Well hey family and friends, it’s been awhile.
Ilsa and I just got back from a weekend in Vienna, so things
have been hectic here for sure. We had an early start Thursday morning,
arriving in Vienna then heading to Mass right away. After a short tour
from Bibet (not sure on the spelling for that one), we had lunch (Mmm schnitzel!)
and made our way to the hostels to settle in. Our hostel was located off the main
street, through some sketchy back alleys with graffiti eeeverywhere (maybe they
think it’s the welcoming to write vulgar English language everywhere? Makes the
tourists feel at home. How nice of them.). No worries though because the guys
at the front desk assured us (and I quote), “Vienna is a safe city. We are in
the worst part of town and it’s still really safe here!” Well now…
But no really, it was sweet. No bed bugs, so that’s always a
bonus. We left quickly after to make the best of our free time. First on the agenda was
to find a statue that our friend Matt’s great grandfather had carved and was
displayed in some random park (how neat is that? That’s pretty neat). Afterwards
we ran in and out of a few churches in the area (never gets old) then went to
the main part of town to catch the culturally-enriching opera. For the small
price of four euro we were able to snatch a spot in the standing-room only area
of the theater. We definitely were under dressed for the occasion, but they let
us in any way. Because we arrived 5 minutes before the show was to start, the
standing room was packed full, making us have to stand in the waiting room
for the standing room (well that’s a mouth full). The attendant was a very proper older woman who took her job to the next level. I mean seriously—she was
telling me shush every other minute. I would move my feet and my shoes would squeak:
death stare from attendant lad; breathing in a little loudly (because I’m
currently sick and can’t help it): death stare. I ended up walking out
periodically to blow my nose just so I wouldn’t “disturb the show” (cuz you
know my nose blowing from the waaaay far back in the standing room would be
heard all over the theater and would then destroy the entire performance). Overall the show was great—good music,
beautiful voices, all in some language I couldn’t understand (no worries, I improvised
and made up a story).
mosaic we found in one of the churches; Ilsa wants one; same size and everything
It was about 8:30 at night by the time we left the opera
house, but the night was still young! We stopped by a street vendor to grab
some kebobs (kabobs? I guess there’s a difference…) then hopped on the subway (which, by the way, we would have been completely lost on if not for Matt's amazing directional skills--honestly, we'd probably still be wondering the streets of Vienna right now if it wasn't for that kid) to
head for the giant Ferris wheel. The view was incredible—city lights, cool
breeze, and a chance to sit after a full day of walking.
Left my household’s mark on the wall of the cart #rebel
The day ended when we made our way back to the hostel,
shared in the company of our friends, even ventured out the window onto our
fire escape (OK, so maybe I just crawled through and hung on for dear life, but
we were on the 5th floor, which looks intimidating through the grates
of the walkway), all before calling it night sometime after 12.
Day two was pretty similar (packed and amazing), so I’ll just post a couple pictures
with captions so you can get the some of the experience (there's more on Facebook if you care to see others):
^view part way up while climbing the stairs of St.Stephan's
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