Antoni Gaudi

We got home late tonight and I honestly can't decide what pictures to post for today. You will just have to wait. It might take up a post or two, I haven't decided yet.
Hope the advent keeps you entertained enough for tonight. 
Christmas : 5 days away
Home Time : exactly 2 weeks from today!

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Today I mentioned to Eric that yesterday we enjoyed a day of nature. We saw the beach, the water, the palm trees and a beautiful market. We ate wonderful fruit and drank great fruit juice creations. Then, today was a man-made day; and as Eric pointed out, "a man-made, inspired by nature." Which is true. Here is a little sample from Antoni Gaudi, an architect who largely influenced Barcelona's modernistic and artistic advances in architecture. They really are some of the coolest we've seen, and we learned today that he took much of his inspiration for his small details from nature. From the animals, plants and natural laws that surrounded him. These are a few of his greatest and most popular works.

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!

Wednesday September 14th

E:
It became a rather cold day while we were out. It's been so hot lately that we dressed for hot weather. Katherine wore a new long dress, which is very light and cool. She got kind of cold when we were outside; but she was a good sport about the cold weather.
Our goal today was to go see St. Stephens Cathedral and open a bank account here. We accomplished both. I’ve noticed that offices don’t keep their spaces as clean as offices in Canada. The people at the bank weren’t messy, but desks weren’t tidy, i.e.: papers stacked on the desk with little desk top space left.

The Cathedral was cool. The buildings here are so intricate and detailed. It is mind blowing the amount of man power and time that went into the Cathedral, and all of the other old architecture around Vienna, to make all of the elaborate ornaments. (It made me think of the Salt Lake City Temple; both built without modern day technology... instead, pure hand sculpting, a lot of man muscle, and determination over time)

The gelato here is great. We’ve got a small shop that sells it just around the corner. We usually get a small on with two flavours and share it. Boy it is delicious. 2 euro for a small cup of pure goodness.