As Spring arrives, the dreaded expression of “spring cleaning” rears its head again. Many Expats are perhaps quite good at not getting sentimentally attached to clutter, living in smaller flats than if permanently located in a city, and not acquiring a vast amount of possessions. Given that many flats come with cellars, which if dry can allow a good amount of extra storage for possessions that are either needed only seasonally or infrequently, storage space is not always such a problem.However, if you are here for the longer haul, a regular spring clean and chuck out is a necessity to stop wardrobes from overflowing, cupboards from being over-filled and bookshelves from collapsing under the weight of books and periodicals gathering dust which are never likely to be read again. If this latter situation sounds familiar, then there are several options available.

Those of you who enjoy driving around Vienna and own a car might well be aware of the fact that so-called Parkscheine (pre-paid parking vouchers), are required for parking in the districts 1-9 and 20, and in the 15th district in the area between the Gürtel, Felberstraße, Johnstraße, Stutterheimstraße and Gablenzgasse. The prices for these is going up, on the other hand however, the residential parking permits will be going down in price. Those of you interested in the price difference, permitted parking duration will probably find the Vienna Online website in English very useful: http://www.wien.gv.at/english/transportation/parking/shortterm.htm

Online name: VerryBerry

Where from originally: Russki by origin, cocktail by upbringing and a world citizen at heart

How long in Vienna: a good 27 years with a 6-year break of living in London 2003-2009.

Why in Vienna:  I guess when you are 5 yrs old – you got no choice where you move because of your parents’ job (not that I have anything to complain about with regards to Vienna!). However, when you are 29, have lived in Vienna for most of your life and then moved to another place (in my case – London), you realize that nothing compares to the best-quality-of-life city in the world called Vienna… you make the conscious choice and move back to this fab city, which I can proudly call HOME! :)

Interests: languages, movies, horse riding, oil painting, occasionally going to an ice-hockey game (Go Vienna Capitals!!!), drawing, shopping (yes, yes, I know… I’m such a girl…), travelling and I generally truly believe that it is never too late to acquire new hobbies!

Many VE members enjoy nothing more than meeting for a beer, and with around 4,000 locations serving beer in Vienna, there is certainly no shortage of choice. Indeed the Federation of Austrian Breweries (Verband der Bräuereien Österreichs) proudly boasts on its website that Austria has the highest level of breweries per capita of any EU nation. The provinces of Upper Austria, Lower Austria and Styria boast a total of nearly two thirds of the VBÖ's 68 breweries, with Ottakringer being the sole Viennese counterpart (although there are 13 microbreweries in Vienna on their list), and Burgenland not having a brewery - other than a few microbreweries.