R&R, SB, Wifi, and MQ
I love it how this morning I was finally able to sleep in after four very early/late days in a row, and even though I was awake until 3am, I was up and at 'em by 9. Yeesh. I think it had less to do with my own sleep problems and more to do with the fact that there are 2 churches within a block from my apartment, and, compliments of my open window, I was treated to a mellifluous chorus of multi-toned bells singing the call for morning Mass. What a way to wake up, huh?It was really nice to take a slow day today, actually, and the even nicer part is that Austria has very strict labor laws that require all places of commerce to close on Sundays except for eateries. Thus, on a Sunday in Austria, there are 2 possibilities for entertainment (for the less inventive) - church and food. However, if you are among the more inventive, the possibilities are endless ;-D
After the morning bells, I fell back asleep until 10:15, which meant that I, once again, couldn't make the 10:30 high Mass at the Jesuitenkirche, but I wasn't really planning on going until next week anyway. I met up with Jennifer at a cafe at around noon, and we (in a very scattered fashion) set about organizing lunch plans. Through the combined use of both wifi and cellular technology, we managed to set a lunch date with Kelly and Kristina at a Thai restaurant near the Staatsoper (cravings for Pad Thai have been pervasive this past week), and once Kelly arrived at the cafe, the three of us set off for Friedrichstrasse 2. Ten minutes on the Strassenbahn got us to the street, but there was no Thai restaurant to be had. The closest we got to Thai was "le Curry bistro," closed Sundays. Meh. So we decided to wander the area looking for food before Kristina arrived, and miraculously we stumbled upon Siam Thai restaurant across the way on Boesendorferstrasse. I thank the god of old piano-makers for leading me there.
We waited for Kristina in the restaurant, and I proved my ineptitude at life by having my cell phone go off twice at the table - once was a series of obnoxiously loud beeps signalling that Kim was texting me, and the other was an obnoxiously loud electronic, mono version of Mozart's 40th, signalling that Kristina was calling about Jo. Both wanted to alert us that they were in the neighborhood and would be joining us for lunch, which was lovely :-)
Lunch was delicious, and afterwards, Kim, Jo, Kelly, and I took a ride around the Ringstrasse on the Str
assenbahn to take in the *supposedly* different architectural styles in the different city districts. We ended up talking the whole time and missing everything but the Parlament (built in the Greek style, fyi). I guess I'll have to take the ride again (oh, poor, poor me.) The photo is of Jo, Kelly, and Kim. I am not in it because I am behind the camera (duh ;-D) The picture that did include me I decided not use because the star of the picture was the underside of my nose, as usually is with do-it-yourself photos.We split up after that, and Kim and I headed to the Museumsquartier to capitalize on the free wifi offered there (the nicest bit - there are no nasty waiters making you feel guilty for ordering glass after glass of tapwater at a cafe just to use the internet there!) The MQ is really
something else. Besides the Natural and Art History museums, it houses the Leopoldsmuseum and the Museum of Modern Art. The latter have their entrances in the courtyard of a very large building that, besides museums, has a few shops and cafes. In the courtyard are these very interesting sea-foam green blocks that are wave-shaped. They are big enough for multiple people and are very comfortable despite their wooden makeup. Kim and I hung out on one such block among thousands for the rest of the afternoon (the weather, by the way, was gorgeous - sunny and 65.) It was a blast getting frustrated over Austrian websites and laughing at the pre-teen skateboarders who invariably fell off about every 3.7 seconds. There was this one kid who kept skating the edge of a reflecting pool, and I wanted him to fall in soooo bad......but I digress.Afterwards, we went looking for a Konditorei to buy pastries, but we couldn't find one and had to settle for Starbucks *apologies to the coffee gods of Vienna* espresso brownies. Quite the dinner! I then headed home, accompanied by Karl and Gertraut (Antonia's parents), who called to check on me and to let me know that they will be up in the city in 2 weeks (yay!!!!)
Tomorrow I leave for Hollabrunn for orientation #2. Hopefully I can learn to be a teacher in 3 days or less - yikes.
Ciao!
P.S. I added a link to a page with my Vienna photos - it currently includes random city shots and all the photos from yesterday's tour of the Wachau valley.
P.P.S. If you click on the photos in the blog, you can see a larger version ;-D
posted by Carly Fowler @ 4:07 AM
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