Happy Thanksgiving from Wien!

Despite not getting to go to the Flow Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night, I had a particularly good weekend. Not only did The Family let me off early Friday night, they gave me tickets to attend the last performance of Charles Gounod's Faust (based loosely on Goethe's tragedy of the same name) at the Baden theater. Not just any tickets, either, but an entire box. I decided to take Joe along for the show, so I picked him up on the way. We didn't have time to wander through Baden, but the Christmas markets looked great! I can't explain what made these so charming, but I would love to go back soon. The performance was really well done, the voices were amazing, and the orchestra was fantastic! We were in the first box on the left and I admittedly found myself watching them play rather than what was going on on stage a few times. Unfortunately all of the Christmas markets were closed for the night by the time that we got out, but there's also a casino in Baden and it was still festively lit.

It was getting late by that point, so we headed back to Vienna and got a bite to eat before going to sleep.

Saturday was really the foundation for my great weekend, though. The morning started out with the usual riding lesson for die Mädchen, but afterwards we went to the Felber bakery's open house Christmas celebration. They had teamed up with the VolksOper to provide some really fun entertainment for kids by letting them all build and decorate gingerbread houses, then having snippets of the VolksOper's children's opera Hänsel und Gretel.

It's been forever since I made a gingerbread house, and I think I had just as much fun as all of the kids running around. I thought it was a really neat way for one of the local bakeries to get involved with the community, it seemed like everyone there, parents, children, and workers alike, was enjoying themselves, and it was a good way to start the Christmas season. Oh, and did I mention the parts of the house and the caulking were quite tasty?

After I dropped the kiddos off at home I headed back into Vienna for a Thanksgiving dinner. A little backstory: I had been into the son's school a few times and each time chatted briefly with the receptionist, a young man from Chicago who is living in Vienna with his wife for a few years because she's doing her Fulbright Scholarship. I had gone in on Thursday and happened to wish him a Happy Thanksgiving, and he asked what I was doing Saturday and if I wanted to join him and some friends for a Thanksgiving dinner. I of course accepted and asked what I could bring, but he told me pretty much everything was covered if I could just get drinks. So Saturday I wound my way past Schönbrunn and found my way to their door. Well, not quite their door. It turns out that the minister at their church was out of town with his family for the weekend and had offered for us to have the dinner there because it was bigger than Will and Mel lived. As I walked in the door I was greeted by amazing smells wafting out of the kitchen and a lot of unfamiliar smiling faces. They were just finishing preparing everything and everyone else arrived within the next twenty minutes or so, and before I knew it I found myself dining with a great assortment of folks - Americans, Austrians, and a Canadian. Will was the common connection between everyone, but the group was mostly teachers and a few friends from their church.

The conversation and company were great and the food was absolutely unsurpassed! Or maybe I was just really hungry. Everything was homemade and actually really similar to what one would expect of a Thanksgiving dinner even despite the lack of certain key ingredients. Will and Mel had attempted their very first turkey (which came out surprisingly moist), there was stuffing and gravy, cranberry sauce, green beans, mashed potatoes, cornbread, and a really good sweet potato casserole (which perhaps I liked so much because of its toasted marshmallow topping). As if that weren't enough, there were two pumpkin pies, an apple pie, and pumpkin bread with a cream cheese topping for dessert. I might have tried some of each, even though I'm wholly unAmerican and don't like pie. I really wish I would have been able to contribute a dish to this amazing spread, but we were already overwhelmed with food as it was, so I didn't feel too bad for only providing everyone with a way to wash it all down. Afterwards one of the woman started playing some Christmas songs on the piano, and we got the special treat of a professional opera singer accompanying her. Not bad, not bad at all. As the tunes faded out we decided it was high time to go for a stroll, so we bundled up and rolled out the door to take in the crisp evening and festive lights in that adorable neighborhood. We walked and chatted for about an hour, then made our way back to the apartment (closer to walking than rolling, finally). Some people said their adieus, but about half of us stuck around to watch a movie. I finally said my goodbye around midnight and gave Vanessa, the opera singer, a ride back to her place before turning in for the night. I was so pleased to be included in that; this was my first Thanksgiving ever that I wasn't with my family, and while it didn't really hit me on Thursday (frankly it felt like any other day in Wien), it was so great to get to spend an evening with new friends and feel a little more like it was a home away from home.

Sunday morning dawned bright and early because Joe and I had finally agreed that it was high time we experienced a real Stephansdom mass. I had invited Linda, one of the people I had met at the Thanksgiving dinner, to join us, so I drove into Vienna in time to pick them both up and find parking before mass started at 10:15. That was actually the first time I'd been in the nave of the cathedral, or past the transept arms (normally they're blocked off and you have to pay to see them). Although I'm not Catholic, it was interesting to listen to the sermon because it was in German and Latin. Unsurprisingly it was a bit chilly in that massive Gothic space, but I enjoyed the whole praxis. There was also something about the incense that was very attractive and soothing.

Linda met up with her boyfriend after to wander through some of the Christmas markets and Joe and I got lunch, then I went back to my chamber to do some studying. As it got dark out, however, I felt a little restless and decided to go in to Vienna to work in a café. I thought it worthwhile to check out Pickwick's, an English café, bar, and video store near Schwedenplatz that Joe and I had gotten a (non-alcoholic) drink at one night. Great choice.

Although not the 'traditional' Viennese café experience, it had a great atmosphere, good hamburgers (I splurged, I couldn't help it), homemade chips (British style), really comfortable couches and chairs to sink down into, and a good playlist that reminded me a lot of Senior year California (Iron and Wine, the Decemberists, Andrew Bird, etc. - yeah, I still pull out your CDs for some throwbacks, Leslie and Julia). I stayed probably a bit later than I should have, thus didn't get as much sleep as I really wanted that night, but I liked the place a lot, even if it was a little on the hipster side.

And so ended my great weekend, but what a great weekend it was!