The Piano Man

There is this Italian pianist who I love love love. He is probably my favourite music to listen to, especially on Sundays. I am actually inspired by every single song he composes and plays. He's great. His name is Ludovico Einaudi. It's said exactly how it's spelt (I checked on Wikipedia), but for some reason I have taken to calling him The Piano Man all the time.

 Why does this matter, you might be asking? Well he's come up a lot in conversation the last few days / weeks / months. I think I looked up his tour dates as soon as we found out we were coming to Europe. He is Italian, so I figured Europe would give me a better chance to see him, than Canada would. And it did! On December 2nd he comes right here to me, in Vienna. The only bother: tickets are sold out. I've been looking at them for a long time now, but I kept putting off buying them. I wanted to make sure Eric was really okay with it, because it's kind of a lot of money for something only I want. He said he was several times, but for some reason I always assume he does the normal woman thing and says the opposite of what he actually thinks or feels. Silly me, he really is a man. 
Anyway, I wanted to go to this concert so so badly. I looked at tickets everyday until one day I went on, and there were none left. I think I actually cried. I was so sad. Then my birthday came around the other day, and I secretly hoped that that would be my present, but it wasn't. My birthday was still good, but since Sunday I have pretty much given up on the idea of ever going.
Until Today. This morning I realized that we are going to be all over Europe next month. From Prague to Berlin; in Poland; from Paris to London to Amsterdam. Maybe there is a date or place in those times that will work. There were two! One in Italy, and one in Germany. I was determined to find tickets so I looked for a long time this morning, while my husband so kindly got me ready for the day because I was too distracted. 

I found nothing. I am pretty discouraged and upset by this point. This was something I really really wanted to do here in Europe, and it is my own procrastination that has gotten in the way. I hate procrastination, it ruins everything. 
So I got up and finished getting ready. Wandered the house and sulked a bit, while my husband diligently kept looking and calling around. He is great. Then I suggested in passing, why not just call the Vienna Box Office and double check that they're all sold out. So he did and....SUCESS! I actually screamed with excitement. He got us two tickets (beside each other even) for The Piano Man (Ludovico Einaudi)'s concert of December 2nd, right here in Vienna! You actually can't imagine how excited I am for this, also how grateful I am that Eric didn't give up like I did. He always has the right amount of patience and determination to make it just past where I give up, to solve the problem for me. Like I said, he is a man after all. That's just what they do. 
Long story short: December 2nd. I cannot wait!

E:

Katherine and I learned ourselves about Michael Angelo. After seeing all of his work in the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican Museums, and all over Florence, we really were intrigued by the fellow. What he accomplished blows my mind. Look him up and get yourself learned like Katherine and I. It'll tickle your brain.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town...

Today was a happy day for me. One of our famous Vienna Christmas Markets started up! YEAH! I woke up bright and early, got myself all dolled up (Christmas tshirt included. Obvious!), grabbed my camera and headed out the door. I was full of Christmas cheer when I got there. It was so much fun to walk around and see all the handmade and homemade and made with love treats that the markets always have to offer. There was of course some Made in China booths as well, which were cute, but some of the genuine stuff was incredible. So many festive smells and sights. It made me feel really comfortable. Remember all my whining and complaining about losing Halloween and Thanksgiving. Well, Vienna is about to redeem itself in my holiday books. They just about make up for a lack of fall cheer with all of your Christmas cheer.

I've had a soft spot in my heart for Christmas markets for a few years now. My mother is a very talented lady, and loves to create beautiful things. She's done all kinds of different things, and her newest is one of my favourites. She now makes purses and bags and wallets and all kinds of cute little things out of old, used leather pieces. They are really great. But the point is, she has had a booth at the really big Christmas sales in Halifax for the last couple of years and setting up and sitting at and visiting her booths is a very fond Christmas memory of mine. In my mind, those sales are the jump start to the Christmas holidays; the shopping and the eating and the decorating. 

Christmas at the Halifax Forum - 2009

Mommy and Daddy: while you two are laboring so fiercely to create and sell your treasures in the very first show of the season this weekend, I am shopping and smelling so joyfully and leisurely at the first of the season over here. I miss you guys and the hectic craziness of this weekend. Merry Christmas Selling to you all!
Christmas is coming. I can finally see it almost in sight. I feel justified to create a countdown now since I've been Christmas (window) shopping. 43 Sleeps until Christmas morning!

Hump Day.

I actually missed hump day. Thursday, November 3rd was hump day. Half way through our time we are allotted here in Vienna. We have 122 days to spend here (I know this because of the very extensive process of applying for a Visa). We have now been here 68 of those days, and I almost can't believe it. It is so strange that we are just over half done now. There is so much left to do, so much left to see and so much left to enjoy. I understand that it won't all be done, seen and enjoyed before we leave, but part of me wishes it could be. I want to see everything. I want to soak up every little corner of this city, and every spot possible of this wonderful land of Europe. 
On the other hand, home is calling out to me right now. I found out the other night that we have no way to Skype anyone back home. The time difference is a big hassle, but when I finally worked that out and was presented with an opportunity to talk with one of my very best friends, I found out that the internet connection we have access to is a "closed network" or something silly, which Skype apparently hates. If anyone has any ideas, cheap and easy, to get in contact with people in Canada, I would love to hear about them. I am missing being able to just call up friends and family and talk with someone familiar and friendly. 
Also, this time of year is a hard one to be away from home. I have Eric, and he is wonderful. But I miss even just the place I call home, as well as all the people. I wanted to go apple and pumpkin picking for Thanksgiving, and then carve the pumpkin and get dressed up for Halloween. I wish I could have seen my brothers and sisters, or my niece and nephew all dressed up in cute costumes. I wish we could have had family dinner for Eric's birthday. He didn't even get a cake because we don't have an oven. 
My birthday is coming up soon as well. The family home evening night after my birthday was usually about the time that we would set up the tree and pull out the decorations at home. I will miss that terribly. Also, most of the traditional foods and things that make Christmas feel like it's coming to me are going to be tricky to find here. I want candy cane ice cream! 
Eric is, of course, doing just fine. He's loving the fact that school is easier here than his semesters back home; or I guess less work. He's strong and seems to never miss home. He loves his home, and family is so important to him, but he has always been better at keeping a clearer perspective than me. He knows 4 months is 4 months, and that's the amount of time we always knew we would be here. I'm sure he might miss home sometimes, but there has never been a time yet that he wishes he was there and not here. I confess it has not always been that way for me. 
I love love love Vienna. Please no body think that I am complaining about being here. Please no body go feeling bad for me, or thinking that's what I'm expecting you to do. I am so grateful that I am here, and really enjoying it. But I am missing Thanksgiving, and Halloween. Family and Friends. Calgary and Halifax. That's all. These are just some feelings I am feeling right now as I realise that two months now past went by so fast, but that two months ahead seems like a really long time (especially when one of those months is going to be December).
So here's to a wonderful and eventful, enchanting and exciting (but hopefully speedy) 54 remaining days!

Florence - November 3-5

k:

I love Florence. I almost don't even want to talk about it, for fear that I might ruin it for all of you. I will talk about it though, and probably lots so that I can always remember how much I loved the short time I spent there. The days we spent there were great, and I really liked that it was the last place we went. In Florence there is so much to see, even though it's really small. The nice thing was though, that there is so much to enjoy just wandering, that you don't have to schedule your day so tight to get something out of your trip. 

By the end of our two week vacation I was ready just to relax and wander, and Florence was perfect for that. One sight we did see was the Duomo (the Dome). It was conveniently located about 50 steps away from our lovely hotel (which I'm sure that Eric will have lots to say about when he gets on here).

It was a bit of a climb. More than a bit actually, I think it was about 400 steps or so and they were steep skinny corridors, but what we saw at the top was so worth it. It was the most beautiful view in Italy that I saw. Possibly, one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. Florence just looks like Italy. It's all old buildings, and they're all yellow and brown and have red roofs, just like I pictured. I didn't want to leave the top, and we didn't for probably about an hour. While we were up there a man told us about one of the churches across the river where the monks sing at 5:oopm. We headed over there, and we missed the monks, but we enjoyed a little snack at the second prettiest spot to see look at. It was gorgeous too. I wish we could have seen the sun set, but it was a hazy foggy day. It was cool to watch it slowly get dark though, and to watch the whole city light up bit by bit.

On Saturday we went first to the Ufizi Gallery. This museum is supposed to be a really big deal, with lots of famous art and enough of it to amuse you for a full day. After about three hours though Eric and I were just about done with that. We did see The Birth of Venus and La Premavera by Botticelli, and my favourite was Leonardo di Vinci's Adoration of the Magi. It was really cool to see the unfinished work because you could see a few of the steps he would take to finish one of his masterpieces. We had planned after that to go to a second museum, but after the bore of the first one, we decided against it. We decided our last few hours in Italy were better spent just wondering the streets of this beautiful city. Lucky for me we the smell of genuine Italian leather loured us right into a cute little market. I wanted to shop the whole time we were in Italy because it was so much cheaper and nicer than Vienna. We wondered the market for a very long time. At first Eric was really into it; seeing what bags everyone had and what price they would offer him because he's Canadian, or a student or whatever he could pull out. I could have wandered the market forever. I loved looking at and feeling all the beautiful leather creations. It was a shopping success for me, even though it took longer than Eric would have loved. I said to him just that morning that I wish there was something I needed so I could justify buying a leather version of it in Italy. While we wandered I saw and remembered two things I've actually been looking for for a long time: a really little pencil case for my scripture markers and pens, and a pair of slippers for the cold floors of our apartment. SUCCESS. I got them both, and they are both made in Italy, which makes them nice little souvenirs of this beautiful land as well.

e:

Florence was a fantastic finish to our trip. By far, I would say the Tuscan area of Italy (which includes Pisa) was the most enjoyable. It sure didn’t start out as the most enjoyable though.

Following the events of catching our train from Pisa, Katherine and I were upset at each other. Then to top off the night, when we got off the train and looked at the directions on Google maps, we found they were cut short. Discouraged, upset, and frustrated, we did manage to find the hotel after I suggested that we go as far as we could on the directions that we had. After that we wandered just a little further and Katherine spotted it.

Tired, mad, frustrated, drained of patience and energy, we spitefully took the lift together, up to the small hotel located only on the second floor. No sooner than we opened the door, were we welcomed by a clean shaven version of an Italian specking Santa Claus. I found some relief in his warm welcome. We don’t know Italian and he didn’t know English, but I got the feeling that this gentleman had mistaken us for grandchildren. After a good sleep and a little heart to heart, we were off enjoying Florence.

I ate a great stake.

By far, the best part of Florence was our evening on Michael Angelo’s hill. Overlooking the beautiful city, we ate our loaf of French bread fixed with cheese, deli meat, jam and Nutella (not all together of course, but in combos that tasted good). We watched the sun set. As the sun gradually disappeared, the city gradually lit up with lights. It was a magnificent transformation from one beautiful scene to another. We took a short walk to a nearby monastery, and then came back to our view of the city to just sit and relax.

Pisa - November 3

k:
Pisa is a really small place. I never knew that until we read it in the Lonely Planet book, and never realised just how small we're talking until we were there. Our goal for Pisa was just to get in, see the tower and get out. Move on to bigger things. That's just what we did. We spent those extra couple of hours in Rome, and so Pisa really had to be just a quick stop for us. I was okay with that though. We got off the train, checked our bags and walked about 15 minutes and there it was. I thought the tower was beautiful, I did, but it was a little harder for me to enjoy it while I was worried about the time. The other buildings around it were beautiful too, but it was a little too dark to see as much detail as I would have liked. After a few goofy pictures and a couple of normal ones, I was ready to head back to the station to make extra sure we were there on time. Eric doesn't play it like that. 
I can say this stuff because we both know it's true. I am a map, schedule, "what time is it?" and "leave room for error" kind of person. Eric is an "enjoy every single second we have in this wonderful place", and a "I'm pretty sure it's this way" kind of person. Neither is worse or better than the other, I'm just saying that's the way it is. However, lucky for us, I am the "get every single picture you can before we have to leave" kind of person and he is the "language is no barrier, I'll stop and ask someone for directions" kind of person. So the two of them eventually balance out. I am willing to spend a few extra minutes somewhere while he enjoys it, because I know he's getting enough pictures to satisfy me when we look at them later. Then when we've spent a few minutes too long, I start to freak out because we are not following the schedule or the map, but Eric is willing to stop and talk to someone who knows very little English and ask for directions. Then he is also willing to run all the way to station and get our bags before the place closes, to make up for lost time.
Along with all the fun times, our trips are always rich with opportunities for both of us to learn patience. It always works out though. He always manages to get us there on time, and I eventually always forgive him for making me so stressed and tired in the process.


e:

I loved Pisa! The square where the tower is, is so clean and well kept. For the first time we saw nice grass around something historical. High quality, well manicured green. And there was no graphite. It was a short visit. Katherine already mentioned the adventure getting back to the train station. We cut it close, but pulled through. Every minute in Pisa was well worth it. I’ll go back again for a longer stay next time I’m in the neighborhood.

Rome - October 30-November 3

k:
Rome is magnificent. It is big. It is bold. It is beautiful. Before going, I was under the impression that we would see the Colosseum, we would see Vatican City, and maybe a few other really key things and I'd be satisfied. Unfortunately we could only fit 3 days of Rome into our trip schedule, so this was our plan of attack for the city. There is just so much though. The Colosseum was great, Vatican was beautiful, but there is so much more to Rome. I was especially grateful to Rome for the sunshine, warm temperatures and beautiful vegetation it provided us. Every morning we left the house I felt like I was on vacation. The sky was always blue, the sun was always bright and the little road from our hotel to the train station was a beautiful and peaceful way to start each exciting day. Our hotel was just outside of Rome and it took a 6 or 7 minute walk then a 20 minute train ride every morning to get to the city, but it wasn't a chore. The street was lined with orange trees, lime trees, palm trees, an olive tree or two, cacti; it was just beautiful. Then the train ride went through wide open fields and little towns that were also a site to see.
Then you get into Rome. Oh boy, what a site. The Colosseum really is huge. It's incredible. The day we went inside though was almost a let down. The one we saw in Verona still has all the stands and seats, which I didn't realise that this one wouldn't. We learned from our audio guide (among many things) that after the gladiator and hunting games were ended, Colosseum kind of went to pot. It became a dumping ground for materials used in other building projects, and then eventually was taken apart and any reusable materials from it were taken and used other places. It was still cool to see though. Just imagine what it could have been if people had taken care of it though. 

Vatican City was also really nice to see. St Peter's Basilica really is beautiful. The saddest thing was that we got inside and took maybe one or two pictures and the battery symbol on our camera started to flash; the second battery of the day. So the pictures we do have are a bit of a rush, and not very good quality anyway because the lighting is so low in there. But in reality, at the best of times our camera couldn't quite have captured what we saw in real life. That was the pitty of our trip: so much of what we saw we just couldn't capture on film. I wish you were all there with us to see it so that my poor writing and the disadvantages of a camera lens weren't an issue. But anyway, I am grateful for what we did get to see. 

 

We were so grateful to be in Rome, in fact, that we extended our trip there. Only by the couple of hours of wiggle room that we had, but it was so worth it.
Original Plan: Get up early on the 3rd and catch a train to Pisa. Spend a couple of hours in Pisa just seeing the leaning tower and such. Then move on to Florence. 
New Plan: Spend another half day in Rome. See the tower for only 2 hours in the dark. Then make our way to Florence later at night. 
This plan was a success. With our extra 5 hours (9am-2pm on the 3rd), we saw the Vatican Museums (so worth it), and I think 3 other speed sites as well. 
We bought into one touristy souvenir in Rome. Two packages of 20 postcards each: one of Rome only, and one of all of Italy. They were 1euro each, and worth every penny. The Rome set is actually what guided our last couple of hours spent in this wonderful city. There were a couple of pictures that looked nice, so I mapped them out and we made it to 3 of the 4 that I liked. One of these was my favourite thing we saw in Rome. La Fontana di Trevi was so beautiful. I wish that it wasn't so covered in people trying to sell things, people getting in the way of pictures, and people begging for money, but that's what every place we saw in Italy was like so I was used to it by this point. Therefore still able to really enjoy looking at it. That Roman sun I was so grateful for eariler however, did not allow us to get a super great picture of the two of us in  front of the fountain, but I did get some really lovely ones of the building itself.

e:

I’m not a huge fan of the Italian restaurants. The waiters stand by the door or roam by their tables outside, and if you aren’t undetermined to get but them they’ll use all kinds of tactics to get you to stop and sit down or look at a menu. You might think, “This place looks nice and this waiter seems friendly and passionate; we might get some good service here.” Don’t be fooled typically the attention is only on the getting you seated and ordered, after that they’ve sold you and you become an attraction to entice other to come sit.

It’s been tricky to find a good restaurant. We’ve found some ok spots but they all seem over priced for average food. However, we did find one place that I would recommend everyone to go to. ‘Fabio’s’.  It’s a little sandwich place near the Vatican. Fa means to make and Bio means Organic. It was the best food yet that I’ve tasked in Italy, and it was only 4 Euros for a filling delightful lunch. I liked is so much that I insisted that we go back again. Katherine liked it enough that she seemed to be in favour of the idea. The second time back we stayed to eat and I ended up chatting with Fabio and Claudio for while. It was like catching up with old friend while they made another delicious sandwich.

I wasn’t impressed with the food in Rome but I was impressed with the sites. They were all so cool. Most were ruins. I was fascinated by how old the building and structures were and what it would have taken to build them back then. My favourite was the Vatican—beautiful architecture and art, and the place was so clean. Michael Angelo’s art work in the Vatican Museums and then inside the Sistine Chapel are incredible. Yep, I like Vatican cite a lot!

Our last day in Rome was the Vatican again, followed by a race to see all the other sites in Rome that we hadn’t the days before. You see, we missed lots from having to travel into Rome each  morning and then back out again to our hotel, and  our dang dirty clothes were begging to be sent through a washer, which we eventually caved to.

Laundry! It may be cheaper for us to purchase a washer and dryer than it is to do go to the mat each week. I think that I’ve decided my future profession. No, I’m not going to open a laundry mat, I’m going to become one of those accountants specialized in bankruptcy and open an office in Europe. In clear sight from a laundry mat big front window, my potential clients will read, “Spending the last of your life savings cleaning your clothes? Come file with us. We’ll clean your sleight before your clothes are dry.”

With the background knowledge on our experience with doing laundry in Europe (which is not positive if my illustration above was over your head), you can see why my new limit of what clothes smells pushes the line for what is publically acceptable. Yet, while my perception of dirty clothes has been adjusted to keep tension in my billfold, Katherine has not quite adjusted as much. She has adjusted and is very financially aware and careful, but I’m starting to see the value women place on being clean and having clean clothes. The need to do laundry kind of came up abruptly when I was thinking that we could go another week, and Katherine was thinking we’re coming up on recycling outfits for the third time. I also learned that it’s not ok to wear underwear for more than a day. I thought it was a luxury that we could only afford back home in Canada.

Verona - October 28-30

k:
Verona is a very cute little place. I'm not sure that I loved it as much as the Lonely Planet book told me I should. I really did love it, and it's not that there was really much wrong with it, just that it wasn't my favourite we saw on our trip. I enjoyed the sites more than I expected to though. 
We read some reviews online before going that told us that Julliet's house was a waste of time. This made me sad. That (and the fact that we have a niece named Verona) was the main reason I wanted to go. I love Shakespeare, and while I think that Romeo and Julliet might be one of the sillier and less enjoyable of his plays, I still really wanted to see his inspiration for it. So we made the trip anyway, and I did not regret it. Some of the things in the reviews we read turned out to be true, but I loved it anyway. It was like Disney Land for me. I had so much fun seeing the costumes and bed from the movie (the old one, not that really random one with Leonardo), and reading the stories and letters, and all of that stuff. I was disappointed to see that the wall no longer has letters stuck on it, as it's portrayed in the movie Letters to Juilliet, and how it used to be. It is actually just a wall completely full of graffiti. Cute graffiti, as far as I can see; but just so much of it that it's a little overwhelming. I still enjoyed writing my own tiny contribution on it though. And Eric did too.
Even though it's become completely commercialized and bombarded with tourists, I still managed to think some romantic thoughts, and enjoy the atmosphere. I felt a little goofy getting so wrapped up in the idea, but hey that's what love does to you sometimes.


e:

It’s outstanding how connected all of the countries are by rail. Since Katherine and I got Eurail passes, giving us unlimited access to all regional trains in Europe (except for England) for two months, we are becoming rather familiar with these chew chew train. At times, however, mastering transportation on tracks is a challenge rivaling the hunt of finding solutions to global warming. Starting our stay in Verona was less than romantic or inspiring. We got to the station that we needed to get to and then we had no idea how to get to our hotel. We have a map and direction complementary of Google maps, but we lost it when we tried to zoom in. It was the start of a long a hopeless search for our hotel.

I tried asking for direction from some two locals. I’d bet they gave near perfect direction in Italian. I almost understood with the amount of hand gestures these strangers gave. I’m a man and thought that I could figure it out, but my eager search was more like wandering in an intentional direction. Eventually I was had to resort to another attempt at translating hand gestures and I asked a couple in a car if they knew where our hotel was. Again they knew no English. As I struggled to communicate, a man walked by who knew English. He stopped and then offered to drive us to the hotel. What a good guy. At one point we were eyeing comfy spots on the street and the next we were rolling right up to the hotel’s front door.

The rest of Verona was a piece of cake… or a scoop of gelato. I thoroughly enjoyed Verona. I think the highlight was the winding stone roads, and their mini version of the Roman’s Colosseum.

Venice - October 25-28

k:

Venice is a place I’ve always dreamed of seeing. Actually, all of Italy is a place I’ve always dreamt of seeing. Just the whole country seems like a dream. Venice really is that.
A girl in Eric’s class told him not to plan to stay long in Venice because there isn’t much to see. Well, the truth is there is so much to see; the whole city is spectacle on it’s own! But what is also true, is that it doesn’t take long to see it. Last night was our last night in Venice and Eric and I sat on the front steps of the main train station looking at the water and thinking, “did we see all we wanted to?” and the truth is, we did. It was wonderful, and it was beautiful. It was just interesting for me to think that this is a famous city, and one I’ve always dreamed of seeing, and I feel satisfied with what I’ve seen in just 3 days.
There are other places in Italy that will be different I think. Rome will have lots of museums. Verona will have Shakespeare sites to see. Pisa has it’s tower. But the city of Venice is the attraction itself. We went into a couple of cathedrals, and they were gorgeous, but similar to what we’ve seen before. If you ever go to Venice, take the time you are blessed to have there to wonder just the city. Don’t worry about following the signs, or the crowds or the vendors, just get lost. You actually won’t believe how much culture, how much romance, and how much water is around every single corner you turn.  

e:

We’re sitting at a train station waiting for the train heading to Venice. Today is the last day in Venice. It was never my dream to go to Venice like it was Katherine’s, but it’s likely to be in my dreams after having seen it. There are numberless canals, filled with the traffic of small man propelled gondolas and large water busses. The only spot on the island that has any road vehicles is where the land busses, cars, and trains come into, or leave from. It’s like a negative port: for land vehicles instead of boats and ships.

My favorite part of Venice was how we could just get lost in it and just wander around. Between the cool window shopping and the interesting buskers the streets were rather entreating.

Sounds of the Season

Since Europe so viciously stole from me my two very favourite holidays (Thanksgiving and Halloween), I decided that today was the day to officially start my celebrations for Christmas.
Normally I start to get ready for Christmas right after my birthday, but I'm two weeks early this year. I just can't stand having nothing to get dressed up, or eat good food for. So today I pulled out my Christmas tshirt that I have been dying to get out!

and listened to a list of my favourite Christmas tunes. I didn't go overboard with Christmas cheer just yet, just a few of the really great ones mixed in with the rest of my playlist for this afternoon's laziness.
Angels We Have Heard On High - Josh Groban
Silent Night - Taylor Swift
All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Frank Sinatra
Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
I'll Be Home For Christmas - Rascal Flatts
Peace on Earth/ The Litte Drummer Boy - Bing Crosby and David Bowie
Santa Baby - Kylie Minogue
White Christmas - Michael Buble
My Only Wish (This Year) - Britney Spears
Okay who am I kidding. I love Christmas music, and can't narrow it down to a few favourites. I may have gotten a little out of control with the Christmas music, but I haven't started decorating or anything like that! I promise.

A Little More Happily Ever After...

Real life posts are very important. They are important journal entries that we will enjoy looking back on, and it's important to include them. 

But this isn't normal real life for us. This is Europe. So enough real life for a little while. We're headed to Italy! Tonight we leave on an overnight train to Venice. Then we hit Verona, Rome, Pisa and Florence. 12 Days of Europe adventures, in the country Katherine is most excited for. Eric is excited too, but it's all Katherine has talked about since we got here and especially since we started planning last week. We are excited! Here's a glimpse of what we hope to see, to hold you over til we can update you on what actually goes on. A little more to add to our European fairytale, to give it a real good Happily Ever After. 

VENICE

 VERONA

ROME 

 PISA

FLORENCE

 

What a wonderful part of the world to celebrate Eric's birthday and our 6 month wedding anniversary. (Both coming up next week. Mark them on your calendars if you'd like.)

Languages

I have recently become really fascinated with language. It's really interesting to be in a place where I can't understand anything that goes on around me. I realize that I have always taken for granted my eavesdropping abilities, for one. A couple times lately Eric and I have been on the train overlooking some intense or riveting conversations, but we have no idea what they're actually saying. Yesterday we got in a elevator with a cute old couple and he laughed a little and muttered something in German, and I wanted so badly just to know what he said so that I could know if smiling and nodding was an appropriate response.

I'm sure a lot of you know what this is like, being in a place or just a situation where language becomes a barrier. It's so tricky sometimes. I don't expect all of Austria to turn themselves upside down and learn English, then change all the signs and library books and menus to English, but it would be really nice for me if they would.

It's fun though, trying to learn a new language. I've started to recognize some words or phrases and that's exciting when it happens. It's also really fun for me to notice patterns or to figure words out on my own. I filled out a form for something the other day and it was in a few different languages (German and English being a couple of them), and one of the slots said "city, stadt...and then a couple other words for city". I finally realized then that Stadt Park here in Vienna is City Park and that Stadt Halle must mean City Hall. It was really fun for me, and now I notice that word everywhere.

Another fun one: we were printing some things at Eric's school, where the computers are all in German, and the word for the Print button was Drucken. Then I was in a shop yesterday and saw that word on the door. It also means Push.

These are all really fun little things that get me learning and adapting to this German world I live in. But it just starts me thinking: how did I learn French? I went to school for French from grade 1-12. Half my classes every year were French, and I guess you could say I know French. But I've been thinking, what is it to know a language; to really know it? I mean there are some words that I just think "when did I learn what that word was in French"; or the young man who gave a talk in our ward today, "when did he learn that word in English".

On Monday night we had Spencer and Rachel over for dinner and Rachel shared with us a little message. First a short message on something specific that interests her, that none of us know anything about yet (philosophy), then one spiritual one as well. The philosophical one she shared with us, I can't really try to explain in this entry (so I Wikipedia'd it and you can learn more here if you're interested. I think it's super cool), but it was fascinating to me. Just a little bit about one person's perspective on different ways to learn and teach language, which I thought was cool.

I have decided that I think I want to learn some more German. There are a few things that maybe I would like to know how to say or to pronounce properly, but mostly I am interested in the recognition and repetition of words and phrases. I want to be able to recognize and apply important words, or maybe phrases. I am not claiming that I will know the launguage of German when I come home, so don't quiz me or anything. But I am going to take the chance I have here, to learn more about language itself, specifically applied to German. It's like a really fun and long word puzzle kind of. It should be interesting, and I'm actually kind of excited about it!

Catching Up

K:

We're finally "caught up" with the blog and things that have happened, but I really wish it hadn't worked out like this. I wish I'd actually gotten a chance to write every time I wanted to. The details just aren't the same when you're remembering them a week later. I really want to get better at it; at saying what happens when it happens. So much of the emotion and spirit of our day to day life here is lost when we have to just give a timeline update of what's happened two weeks ago or so. 

For example: this week we haven't been out to see much of Vienna, as far as sites and museums and stuff goes. In fact we made several plans to see the zoo, the giant wheel and the aquarium on different days this week, but it just didn't quite fit. Eric spends more time at school these days because his semester is finally getting going. Sometimes I miss him, sometimes it's nice to have the house to myself. But for better or worse, it definitely leaves me with more time on my hands. I have more time for real life, and we have less time for the fairytale version of this European adventure. 
This week's real life emotional struggle: school! For me actually, not for him (although he has had his fair share of struggles with the group work he's been doing for his classes). My struggle with school is different than his, because I'm not even in school. I LOVE being in school. I absolutely love to learn. I haven't been in school this year, I've been working and now I'm here! I didn't think I would get to go back until next fall either, but Eric and I have decided together that we'll just make it work for January; provided I can decide what I want to go back for. Hence, the struggle of the week for me. 
I was studying criminal justice and psychology before, and I think I would enjoy going back to that. I liked the classes I took the last semester, and the information is certainly interesting to me, but it does have it's downsides. Example: Eric finds it depressing. I can't really talk to him about school, or about work later, if he finds it all depressing. That's one con for criminal justice. 
There are other options I've been mulling over lately too though. Should I do a shorter course, maybe earn a certificate or a diploma that will have a more practical use in the future. Should I study a field that will be more helpful and applicable and easier to work in if I have kids someday. There are just so many choices that it's really wearing me out. I am so excited about school and going back, that I feel like I need to make this decision instantly, but I've found it's not an instant decision unfortunately. It's also not one Eric, or anyone else can make for me, like where we're gong to eat dinner tonight. I have to  make it, and I want to make it quickly. I want to be able to just know what I should do, like some people always have, but it hasn't been that easy of course.

So this is what I've really been doing lately. No pictures, no beautiful buildings, no zoo. It's just been me in this house and at the school working on lists and lists of options and of courses and of things in general that interest me. Today's task: lists of pros and cons. Eric told me this is something I just have to do, so that's what I'll be working on for the next hour or two or three or however long it takes to get it done, or for him to come home from school today.

Budapest, Hungary