The Two Week Mark!

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Hello Dear Readers,

I am now on my last day of Week #2!!

And yet... I feel I have yet to have seen anything! At first I was so preoccupied with finding my ground and my way around the city, and now I'm working everyday. But no matter! Today is Friday and the beginning of a new weekend! I will explore as much as I can and update you as soon as I can.

But as of now I can talk about the Hofburg Palace - one of the main sites for tourists - if not THE site for tourists. And, who would have guessed it would be the location of all my meetings! It feels amazing to sit in a room and discuss all sorts of topics while chandeliers with diameters longer than my armspan are suspended overhead. In one room, where I meet the most often, there hangs 4 chandeliers just like that! Amazing.

But, now that my meetings have begun and everything is getting back into full swing, I regret to inform you that my life as I know it has begun. I wake up early, put on a suit, contemplate whether I need to shave that morning, and then head off for the commute. Just over 20 minutes later I'm at the office, turning on my computer. (Yep! 20minutes on the best public transit system in the world) I spend all day either in meetings, writing reports on those meetings or reading information that may give me an insight into the topics we discuss at those meetings - wow. politics. And at the end of the day, I turn off my computer, hit the lights and slowly drag myself back home - exhausted.

But seeing as I have probably one of the better jobs in the world - one I would probably enjoy for the rest of my life - there isn't much to complain about. If only Vienna couldn't just follow me home to Canada, that would be nice.

Food

I have now had the best coffee so far. It was a melange coffee at Cafe Ritter. The cafe was suggested to me (and Eliza) from The Top 10 Vienna book. It said it was a good cafe, and it was nearby my home, so we decided to check it out. Though the place needs some serious sprucing up with its decor (including the ripped red-yellowish couch cushions) and the about-to-break chandeliers - the coffee was- delicious. We also got some food. Eliza got a apfelstrudl (guess what that means - apfel-strudl) with delicious vanilla ice cream, while I settled for a more homey Goulash soup. I could not complain about the soup. Just as good as the coffee.

And today, I had my first chocolate croissant for breakfast. Soooooooo much better than any chocolate croissant I've ever had anywhere, anytime. Instead of just chocolate on the inside, it is full of a chocolatey pudding. And unlike other croissants I've had, they didn't sacrifice the taste of the croissant for the chocolate - this was all around perfect!

I wonder what is in store for me this weekend (though I am set on getting another liver-dumpling soup).

Hopefully I will have photos for everyone with my next posting. Goodbye from vienna!!

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Comments

[Dad]

memories
Ah yes the Hofburg palace. I remember it well. Gorgeous architecture, amazing fireplaces, lovely cgandeliers - and where I was pick-pocketed. If you have a chance take a tour of the servants quarters. All those fireplaces have passages behind them where the servants would keep the fires burning. By doing this from the other side of the wall, soot and ashes did not enter the living areas. Great place to visit. I remember the food too. Delicious. Amazing for the waist line. What do you eat on an ongoing basis? Where do you do your shopping? Have you registered with the Canadian Embassy? What kind of stuff are you researching for work?