I went to... ug... McDonald's

Well... I hate to admit it... but I did. You see, the thing is, grocery stores in Austria have very limited hours. They're open from 8-6 on weekdays, 8-12 on Saturdays, and not at all on Sundays. This is a national law designed to protect workers from their employers, ostensibly to make sure they get to have some free time and can go to church on Sunday. That's great for the workers, but bad for me... since I slept in on Saturday I missed my opportunity to go to the store and buy some fresh bread, cheese, and käsewurst. But, there was that bastion of American convenience right around the corner: McDonald's. I must admit that I haven't even been to one in the States for many years, since I've always been very anti fast food and would much rather have gone to the Farmacy in good old Athens OH and picked up a turkey and havarti sandwich. Anyway... it was either cheap plastic food or starving, so I went in and ordered a "McChicken Maxi-Menü" (umm, combo meal, that is). Really, there are only 2 differences between a European McDonald's and an American one. #1: You do not get any ice in your soda here. #2: You don't have to take your tray to the garbage. They do that for you. Other than that, its exactly the same... dirty fat people and screaming children and all that stuff. It felt kind of awkward... like I had stepped back into my own country. I wondered if the people eating here considered it to be exotic and foreign... that's kind of how it felt to me. Weird. I'm going to make sure to go grocery shopping this Friday and stock up on the good stuff.