My mom, Steph and I at the Schonbrunn Palace Christmas Market, trying to stay warm with our punsch.
Steph, Angella and I using our best German to order dinner
Mom and I at the market again...
My Mom and I enjoying a Mexican dinner, sadly my limited Spanish is still better than my German!
We went on a "night at the history museum tour" with Steph's school. The best part was the punsch and view from the roof. That's the Rathaus in the background, right behind is where I live.
My Mom, Sheona and I went to a concert, it was amazing and you know, cultural. We preordered champagne for the intermission break. Classy, right?
Anika, Steph, Andrew, Ciara, Bridget and I enjoying Thai punsch (my favorite) at the market in front of the church at Karlsplatz. I'm not sure what we're going to do when the markets end!
My mom and I up in Grinzing.
A snowy night in Vienna! This was the day my Mom left and the second day Jess was here. I treated Jess to a typical Viennese day... furniture shopping, internet surfing and Gluhwein at the closest market. We had a fun walk home in the snow taking a zillion pictures as if we've never seen snow before.
Jess, Bridget and I at the AKH Christmas market right near my house. And... the location of my upcoming German classes! Finally!
Steph, my Mom and I in the snow drinking again... see any themes? ha!
Rathaus Christmas market, the most touristy one, but I love it! Helps that it's close too!
Heather came to visit and it was SO great to see her and have her see my life here in Vienna! We tried this tapas place right around the corner from my place. Does the picture look a little foggy? Why yes, it does... that would be the third hand smoke...
Heather and I at the Spittelberg Market, where we surprisingly drank punsch.
Now for Dubai... Kelli and I on my last night in Dubai. We had a great time! She had some friends visiting and we went out for dinner and drinks right near the airport. I had a 2:00am flight, which conveniently got me back to Vienna just in time to go straight to work. Ha!
Gregg and I at Bar Zar at the Madinat, where I decided it was a totally reasonable option to start smoking sheesha, because apparently I do that now!
Again, I am now an avid sheesha smoker... this was Mark and I well on our way towards a long night... I'm pretty sure we finished our "strip" of drinks and then went home, opened up a bottle of wine, totally necessary, and sat around talking till 5:30 or so in the morning. Just in time for Mark to pack up and go on a camping trip...
Oh how I missed the sun! Laying at the beach was AWESOME!
Syma, Mark, Kim and I heading out to this new place. Sure, I miss the sun, people, etc. in Dubai, but what I really miss is throwing on a strapless dress and heading out to a beach bar, or any other outdoor place! I sorta wish I would have had some high heeled shoes too... here in Vienna the cobblestone and weather don't allow for all the clothes and shoes I've bought over the last couple of years. I seriously need to purchase a whole new wardrobe, hats, boots, gloves, jackets, everything you can imagine for the cold.
Ok, so a bit more about life... desperate to learn German. I signed up for classes two nights a week, they start January 18th, I'm sure I'll be fluent by the time my sister and Eric arrive in February. We have spent the last month or so going to every Christmas market you can imagine. I love the Gluhwein and punsch, my favorite is the Thai one at Karlsplatz. It's not too sweet.
While my Mom was here she bought me some new bedding that I love and we also went to this furniture store, Moma, which I am now obsessed with and I saw all kinds of things I think I should have for my apartment. So, on Jess's first full day we headed out in the snow and I ended up buying all this stuff. I'm not real sure what exactly happened, there was definitely some language issues happening, but I ended up buying a shelving unit, a bakers rack and... renting a car? Who knows, I got confused and sort of gave up and agreed to come back on Monday and pick up the large items and drive them home myself. It ought to be no problem for Jess and I to carry the 141lbs shelving unit up to my apartment, right? Ugh. I get so flustered when the whole German language starts up...
Speaking of confusion... apparently the flat downstairs has terrible water damage and it's all my fault. Which is strange because the plumber that came couldn't find any problems with my pipes... and it's so terrible that they haven't bothered to return any of my calls or be home when I arranged for the plumber to be here? Ugh. So frustrating. According to my rental contract (in German) I am required to have rental insurance, guess I should have had that translated... could be thousands of Euros of damage. Convenient. I do now, of course, have rental insurance.
Back to my apartment... Jess has been awesome, since she's been here furniture has been purchased, pictures have been hung and we are in process of selecting paint colors. So much to do and so little time. So happy that I don't work till January 7th!!!
I'll be hosting Christmas dinner with a variety of people bringing a variety of things... should be fun! We'll see how it all works out. Hopefully people won't mind sitting on the floor and drinking out of mugs... I did buy more wine glasses and some water glasses, finally... maybe someday I'll have all the makings of a real place to live!
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