Riding

I must confess, it feels good to be back in the saddle. Although I would prefer a horse saddle, always, I got in my first real bike ride yesterday. Nothing too far as I quickly realized that I'm out of shape (not that I didn't already know this, but it was reinforced not long after I set off), but it was nice to get some fresh air and a little sun on a crisp afternoon. I stayed around the Bisamberg area, following one of the roads through the countryside which wound through quaint little towns and a lot of agricultural land, although most of the fields had recently been tilled so I couldn't tell what was grown in the region.

I totaled an unimpressive 20km and saw about ten other bikers out, almost all of them alone. I'd like to find someone to ride with, but all of the folks I saw were much more serious than I. Maybe when I get back in shape I'll be able to keep up with some of those guys... on their slow days. I asked around a couple of the LBS's, but none of them knew of any weekly group rides or anything of the sort. Joe was supposed to go with me yesterday, but he woke up sick. He'll be a good riding partner, though, as he's just getting into the sport. I just wish we didn't live half an hour apart; it would be much more convenient to role straight out the door rather than having to drive to/from our route. Plus not being in Vienna means no traffic to deal with, no Straßenbahn (tram) tracks to avoid, and no oblivious pedestrians to careen around. I was pleased that all of the cars* gave me a wide berth as well. I expected it knowing how many people bike here and having watched drivers going around cyclists, but it was still nice after being kept firmly to the shoulders when biking in California. I never saw anyone on the road, ever, when I rode in Texas, being out in the middle of nowhere and all, but I've heard of some less than affable encounters, so I wouldn't call it the most friendly of places to ride.

*Except for one charmer in a hot red Ferrari who felt the need to cruise on my tail for about twenty seconds before gunning it and ripping past me...

Also, speaking of Joe... he came out with me on Wednesday to check out the barn that I was really excited to visit, and it was everything I ever wanted it to be! Gut Reuhof is about 20 minutes from Bisamberg, it has amazing facilities including a show jumping stadium "in the required size for international competitions" plus a practice ring (which is the same size as the stadium), two indoor riding halls, one of which is suitable for competitions (and has stands), an outdoor dressage ring with a second training area, trails through the fields and woods with "rider-Heurigen"(the vineyards that have their own restaurants) where you can stop with your horse, round pens, a dirt galloping track, hot walkers, and large paddocks to turn out the horses. The horses themselves all looked well-kept and well-trained, and there are separate sections of the barns for jumpers, dressage, and... reining! They have reining there (and good looking reiners - the horses, not the riders, mind you)! Forget that reining barn I found out about in Vienna (which I still haven't gone out to visit), I can ask around and post a flyer here to see if anyone needs their horses worked out during the week. Whatever income I get from that could help subsidize the cost of taking jumping lessons. As I would expect of such a high-quality barn, lessons are unfortunately not cheap, though well worth it I can imagine. I talked to one of the coaches who was completely fluent in English and she booked me for a lesson. I have to be patient because there was a show this weekend, Lauren will be here next week, and I can't really ride during the week while I'm doing my German courses, so I still have to wait two more weeks before I get back on a horse, but oh my gosh I can't wait! This must be the place!

The "practice ring" behind the show jumping stadium

There's a show there in early November on a day I will conveniently have off work, so I'm going to watch that and get some more pictures. They offer beginner lessons as well, so I can take das Mädchen and her friend there to learn how to ride. I can't wait to get back in the saddle!

Oh, and did I mention that Joe made a new friend?

P.S. Did anyone catch my song reference in there?

Week III in Wien

First and foremost I want to tout my long-awaited and highly anticipated return to the saddle on Sunday! I rode my first of hopefully many horses in Vienna and life is immeasurably better for it. On Saturday I went out to watch a lesson on the Donau Insel (Danube Island). The last barn on my list of places to visit, Reitverein Freudenau had a much larger setup than I had expected for being in Vienna's city limits with multiple (large) indoor arenas, some outdoor rings, a couple of dressage rings, a stadium jumping arena, and a galloping track of sorts. I watched a lesson, got some information, and was told that if I wanted I could come out the next day for a 'pre-ride' for them to test if I actually knew what I was doing. Yes, yes I would very much like to do that.

They put me on Ardiemus, a Bavarian Warmblood that was well over 17 hands (for all you non-horse people: he was massively tall). After proving that I could put him through the paces, the trainer let me join in on the lesson. As luck would have it there was only one other person riding with me, so I got a good amount of one-on-one time and the trainer explained things to me in English, then would teach me the German terms (of which I only remember about three). Ardiemus was also great. Obviously a beginner horse because they had never seen me ride and wanted to be on the safe side, but he was quiet, responsive, and had great walk to canter transitions. The facilities were good, the trainer was good, everyone I met there was really friendly, the horses were definitely lesson horses, but pretty good for lesson horses I would say, and the class sizes ranged from 2 to 7 riders per lesson, all the same price. All good, right? But I don't think this is going to be the barn I settle on. Actually, I know it's not. Perhaps this will be an issue everywhere, but it seemed that all of the really good riders are on their own horses, so the people left taking lessons are just weekend warriors. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I want to be in lessons to train, not just go out to enjoy a pleasant ride for an hour. Also, the lesson setup was very strange to me. You signed up by what time worked best for you, but there was no consideration of putting riders of similar levels together. The coach then catered what was being done to each rider, so that everyone was doing a variation of the same thing. But to me that's just really inefficient for all involved. However one of the women told me about another barn that's close to Bisamberg that has a lot of riders who do show jumping internationally. I may not be good enough to ride there, but if I could take lessons somewhere like that... I hope to hear back from them today so I can go check it out this week.

Also on my weekend agenda were parent-teacher conferences for the daughter on Friday, dinner with Raffi (the woman who helped me get a deal on my bike) and Joe and family on Saturday, Palais Eschenbachgasse Saturday night, and a furniture exhibition at the Hofburg on Sunday, also with Raffi.

After I watched the riding lesson on Saturday I went over with Joe to have dinner with Raffi, her husband Thomas, their son Manuel, Joe's sister Christina, and her boyfriend Alexis. I didn't have time to pick up a small thank-you-for-dinner gift, but Günter had informed me that in Austria it would typically be flowers, or possibly sweets, for the lady, and wine, or another drink if you know their preference, for the man. If there's a next time I'll certainly be doing that! It was such a great evening! Really good hors d'oeuvre of mozzarella caprese, a good selection of meats and cheeses, and some great Austrian bread, pasta with clams for the main course, all followed by some delectable chocolate and cake. I'm also trying to learn more about Austrian wines, so I made note of the one I was served: a 2008 Zweigelt from Bioweinbau Mandl in Weinland, Austria. Zweigelts, originally a cross of Blaufränkisch and St. Laurent, are now the most widely grown red grape variety in Austria. What a night! Seriously, as good as the food was, the company way surpassed it. It was such a great atmosphere with lots of laughing and good conversation, and they taught me all sorts of tidbits about Austria and Germany. I'm so glad I was invited!

Afterwards Joe, Alexis, and I went to Café/Restaurant/Bar Aumann to get a drink with Joe's friend Nikolai, then we made our way to Palais Eschenbachgasse near the Kunsthistorisches Museum. It was a really classy venue that his university had rented out for the night, thus it was packed. Good music, though. We left around 3:00 am.

Up and riding on Sunday, ate a quick lunch with Joe, then met with Raffi for a furniture exhibition that was going on at the Hofburg Palace. She had two free tickets because she had recently purchased some pieces from a maker who had some things on display there. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I can sum it up very easily in one word: Modern. Or perhaps Contemporary. Mia tried to teach me once, but I can never remember the difference between the two terms as far as art and such goes. Anyway, anything you've ever thought about Vienna being all about tradition and hating change of any kind - chuck that out the window. This was about as modern as modern interior design gets. Not my taste, but it was really fascinating walking through. And, being in the Hofburg, it was obviously fabulous in every way possible.

The exhibition seemed pretty extensive to me, though Raffi said it felt a lot smaller than last year's. She was also telling me that we were in one of the sections of the Hofburg where they hold a lot of balls, in particular the Doctor's Ball is there annually. I really wouldn't mind going to that. Or just going back to that part of the Hofburg sometime.

Afterwards we walked up Kohlmarkt doing some window shopping, then went our separate ways - her home for dinner and me to Café Mozart to study for my German quiz the next day. Although the temperature was starting to drop for the night, it was just gloaming out and a really pretty time of day to be walking through Vienna (well, I suppose that's true of just about anywhere, not just Vienna).

Also, concerning my German classes - 153 with Günter at my alma matter and an intro course at University of Vienna (Uni Wien) that the family signed me up for - they're good, but I'm not quite at the right level for either. The intermediate class is just a little over my head, especially since I started after they had been in class for a month, and the intro class is, well, an intro class. It can only help to review everything I already know, though. But I was disappointed to discover that the Uni Wien class of 16 is mostly women in their 40s or so; I had hoped to make some friends in there. Between those two classes, each twice a week, my free time before picking up the kids from school has diminished considerably, but hey, I'd rather do intensive German now; the sooner I'm fluent, the better.

Tschau! (Deutsch 'Ciao!')

Barns, Bikes, Cold, and Cafés (and American Football)

As I said in my last post: life hasn't been all fun and cafés since I've been back in Austria. Although I have continued to scope out that scene. But taking things in order...

BARNS:
I dedicated to go barn shopping on Friday because, well, do I really need a 'because'? I need to get back on a horse, 'nough said. I started out at a tack shop I had seen hoping the people working there would know some of the local barns and be able to recommend or advise against some places. I got a few suggestions, but it was actually not really as fruitful as I had hoped. Nonetheless I set off to check out some of the barns I had been in contact with about coming out to look and potentially watch a lesson. I went to three places, of course all in opposite directions and out of the city a ways, but unfortunately I wasn't particularly taken with any of them. Two were only dressage - despite having pictures of people jumping on their website - and the other was a little too remote with pretty sparse facilities, albeit in a stunning little corner of the countryside at Schloss Schönborn (not to be confused with Schloss Schönbrunn - the Hapsburg's stupendous summer palace on the outskirts of Vienna). The early-18th century summer palace of Fredrich Graf von Schönborn is now a golf course, and a very picturesque one at that.

I've thought about it some more and perhaps I should give dressage a shot. After all, the Viennese aren't well known for their jumping in the horse world; this is dressage country. As such, the trainers here are bound to be good. There's one other barn I would like to visit that should have jumping and appears to have a lot of potential as far as trainer, horse, and barn quality, but if that doesn't pan out then I'm going to give the barn outside of Bisamberg a go.

BIKES:
I bought a bike yesterday!!!!

The Italian woman that I met at the Mountainbiker.at Oktoberfest, who also happens to be Joe's aunt, came along to help me get a deal. After discussing my options the three of us (Joe included) went out to get coffee while they built up my top choice, then I gave it a test ride through the rain when we got back. Love at first pedal stroke. Not to mention I'm really pleased with the deal that I got - Raffi must have made a good pitch for me (it was in German, so I just stood by and tried to look the part of the poor recent college graduate). I can't wait to take it for a real spin, but...

COLD:
It's cold!! The temperature plummeted 15ºC (that's almost 25ºF) on Friday and it's only supposed to get colder until, uh, April. Or at least it's supposed to stay cold until then. So much for my hope that these perfect autumn days would hold out for another few weeks. And it's not just the cold. Along with it came the rain which has shown few signs of letting up. Okay, so the cold isn't what's really keeping me from biking; my helmet, shoes, etc. are in transit from home right now, but the weather is less than ideal I will admit. But I actually don't mind too much because during the days I can always hunker down in...

CAFÉS:
Yes, I've remained diligent in the search. Thursday I spent the morning studying at Café Westend right off the Westbahnhof U-bahn stop.

Not a bad place, but lacking in my number one requirement for a café: internet. That, and the tables were itsy-bitsy. However, I happened along a bookstore, Buchhandlung Thrill and Chill, and popped in on a whim, looking for some books on tape (well, CD) for the kinder since it takes an hour to get to school every morning. I had been surprisingly unsuccessful in my attempts thus far and was also disheartened to discover that my favorite English bookstore had closed since the summer. Apparently they're moving to a yet-to-be-disclosed location (i.e. they don't know where they're going yet, or even if they'll be back in business). In this store I received the typical slightly-uncertain look when I asked for books on tape and was shown to a very small selection, but when I explained it was for kids the woman lit up and took me to another section and was really knowledgable about the various children's' stories, helping me choose a couple to try out. Success!

I returned to Café Sperl later that afternoon and am now armed with two more noteworthy comments on the establishment. First, the sink:

Not a comment, I know, but it speaks for itself. Second: it seems this used to be Hitler's favorite haunt. Hmmm.

I was supposed to go hiking with Joe on Sunday, but the rain thwarted those plans. I just stayed home and did some more work, but as early evening approached I needed a change of scenery so I went into town to continue work at a café. I first stopped at Café Prückel as it was on my list and open until 10:00 on Sundays, but it seemed every other person in Vienna had the same idea that I did. Long story short, determined not to be frustrated yet again I searched for an open café in vain for well over an hour, vehement against stepping into Starbucks. I was prepared to look off Café Mozart just across from the Albertina as well as it just sounded like a tourist trap, but when I saw a sticker for free wi-fi in the window I changed my mind. This was a major success. Not only is it open until midnight (probably because they do get a lot of tourists being in such a prominent location behind the Staatsoper), but the waiters were really pleasant, there was light piano music, I had a chocolate coffee that hit the spot, and the food was scrumptious; there was even (good!) guacamole on my open-faced sandwich.

I may reserve it from being my go-to place only because parking in the first district is just a nightmare, but I'll absolutely be returning.

I did get to try Café Prückel yesterday morning. It was okay, but I wasn't overwhelmed by it... perhaps only whelmed. Maybe I was overeager to go there as I had read that they had bridge tables reserved in the back and it was one of the traditional old cafés. I wanted to see if it would be acceptable for me to jump in on a bridge game sometime as I conveniently just took a bridge course at college this past spring (though I was admittedly apprehensive about the idea - I was a beginner in English, so trying to play bridge in German may have been one step too many). However I never saw the tables. Maybe it was too early in the morning?

The café was also interestingly divided into smoking and non-smoking sections by glass door, and by far the more appealing atmosphere of the two rooms was in the smoking section. But, obviously, it was smokey; I could feel it seeping into my pores (and clothes and hair) as I walked through the room. I'll probably go back as I'm still curious about this bridge playing, but not a top hit for me. At least they had good hot chocolate.

AMERICAN FOOTBALL:
I went to Champions in the Marriott on Saturday night to watch the Red River Shootout as rumor had it that was the only place that shows American football. I think that's all I need to say about that little event. Oh, and the TV next to the one showing the game was also showing some American football, except it was European teams. The Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns were playing.

Cafés Aside...

That's not all I've been up to recently. Although I'll probably be getting my bike at the Mountainbiker.at shop, I went around to a few other bike shops to see what offers they could make to have a basis of comparison. One of the places, Nora Sports, right off the U6 (I'd always noticed the store because there's a building-size picture of Lance Armstrong next to it), had a 2011 Cube Attempt that they let me take for a test ride. I went down the bike path that runs alongside the Gürtel and very quickly came to the conclusion that yes, I will be making a bike purchase in the very near future. The Italian woman I met Saturday said she'll come with me next Monday since she knows the owner really well. I'm thrilled about this! Let's just hope I can get in a few rides before the weather turns...

Also on the reconnaissance agenda, I checked out my first barn today. I happened to drive past it when I went to the Pink bike shop this last weekend, and seeing as this barn is so close to Bisamberg it seems awfully convenient. I went by to see if there was a phone number on their sign, but lacking that I decided to go on up to the barn. Success. Nice facilities, beautiful horses, very capable trainer (who speaks English). Only potential, well, I don't want to say 'downside', but perhaps 'hiccup' is that it's a dressage barn. I had really had my heart set on getting better at jumping while I'm here - I was picturing riding with an Austrian Anne, my old Wake coach - but I've never tried dressage. It would be really good for me I know, especially for reining. I watched the head trainer ride for a bit, then she showed me the horses, seemed pleased that I was interested, and gave me her card. The price is really good, too. And the proximity is certainly appealing. But... jumping... Now I really want to visit some more barns and see if there's a good jumping coach. It's Vienna. There has to be one! Right? Then again, it makes sense that dressage would be prevalent with influences like the Spanish Riding School. I hope to have an answer soon.

Bis bald!

Two More Days, Two More Cafés

I spent my Monday morning in Café Florianihof at Florianigasse 45 in the 8th district. The verdict: not bad but I just don't quite think it's what I'm looking for.

Positives include that they have a wide variety of 'flavored' coffees, one of which being caramel, and there were a lot of other people working on their laptops there. Negatives were that the setting was a tad bland, the location a bit too out of the way, and the seating not remarkably comfortable. My waiter was nice at least, and there was a pleasant atmosphere to the place despite everything.

And then there was Café Sperl just off of Mariahilfer Straße in the 6th district. I had admittedly known about it for a long time through my Vienna guide books which all listed it as a must-visit, but with so many other attractive options in the first district I had just never gotten around to it - what a shame that was!

I knew it was promising when I spotted it across the street and noticed that the patio seating was well populated (with non-tourists). As much as I would have loved to sit outside on a day like that I needed to get the experience I had come to try which was working. According to all of the warnings I have heard about winters here, that's definitely going to be an inside activity in the not-so-distant future, so I settled for a seat by the window. This worked out just as well, because the tables along the walls inside were more like nooks which is exactly what I was looking for. Oh, and did I mention that the interior is charmingly nineteenth century with upholstered seats, marble table tops, and parquet floors?

While I didn't try Sperl's coffee -gasp!- I did have their mushroom risotto, which was more than satisfactory both as far as proportion and savoriness. There were also other people tucked away working on their computers which was a good sign. And I completely missed this, but apparently there are pool tables there. I'm definitely going back to look into that. As far as the historical aspect, regulars have included Archduke Joseph Ferdinand and, more recently, authors Robert Menasse and Michael Köhlmeier. Who knows, one of these days this café may be adding yours truly to the list of notable patrons...

Beer and Bikes

Saturday afternoon I decided to look into getting Steffi's bike fixed up. However, seeing it in the daylight I admittedly became a little more skeptical of this idea. It's a functioning bike, don't get me wrong... at least, it has potential to be... but I certainly wouldn't be using it for much more than cruising around town, and maybe not even that. I started thinking about logistics, and either I'll have to put it in the back of the car any time I want to use it (no small feat, mind you), I'll need to keep it at my university's house (not sure if I'll be allowed to), or I could just leave it in the first district - locked up of course - I suppose. I can't imagine that the weather will put too much wear and tear on it considering the state it's already in. I don't know. But I resolved to at least see if I could get it tuned up or if some of the parts were just too old and rusted. I also figured it wouldn't hurt to look at some road bikes.

I started out at a nearby bike shop in Stetten that the farther had told me about called Pink. It was nice and had a good selection, but the folks there weren't all that helpful (perhaps just a factor of it being Saturday - it seemed like almost everyone was off) so after some chatting and a quote on a bike I decided to swing by Mountainbiker.at, a shop I had always slightly drooled over every time I went past it on the 40a (which was almost every day) when I was living here this summer. I noticed right away that there was... something... happening. There were balloons. There were tables. There were lots of people eating Weißwurst (the white Bratwurst) and pretzels and drinking beer. And they were all in Lederhosen and Dirndls. I hesitated a moment, but the shop looked open so I asked one of the women what the event was. Just a good ol' Oktoberfest celebration with free food and drinks for all. I thanked her but decided to skirt the crowd for the nonce and just head on inside. I made a reservation to get the bike tuned up, then browsed a bit. After a while, though, the food really was calling, so I went to join in the fun. I got a wurst, pretzel, and beer, and headed for an empty table because I needed to do some serious observing. The woman who gave me the Weißwurst gave it one long slice along its middle. When I looked for a knife, she explained to me that you peel off the skin and can just use a fork to eat the inside. Huh. I needed to see this. I nibbled on the pretzel, discreetly watching other people eating until I saw that you literally pick up the Weißwurst, separate the skin from the inside where the slice is, and peel it all back and discard it, much like a banana peel. You might also be wondering what, exactly, Weißwurst is. I was. It is, in fact, a traditional Bavarian sausage of minced veal and bacon and flavored with parsley, lemon, onions, ginger, and cardamom. They're typically boiled and eaten fresh (tradition has it that they're made in the morning and shouldn't be allowed to hear the church bells chime noon) and they look like this:

As I was attempting to blend in with my newly witnessed Weißwurst-eating skills I made conversation with a woman sitting near me who turned out to be from Brazil. We chatted for a bit, then her friends came back and we made up a pretty diverse international table - Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Germany, US, and Vienna. We ended up talking for a couple of hours and were all invited to a Brazilian party that the first woman was throwing in a few weeks. I have yet to decide if I'll actually go, but aside from a fun afternoon two events of yet-to-be-determined-significance occurred:

1. I met the owner of the bike shop. It sounds like I might get a pretty good deal on a good bike as they're just getting their 2012s in (and I'll be more than satisfied with a 2011 model).
2. The Italian woman at the table introduced me to her nephew, Joe, who bikes and goes to university here. We didn't talk for long, but did exchange numbers and ended up getting dinner last night.

It was a good afternoon. I just wish I would have had a Dirndl to wear!

Autumn in Wien, and Other General Updates

Grüß gott, Freunde! (Hello, friends!),

I'm finally starting to feel re-settled enough to have a moment to jot down some thoughts, impressions, and experiences of the past few days. It's strange, but even though I've been here off and on for almost five months, this week has given me a whole new perspective on Vienna. There are manifold reasons for this, certainly, not least of which include that I'm living in a wholly new place and have a very new purpose for being here, but I think easily the most cogent change is that I have a car. It's astonishing and fascinating how much of a difference it makes to see that streets and places exist which aren't directly on the public transportation lines! I'm already starting to link places I had known as independent locations together, discovering much quicker routes between them than what I had known on the bus and tram lines. I know, eye-opening, right? Really profound stuff right here. I know it sounds mundane, and, well, admittedly it is a bit, but actually driving around the city makes more of a difference than I ever thought it could. And I love it! But let's back up a bit... How did I even get here?

It was a dark and stormy night in November of 1988... okay, okay, sorry. I am going to skip the details of what I'm doing as most of you already know that, but brief summary:

Working here this summer I decided definitively that I wanted to stay in Vienna if at all possible. Found a job researching and writing about the city that sounded right up my alley. That fell through two weeks before my flight home (I had to go back and get a visa). Desperate to stay here, I decided I'd do just about whatever I could find, especially considering my limited qualifications (namely not being fluent in German). Wanted to have job set before I left (easier to search and interview in person), looked into au pairing, was given an offer in less than a week, accepted the job of taking care of two supposedly responsible children, Steffi, 12, and Franz Joseph, 9. Went home to get visa. Returned this past Monday, approximately three weeks later.

Okay, up to speed? Good. I arrived slightly disheveled early (-literally. The flight landed an hour ahead of schedule) Monday morning and took a cab to the Mom's office. I left my luggage at the front door and went upstairs to find her, was treated to a drink and pastry, engaged in a brief chat, then she handed me some car keys with the instructions to follow her to the house. Aside: I have been marginally apprehensive about driving in Wien as people always seem to go quite fast and take road lines as a loose guideline, not a hard-and-fast rule. Not to mention that I only vaguely knew the road signs. Well, this was my time to swim or drown as I was certainly jumping in with both feet. And... I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it's not nearly as bad as I had thought. Yes, rules seem to be a little more tentative, and I'm still not completely used to the lane suddenly swerving onto tram tracks for a few blocks and having them come up behind me or trundle along next to me, but it seems that perhaps traffic just seems a little more hectic around the public buses and trams because, let's face it: they're cumbersome and take up more than their lane and take wide turns and cars have to accommodate that. Since this had previously been my only perspective I think I had overestimated the stress-level of the situation a bit. 

The next big discovery that I had that morning is that I am not in fact living in Vienna. As it were, I hadn't the slightest idea where we were going as we cut through fields and maneuvered through tiny towns, other than that we were headed north. And then we were pulling into a driveway. As Günter so astutely greeted me when I emailed to say I'd gotten in and tried explaining where I was, "willkommen in Irgendwo! (welcome to somewhere!) Many places come to mind. Prague is north of Vienna. So is Berlin." 

I spent most of Monday getting myself settled, trying desperately not to sleep (I nodded off for half an hour in front of my computer), and waiting in suspense to meet the kids. After all, they were going to make or break the job. In favor of brevity, let's just say I think I'll stick around for a while.

Tuesday I awoke to discover that there was a parents' coffee meeting that I was to attend at, of at all places, Café Aumann. So at least I found myself in familiar territory. Except that when I got back to my car I had a parking ticket. I looked when I parked, I swear I did, to see if the cars around me had anything in the dash indicating they had paid to park there! Apparently you can register to pay with your phone. Oh. After that I went back to the house where I was this summer to pick up a few things I'd left behind. I had some time to kill before I needed to get back to Bisamberg (I had made note of the town I'm living in as I left that morning) so I went up to the restaurant in Türkenshanzpark with a book and read over lunch for a few hours. I honestly don't think I've experienced a more beautiful fall afternoon. The temperature was crisp but warm and the sunlight was streaming perfectly through the canopy of still-in-the-early-stages-of-changing-color leaves. Seriously, perfect.

Wednesday I was going to start in on German classes with my alma mater, but they were taking a field trip to the zoo and I was invited along. Well, I wasn't going to turn down a free entrance to gander at animals and get to know the people I'd be in class with.

Afterwards I took a few of the students to 12 Munchies, the little café I had gone to with Steffi in the summer. Then back to help the kids with homework. 

And then there was Thursday. It dawned yet another crisp and clear and perfect autumn day and Anna, the girl who now has my summer job, joined me for lunch. We decided to try our luck in Grinzing and had the good fortune to find a great parking spot just as a fellow was walking by who was able to give us a very thorough description of how I was supposed to use the parking slips I had received from my family that morning (I wasn't convinced I had fully understood exactly how to use them). We dropped into the first promising place we came across which happened to be Grinzinger Bräu. We sat outside, each with a glass of red wine, and enjoyed a really good lunch - their Thursday special of soup and cordon bleu (non-fried) with vegetables. In my opinion that's exactly how fall Thursday afternoons should be spent: outside in the shade lingering over a good meal and glass of wine with a friend. I could get used to this. And the day just got better from there...

By mid-afternoon I was starting to worry that I wouldn't get to see Steffi, my cellist friend from the summer, before she moved to Thailand for the year. I had tried contacting her a few times but hadn't heard back. I also wasn't able to go to her final concert on Tuesday. However, around 3:00 I got a text saying she was having a farewell drinks party that night if I could make it. So after getting the kids to bed I headed back into town to a Spanish restaurant called El Nino in the 9th district. There was a group of about 20 people, some of whom I already knew, the rest of whom I got to meet. Almost all of them are musicians, and one of the girls I made friends with invited me to a piano concert that she's giving on Saturday. I also exchanged numbers with a few of the other people there, so hopefully even though Steffi's gone I'll have some new friends to get coffee with. I also caught up with Steffi and among other things she mentioned that she hadn't figured out what to do with her bike and asked if I wanted it. Hmmm, let me think about that... yes. I had wanted to buy a bike anyway (though hadn't decided if I was going to go road or mountain), but why buy a bike when someone will give me one? After everyone left I gave Steffi a ride back to her place where we worked for fifteen minutes to maneuver the bike into the car. So now I have a bike! It's badly in need of a tune-up and I can already tell that the frame is a little too big for me, but just for cruising around Bisamberg it will be great! I'm going to take it to the bike shop in Stetten - a nearby town - this afternoon, and finally explore this place. Then off to Anastasiia's concert tonight.

Bis bald! (Soon!)