GRINZING

GRINZING IN THE 80S AND A FRIENDSHIP THAT ROCKS!

My first ever sleep over was at Marlene’s house. Fresh off the boat from Beirut, she invited me to her new flat situated right behind the last stop on the 38 tramway in Grinzing, a village on the outskirts of Vienna at the foot of a small mountain called Kahlenberg. Shortly thereafter, her family moved down the road and we became neighbours. I mean literally, the building next door separated only by a fence which happened to have a hole in it (particularly handy when we were in a rush.) As neighbours we went to school together. This meant seeing each other most mornings on opposite sides of the street legging it down the road to catch the school bus. We usually managed. One day, Marlene’s hair had turned platinum blond, an exquisite look she still sports today. A few weeks later, she took a pair of scissors to cut her bangs explaining they kept getting in the way of doing homework. Both hairdos looked brilliant. At one point, Marlene and I decided to get fit. Inspired by Rocky Balboa, we kicked off our day at dawn, downed a raw egg in milk, and hit the pavement for a jog while listening to the “eye of the tiger” on a yellow Walkman. It lasted a week… but we were very pleased with ourselves. Trips to the local ice-cream parlour were a regular outing. In case others don’t know, Marlene is very talented at ingesting exceptionally large quantities of ice cream at lightning speed. One day the ice cream

parlour was having a raffle. All paper entries were placed in a clear jar. Marlene had the wise idea of sticking scotch tape around hers, cunningly calculating it would feel different to the exploring hand. It worked! Her entry was picked and she won! The prize - an “all you can eat ice-cream” fiesta for all her friends. We were quite literally on cloud nine. Grinzing will always be memories of my most precious friendship with my dearest Friis. We used to roam around the neighbourhood visiting friends from Reiko to Tina to Shu. Pip was also pretty much a resident, even though she officially lived on the other side of town. We wandered up and down Cobenzl, hung out in the local park, at each other’s houses and when desperate for warmth or privacy, in my dad’s car which he always left unlocked. Somewhere along the way, I became Big Toe and she was Freeze Frame. Beautiful, kind, loving, funny, creative and the most giving friend in the world. I know how incredibly lucky I am. – SARA NORRIS, LONDON