An evening with Mozart

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Dear readers,

It warms my heart to inform you that I have successfully transitioned to the Viennese way of life. As I write to you, I am enjoying a delicious pastry as well as an espresso, and listening to the likes of Mozart and Strausse - all at work. It's hard to beat this lifestyle.

I told you I would write you about my weekend, and I shall do just that. Following my wonderful recount of the weekend, I will answer some of the questions which have been left by some readers. So make sure you read them, as you may have wanted to know the answer as well.

The Weekend

On Friday, once work was complete my two fellow interns and I decided to part for a happy-hour beer with our fellow coworker and boss, Adam (name has been changed). Just next to our work, the pub is a very small but gorgeously decorated place. It seems almost like it was a home which was renovated and turned into a bar. Over a handful of beers, we discussed many facts and theories on life, politics and more importantly: economics. :D
The night came to an uneventful end, as I knew Saturday would be much more interesting.

On Saturday, I woke up rather early (830am) and decided to go around town. I was quickly contacted around 10am by the interns that there was an apartment to go look at for the remainder of our internship. We went to look at it, though it was nice, we have decided we would not enjoy the long commute to work every morning. So no go. We then made our way to the Centre-ville, where we hung out at the OperHaus (Opera House) waiting for the roommate of one intern, Alexandra. While there I decided to purchase tickets to a Mozart/Strausse concert for Eliza and I. The four of us then went to the Flea Market, where no one's trash was my treasure. Then to the Wien Museum (Museum of Vienna). An excellent exhibition is currently on of "Vienna in the movies" where they are playing all the movies which were filmed, or took place, or in any way had to do with Vienna. It was amazing! And I will be going again, probably next weekend. I then went to get some groceries at the market and head home to meet up with Eliza.

A few drinks after Eliza arrived, and we were ready to go out. We met back up with the interns and the other intern's roommate, Jen. We did a bit of bar hopping to see different aspects of the Vienna nightlife. And wouldn't you believe it! We finally managed to get a table at one point, and when we sat down, LOW AND BEHOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

---- WAIT FOR IT------


----WWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIT FOR IT -------------

A FELLOW BISHOP'S STUDENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And not just one!!! but three of them!!!! What are the chances?!!?

Anyways, though that was insane, it was the end of the night, and time to head home.

Morning arrived far too soon on Sunday, and Eliza and I were off to meet her host-family for lunch. A nice little suburb, I hadn't heard such quiet surroundings since being in Ottawa. It was quite the relief from all the city cling-clang. At our lunch, we had (in order): salad with pumpkin seed oil (delciious!), two kinds of sausage, some delicious pork piece, baked potato, cornkernels with sour cream, chicken drumsticks, garlic bread, grilled zucchini and corn on the cob, plus some things I feel I'm forgetting. To drink we started with Radlers (mix of blond beer and sprite), then moved onto pure beer. Then we finished off lunch with a dessert: grilled banana on the bottom with vanilla ice cream, maple syrup (represent), and cinnamon. And dessert OBVIOUSLY came with an espresso. To say the least, I was full.

We had to rush after lunch however, even though we all got along so well!, because eliza and I had to attend our concert! An Evening with Mozart and Strausse was very relaxing. We dressed up to go see it (even though we were the only ones) and watched. Some opera singers sang, the musicians played, and on specific songs there were even some ballet dancers. Very entertaining. After our concert we walked on past the Hofburg and into a famous cafe. We drank some coffee and ate some soups, and finished with the best ice cream I've ever had in my life. It is worth your while to come visit me, just to eat this ice cream!

The night ended, and this morning came again far too quickly. Now I'm at work, and even today is almost over!


Now!!! Your Questions

Laurent: Unfortunately, no. The internship is not paid, but what I lose in money in the short-run I hope to make up with an almost-certain job when I leave here. And yes, I listened to some rammstein too, I know what you mean by the base knowledge 😉 haha. Come on over if you want. You got a free place to stay!

Dad: Actually, no one really seems to be overweight here. I heard they were on average overweight, but compared to North America, no competition. They may eat a lot of pastries and fried foods, but they don't eat often. I think I've lost weight since being here. You eat a piece of non-toasted fresh bread or croissant for breakfast(8am), then eat something again at 1pm, then eat a little snack again around 5pm then eat dinner (salad or soup with small main) around 9pm. And you don't eat again for the rest of the night. So... I think their system of eating is probably healthier and I most definitely prefer it than the Canadian way.

But, the temperature is fairly cold. People keep telling me I had bad luck arriving when I did. September is generally nice they say and warm. But all its been (mostly) is cold, windy and raining. By cold I mean 18degrees, but the wind and rain makes it much worse. I get around by the world's best public transit system. It really is magnificient,. They must have spent soo much money on it. But, it definitely is reliable, cheap and all around perfect. There is no reason to really own a car in Vienna - though a lot still do. And I have not tried the black beer yet. Sturm (young "wine" - about a month old) is in season right now, and only for another couple of weeks. So I'm getting my fill of that right now. Maybe black beer afterwards.

Todd: Thanks buddy. I'm glad you are enjoying the blog.



And please! If any of you have any comments of questions of your own, please feel free to ask them, or post something. I would be happy to hear from you!

Until next time!
Auf Wiedersehen!!

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Comments

[Mom]

Food
Your food experiences sound amazing. I can't believe that people actually eat that delicious food (I'm referrring to the host family bbq) at home normally. Was it special because you were there? Are you gathering receipes?