeper, a 3D version of the scent.
I think Michael will be happy with it.
We had fun indeed. Now it is your turn to come to Vienna! Paris and Rome are not enough!!! 🙂
This sounds like so much fun for everyone! Lucky you to live at a “crossroads” for perfumistas! I don’t which is why I enjoy the perfume blogs so much. Can’t wait to hear about the rest of Portia’s adventures on this trip.
I’m really lucky! I can’t wait to hear the other stories as well. Tara will let us know about the London part right here on OT. 🙂
It definitely sounds like a fun two-fold meeting – thank you for sharing it with us.
Of course! Thank you for reading!
Hey there Birgit (and Sandra AND MICHAEL)
What a wonderful few days, we feel totally spoiled and it was super fun to catch you all again, the only thing missing was Jin.
Your Mr Olfactoria was, and is, a dreamboat. You two are so lucky to have each other lovely, beautiful, ethereal Birgit.
Michael says ‘Hello’, and Val says ‘Hayyyyyy’
We will be back.
Portia xx
I agree, we missed lovely Jin!
Can’t wait until you come back. xoxox
Fantastic pictures – I am sure that Martini had nothing to do with the bonding of the Husband and Portia…Sounds like you had a blast – and well done for staying up so late on a school night!
Thank you for acknowledging that fact! I’m very proud of making it to midnight! 😉
The pictures definitely show you all having a blast! 🙂
It’s so nice to read about great perfumista gatherings.
And if we are lucky there are few perfumista gatherings ahead to read about…
It is obvious you had a lot of fun ;-). What are Aussies doing in this winter here? Is it too hot Down Under? ;-).
Apparently! I would flee the heat too! 😉
Sounds like you all had a wonderful visit full of good food and good cheer! It looks like you had so much fun! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for reading! Chances are good we can all meet this fall in NYC, Portia is coming and so are M and I!
THAT SOUNDS WONDERFUL! I am so looking forward to seeing you all and meeting the amazing Miss P. in person!
Will you be in NY around Thanksgiving?