seems surreal that i’m here! strange to think i’m so far away from home, in a foreign country… in europe for christmas! a few months ago i would never have imagined i’d be here…
we haven’t done any sightseeing yet, though tammy and i arrived friday night, k and may the following morning. there was an entire 24-hour delay for our flight on wednesday night and we were put on standby for our transit flight in london – it was extremely irritating and drained us of so much energy… the past two days were spent recuperating from jetlag, which had caused onslaughts of drowsiness at random times of the day.
vienna right now feels very cold. our apartment is toasty warm (or too warm most times!). we are apparently very close to the city center, but have not ventured there yet… yesterday i went to the market, which was brimming with fresh-ness! fresh fruits, fresh veggies, fresh baklava, fresh eggs, fresh meats, fresh cheese, fresh bread… europe at its everyday finest! it was very crowded because it was the weekend, and i heard snippets of english here and there. right outside the food market was an antiques market… tammy, my mom and i meandered through it, pausing to stop at several tables, mostly without the intention to buy anything… we saw lots of strange things,lots of broken porcelain dolls (creepy) and lots of things from eastern europe.
there was a christmas market that opens at night a few blocks down… we went there but all the booths, except the ones that sold hot drinks, were closed because of the snow/rain. will have to go again…
the people here speak german, and i wish i had studied it better when i was in high school. it would have been so cool to understand what people said and read roadsigns… but i think i’d still feel too inadequate and shy to try a conversation…
the tap water here apparently comes straight from the mountains… how delicious =) have yet to try any coffee shops but will definitely do so in the very near future! chocolate here is especially good – even when buying from the grocery stores. i don’t know how they have mastered the art so well…
