Es war ein wunderschon woche (It was a lovely week). This past week was our midwinter break, and I spent the time relaxing, as well as enjoying many social activities in the wonderful city of Vienna. Wow, it's really weird to be creating actual sentences in english outside of my head. Anyways, my first activity was last Sunday, when Sophie and I went swimming with our friend Runa and her sister. We went to a nearby public pool, and spent the time splashing around in the "play pool" and swimming a few laps in the actual swimming area. We had also brought snacks, but when we got there, we realized that we weren't supposed to eat there because they had their own little cafe. So, we huddled in a corner and nibbled on our bread, hiding it beneath out towels whenever a pool service person came by. Such fun.
The next day brought a wonderful present: snow! It had been getting steadily colder, and Sophie and I had constantly complained to each other that when it was 7 degrees fahrenheit out, then snow was needed. Finally, it came. All day Monday, and most of Tuesday, the snow came down, and on Monday, Sophie and I went out to play. It was too cold to stay out long, and the snow wasn't good for packing, so we wrote a short message. Wir <3 Schnee! In english, that is, We <3 Snow! The first few letters wrote a bit too big, so we ended up staggering the n and e's in Schnee so as to fit it all in. Our artwork was destroyed the two days later when her two stepbrothers came, and played, but we were still very proud. Also, Monday afternoon, Sophie and I went shopping with our friend Gloria. Our first intent was to find hippie clothing to dress up in for the carnival next week, but it turned more into having way too much fun trying on clothes. We even made ourselves into snowmen with these enormous white knit ponchos. By the end of the day, the only thing remotely hippyish we took away were the beautiful white feather earrings I had bought. They were on sale too.
On Wednesday night, we went on a little adventure through the galaxies to see Star Wars, The Phantom Menace in 3D. It was my first experience with 3D, that I can remember, as well as my first time seeing this Star Wars movie, so it was very interesting. I definitely did not understand all of it, or even half of it, but I did get the major plot lines, and over all it was a really fun experience. That night we made it back to the house by about midnight. It was a long movie, and we were exhausted. The trip back had been a cold one, and as I learned later, one at 3 degrees fahrenheit. No wonder I was cold! The next day we slept in nice and late, and then again that night made our way out into the big bad city to see My Fair Lady at the Volksoper. It was so amazing. The acting was wonderful, the music fantastic, and the theater beautiful. I didn't understand everything, for it was all in German, even the songs, but the acting pretty much spoke for itself, and love and remember the story well. We made it back to the house at a decent hour that night, about ten thirty or eleven, and immediately fell into our beds. It had been a long week.
However, we woke up the next morning to remember we were not yet done. Sophie's father came around twelve to pick us up along with her half brother Benny who we had visited before in the mountains. We spent the rest of the day at her grandparents' house, playing games, and then going out to a fabulous Chinese restaurant for dinner. I think we all might have eaten a but too much, but it was worth it. Sunday brought a tour of the little town, or rather, of the geese in the town. "Ganzendorf" means "Geesetown" and that is exactly what it was. All along the center street in the little town were scattered statues of geese, painted in all different ways, usually having to do with the store they sat outside of. There was even one inside the bank covered in 1 cent coins. We took many pictures.
Now I am back in Vienna, lying in bed and dreading the fact that I need to turn of this computer and go to sleep, because tomorrow school begins again. Don't take me wrong, I have no problem with school and learning. Actually I enjoy it. But this week has been so wonderfully relaxing. The perfect balance of adventure and chill time. Tomorrow, all my time gets devoted to school. Well, good night. I'll post pictures from my adventures tomorrow.
