Finding Holiday Cheer

K:

I know it sounds crazy, but I have been craving Christmas craziness. I told Eric the other day that I Wal Mart's crazy crowds are a part of Christmas for me, and that I actually want to go there really bad. I want to go to a mall too and see it all set up for Santa and for Christmas. Is Santa in the malls yet, people back home? When does he come?

Anyway, we have one mall here in Vienna. The rest is outdoor shopping streets and stuff. We also have Ikea just south of Vienna, which has a shopping centre attached to it. So Eric and I went to Ikea today in search of Christmas cheer. Goals of the day:

1. find The Grinch (With Jim Carrey) on DVD. 

2. find the things I need to play out the Christmas decoration idea in my brain (frames, free newspapers, paint)

3. find Christmas decorations and cheer in the malls and crowds.

Each were a happy success. Plus and added bonus: I found the very first thing I want to add on my Christmas wish list (big comfy holiday slippers, and a few others after that as well). It was a fun day full of holiday cheer. Then when we got home we got to watch The Grinch together and drink hot chocolate. mmmm. Loving the holiday season already.

Eric found the first item on his wish list in the Apple Store.

Side note: While we were watching the movie Eric was holding my hand and realised that my engagement ring was missing. So we had to pause and spend like 10 or 15 minutes tearing the bed apart to look for it. On the bright side, we found mold on the wall beside the bed. That was great. (We found the ring too; inside the duvet cover. Don't know what happened there.)

Finally...

We found a few essentials today that we’ve kind of put off getting: a hair dryer (for Katherine of course), and an iron. Perhaps in a week or two we’ll get around to purchasing an ironing board.

K: 
I couldn't be happier about my new blow dryer. I broke mine the first couple days we were here, using the wrong kind of electricity adapter. It will be so nice to have dry, non staticy hair. 

On the Court and In the Market

E:
I played basket ball with the young men and some of the leaders. It was good. Katherine went out with Natalie Morgan and little Ezra, while Keith was playing at basketball with us men... and boys. They went to some huge market. I’m guessing they had a good time as Katherine filled up the day with “Stories From The Market.”

K:
The some big market that Natalie and I went to was a little place called Naschmarkt. Some of you may or may not of heard of it. Don't feel bad if you haven't, because I hadn't before reading The Books. It's famous here though. On Saturday mornings they have a flee market set up at one end of it, as well as the rest of the market that is open every day. It was a ton of fun actually. I didn't get to see much of the flee market today, but I certainly plan on coming back again. Eric is right, I did enjoy my time out. I enjoyed Natalie's company (and Ezra's too). It was nice to talk with Natalie. She's been here a little longer than I have, and it was nice to get her advice on a few things. It was so nice to talk with here that I forgot to take my camera out the whole time I was there. My firs time to Naschmarkt and I took no pictures. I was sad, but I will certainly take some next time I'm there. Stay tunned for them, because this place is incredible. I loved every minute of the squishy aisles, the smells, the colours, the different languages being spoken...It was just great. You'll certainly be hearing from me again about it. Hopefully soon.Update: I forgot to mention another thing as well. The ending of this day was sad. We really want eventually to go on the big ferris wheel in Vienna, called the Wiener Riesenrad. This night we went over to the amusement park, called Prater, where the wheel is, but we didn't actually make it on the wheel tonight. The park is actually just like an amusement park you'd think of, but there is no entrance fee. You just pay per ride and game, so it's almost like a permanent midway. It was lots of fun to walk around and watch all the people on the rides. We walked for quite a bit watching roller coasters, bungie jumpers, water rides and go kart races. It was fun. The weather was also gorgeous so I got really hot in my sweater I wore, thinking I would need it. After about 30 or 40 minutes of wandering around, I looked down at my side, where I had hung my sweater over my purse, and it wasn't there anymore. It was gone! This is my very favourite sweater that I own. It fits perfectly. It's a nice colour of dark green that looks great, or at least that I love. And it has light brown suede elbow patches. I love this sweater. So I was pretty frantic and upset. We retraced our steps a few times, and then finally reality sunk in. There's no way I'm going to find it. Eric tried to comfort me, but I was tired and upset and I couldn't help it, I cried. Just a few burning tears that snuck out while I was trying really hard not to. I know it's just a sweater you say, but it's my favourite one and I'd come to grow a little attached to it. We asked a few people and the information desk, but nothing. It's definitely gone.
Anyway, I apologize for the lack of pictures today, but after this experience I was just not in the mood. I was pretty upset. I'll get some of the wheel at least when we go back to check for it one last time on Monday.

Every once in a while still, I'll go to get dressed in a certain outfit and I'll be reminded of this dreadful night when I wore this sweater, instead of a plain grey one that could easy have been replaced. I still miss it sometimes, and I really need to replace it. Good thing elbow patches seem to be in this season, or at least in Vienna!

Ikea

Natalie told us the other day all about Ikea here. She told us "If you want a little taste of home, just head to Ikea. Everything is in German, and in Euros but it's all really the same." We went there today, and turns out she's right. Just the same as home, which is great because Eric and I have a special spot in our hearts for Ikea. You just can't beat a 50cent hot dog and $1 unlimited refills of lingonberry juice.

Just the same old hotdog and juice. 1 euro.

Just the same old meat balls and potatoes with gravy and lingonberry sauce

 

Just assuming this is the same old request to put your own dishes away so they can keep your prices down. Even in Austria this is what needs to be done. Everyone keep up the good work so we can always count on cheap and delicious Ikea meals wherever we go

Same old As-Is couches.

Same old Ikea with a couple of new things.

A soft serve ice cream machine. You buy the cone at the counter and they give you a token to use the machine and fill up your cone. Fun

Funny little security cameras at all the self serve machines. I promise we didn't steel anything! We just left with a cool ice cube tray and a new pillow, which we paid for!

Cool lockers to keep your stuff in while you spend way to much time wandering aimlessly in Ikea. You get the pick a pin number, lock it and then use that pin number to get back into it later. Cool!

Friday September 16th

K:

Today we needed to get some groceries so we decided to go back to that little market we found the other day and some things there. Also, I wanted that bag I found the other day.

I got the bag! Even better than that: we found great food for cheaper prices that the super markets and supported some local vendors and farmers. It was really fun to do and I felt really trendy and Europe-ish. It was great!

Thursday september 15th

K:
Today was a bit of a lazy day-ish. We didn't have any plans when we woke up so we looked through one of the books we got from the Morgans. Enjoying Vienna. Eric wanted to see what a second hand store would be like here in Vienna. The book told us about one set of stores called Humana. We looked up the locations and found one right near our house! Like a 10 minute walk. We set out to find it and when we did, it was closed. FOR GOOD. That was a bummer, but we wondered that street and found some other cute little shops to wonder in and out of. 
We also came across this funny scale on the side of the road. You can put coins in it to use it. This one we actually found beside a few dumpsters so we assume it's for weighing garbage, but then this evening we found one randomly over near the train station. Who knows what that one's for. Weird. 

We still wanted to see this second hand store though, so we went back home and looked up another location and headed to that one next. It was not too far from home, just the other way a little bit. We made it there not long before it closed, but we enjoyed looking at a few interesting things. Like any second hand store I'm sure it's hit or miss. This time was a little bit of a miss, but it was a fun one. 
Eric actually nearly bought this sweat shirt he's wearing, but I found this silly jacket that was exactly the same colours. It was a precious set. 

Then we wandered all around the streets and came across a little market. There are several outdoor markets around Vienna, but we weren't quite expecting to bump into this one. We walked through it, and it was fun to see. It was late in the day though so there wasn't much left to buy. I did find a fun duffle bag I kind of want to buy though. I searched for one the few days before we left home. I wanted one for a carry on on the plane, but also for weekend trips we plan to take around while we're here. I want to go back and get it. I also want to go back to the market to see the stands again on a day when they're full. 
From there we hurried over the the church for choir practice. Keith convinced Eric to join the choir for our ward. Apparently Keith used to be just about the only man who could carry a tune, but all of them just love to sing. He flattered Eric by complimenting his voice, and bam! he got himself an extra member. Eric then tried to convince me to join, but they're singing in Stake Conference on Sunday this week so I was scared to join on such short notice. Maybe I'll start going now and sing in future performances, when I have more practice. 
These are just the cute little Men and Woman signs on the bathrooms at the church. I've always been used to the typical Man and Woman stick figures that are basically universal in Canada. I assumed they were everywhere but here the sign for the direction to a bathroom is just WC and in the London airport it was just TOILETS. Anyway, I thought they were cute.

After choir, I was really hungry. We got on the tram at the church and rode it until we came to somewhere that looked good. We passed a few things like Subway, and a few little stands that were still open, and some cafe/bars and stuff. Then we passed this big set up that just looked spectacular and caught my attention with all the bright lights. 

I nudged Eric and we jumped off the tram to see what we could find here. Turns out it's actually a circus tent set up in front of this magnificent palace. I wish there was a way to capture just how beautiful it actually looked, but night pictures are so hard to get just right. This picture is taken a little bit off the road, right at the entrance to the circus. Behind me here though are a bunch of little carts set up with all kinds of different foods, eat looking and smelling as good as the next. Eric laughed at me while I made two whole rounds of the place before I chose what I wanted. I had to make sure I didn't miss anything, then see someone else eating it later and be jealous! That's the worst!
I finally worked up the courage first to share some bratwurst with Eric. It's basically a sausage, but it's some kind of Austrian specialty. It was pretty good actually. For whatever reason trying meats and milks in new places (even in new cities inside Canada) scares me. This was a big step for me, and I was brave. 

So I rewarded myself with a plain and delicious chocolate and vanilla crepe (which is what Eric guessed from the very beginning is what I would pick anyway). We shared that next and it was also DELICIOUS. 

We're in EUROPE! Life is good. New things are so fun and exciting. 
Also, we get to see gorgeous buildings like that one and this one just sittingeverywhere around us. What a beautiful day, and night!