Thank you Auntie Vickie, for the candy canes! Mmmm.
This was the crew watching Kung Fu Panda (the only DVD the apartment had, besides a Barbie movie). Norah was, yet again, sleeping off the plague.
Here's the pinata in action!
I don't have any clue how, but the boy who made this was either a super engineering genius or this was a total fluke. They girls yanked on all the strings and the last one left (which they pulled together), was the final "trigger" ribbon unlocking all the CANDY!
Vickie captured this next series of pictures of the girls. Love these.
(1)
(2)
(3) RAWWRRR!
(4)
(5) Favorite!
(6)
Belvedere Palace - overlooking the city centre of Vienna
On the left is St. Stephen's Cathedral (the largest steeple in all these shots)
"Norah, please get out of the roped-off palace gardens!"
"Norah, please..." (someone's about to start yelling at us in German and you
know how much that scares me!)
On a random street on our last night we came across this "Grow a Head" shop, selling all supplies to grow marijuana in a self-contained greenhouse, within your home. Seattle, this will be coming your way.
Wayne and Pete going, "Whooaa...Is this for REAL?"
We felt like this poster (with the very random, and HUGE baby face) really detracted from the beauty of this church. I mean, they do know...that's not the actual baby Jesus right?? I mean, that banner is 14 feet tall, it's no tiny thing.
Pete and Vickie saw this "Cafe-Restaurant Gloria" so we tried it for dinner on our last night and it ended up being incredible home-cooked, genuine Austrian food. I had the schnitzel again...and loved it as much as the first time.
On our last day, Vickie, Pete and Reese left very early in the morning and we had until 1 pm to explore a bit. We decided to make the trip to Viktor Frankl's home (which was only a 15 minute walk from the apartment). Sadly, upon arriving at the building, we could see that the ground floor has now become a casino. Yuck! It felt almost sacrilegious.
Thankfully though, they have this plaque at what was, his front door.
"Man's Search for Meaning" is one of the most revered texts in my life (in Wayne's as well). This man was a Saint and a true genius in history. When Viktor Frankl was in Auschwitz for 3 years of his life (one of a relative few to survive to the end of the war), he says, in his book, he would "lend himself to the contemplation of his beloved". His wife, mother, and father, had been transferred to other camps upon their arrival. When he was working in the icy wind day in and day out, digging in the frozen ground, he would think of his wife and, he says that was all that got him through. He did not find out until after his release that his wife (and all family members) had been killed in another camp, nearly immediately after their arrival. His words, about his wife: "Set me like a seal upon thy Heart, Love is a strong as Death", are engraved in Wayne's wedding ring.
"Top 15, Viktor Frankl Zentrum Wien" (Frankl Center, Vienna)
"Top 14 Frankl privat" (which we think, means that a family member of his still lives here). Incredible. We buzzed the Centre in hopes that we could say "we're students of existential phenomenology from Seattle, Washington" but..... sadly, no one was there. Major letdown!
"Can we come in? We're not leaving"
Yes, we're a bit nerdy but we really, really love this man.
Even though we couldn't go inside, and even though the building houses a seedy casino, it was still well worth it to stand at the doorway where he used to pass through.
Direcly across the road is The University of Vienna (looks like military barracks).
This was very funny - at the Vienna Airport - just behind Norah is a glass room (looks like a phone booth). Well, this is in the center of the airport restaurant and it is the smoking "room"! I can think of nothing more nauseating than standing in a glass cylinder to smoke. It's a wonder they don't pass out, actually. Then again, I also understand, if I were a smoker, about to board a 12 hour flight, I'd be right in there.
Our cutie pie, 2 1/2 waiting to fly back home to Dublin.
