Saturday, December 27, 2008

Shops are Open Again

I'm back in business, and in the same café (Café Standard in the 5th District) as last post. It has gotten cold here and that's okay, because at least it's not raining and it's also not a damp cold since we are so far inland.
We had a quiet-ish day yesterday because a lot of stores and cafés were closed for St. Stephen's Day, which is a big holiday in Europe. Here Christmas is celebrated over two days, so the 26th is known as the second day of Christmas. However, we did come into town (we're staying in the 13th District, which is a 15 minute walk, then 15 minute train ride into the centre of Vienna) and went to a Brewery we visited last year called Salm Bräu. We were excited to be back, especially because of the great creamy garlic soup I remembered and also for the terrific beer.
We weren't the only ones with this idea, so it was a noisy, atmospheric visit, although cut a little short when we decided to move on after being denied the right to play cards at our table in the bar...What's up with that, anyway??!! We were astonished, after all, we were relatively quiet (for us), and not playing strip poker or anything too wild, just a simple game of Euker. Oh well. It won't stop us from returning, but we did find it strange.
Our Christmas Day was nice, we slept in after attending a midnight mass at a local church and getting home at 1:30 a.m. We stayed in the house and Mike and I talked about going for a walk when I realized a nap might be better for me and collapsed on the sofa. I was better for it after and we all got dressed up for our trip to the Vienna Opera house to see the Nutcracker ballet.
What a beautiful old building, although compared to many buildings in the city, relatively young. We were seated waaaayy up, but still had a good view and were happy that we were seated instead of in the standing-room only section. The ballet itself was a different sort of interpretation with some modern (AKA digital) touches, but the music was wonderful and the dancers talented. We all did a few spins and dainty runs on our way out and down the street afterward! We definitely have potential.
Our plans for the coming week include a visit to the Melk Monastery ( http://www.sacred-destinations.com/austria/melk-abbey.htm ), the Spanish Riding School ( http://www.srs.at/index.php?id=265 ), and a visit to Bratislava, Slovakia. There will be many other fun things mixed in between these events, and I will endeavour to remember them for my next post! I should also have some photos at that time, since I will try to remember my camera cable next time.

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