european vacation part deux

Part two: Vienna, or Why I Secretly Want to be Austrian

We drove across the Hungarian countryside (seeing formerly communist tractors, which made me chuckle since the Tuvan Throat Singers from earlier this summer had a song about them) and reached Vienna as the sun was setting. Navigating was a treat, as my father has Mapquested the route to the hotel, but didn't have the alternative route once you had made your one fatal mistake. Luckily, I had an honest to goodness map. And eyesight.

Highlights:

1. The Spanish Riding School, where they have dancing horses! (No, seriously.) The Lippizaner Stallions (which one website describes as "horse of battle, horse of ballet!") were pretty awesome, as they pranced around in their showroom, doing moves we called the "flick & kick" or the "standy-uppy-in-a-circle." One horse was particularly badly behaved and we called him the Naughty Grey Pony. (Note: they're not ponies. We just like to call them that.) For the rest of the day, my sister, Scott and I did the flick & kick and then acted naughty.

2. Mom and Mozart. That guy's all over the place!

(and this one, staged to look like it was meant especially for Aaron, who loves pictures of people taking picutres of people)
3. People asked me for directions. And I gave them to them. I think they were mostly right!

4. The incident (recreated here, as if this were Vienna's Most Wanted).
That's right, my father's wallet got lifted on the subway! Within ten minutes, though, all of his credit cards and ATM card were cancelled. The woman we pegged as the perp must have been pretty pissed to find out that all my dad's cash was in his front pocket. She walked away with a measley $10 Canadian! (don't ask why he even had that, I have no logical answer.)

5. Schonbrunn Palace, built to rival Versailles.
My family. Built to rival the Marx Brothers.

6. The food. Oh god, don't get me started. Strudel and spaetzel and goulash and wine and cheese and Sacher tort and knodel and wurst and schnitzel (which I didn't actually care for). We could have eaten for days.

Wait. We did.

7. And my favorite... Kunsthaus Wien. Designed by Hundertwasser (my new favorite architect), this building was created to house his artwork, essentially, and boasts not having a straight line in its creation. I think it's just lovely.

More info here, if you're interested.

8. There's way too much more, but here are some pics, just for fun:
This is a shop near our hotel. I have absolutely no idea what they sell, and it's not clear from looking in their windows, either.
This was our shower. Apparently you could have a jellyfish, a boat, or a jellyfish on a stick. I opted repeatedly for the jellyfish.

Stay tuned, more adventures to come!

p.s. I FINALLY started my new job today. I am LOVING IT!