Weekend visit

Hmmm, long time no blog.  OK, quick recap of the last 10 days.

After getting out of the hospital 10 days ago, I spent the weekend mostly resting. On the Saturday, I went "shopping" with Mark.  It went this way: walk 100 metres, stop for a drink.  Go another 100 metres, buy a hat, stop for lunch.  Eventually get up again, go another few blocks, then take a U-bahn over to my friends Owen and Ludo's to be fed an excellent dinner.  On Sunday I worked on my store of vitamin D: I plopped myself down on the grass in the middle of the Stadtpark, armed with a snack and a book.  Turned out to be a genius idea: fabulous weather, and atmosphere provided by chirping birds, an accordeon and a flute. I also amused myelf taking sneaky photos of people, including this girl who was chanelling her inner Madonna.

This last weekend, my uncle Elmar came to visit.  We played tourist all weekend. 

Saturday morning was the Naschmarkt, where you can find lovely food of all kinds, like these little casks of flavoured vinegars, and an actual VAT of freshly made sauerkraut.

Saturday afternoon we visited Schönbrunn.  This was my second visit, including the tour of the residence, and yet very little of the historical facts are sinking in.  I am definitely not historically inclined... No matter, it's a gorgeous location whether I remember anything or not.

Sunday morning we got up waaaaay too early to go to a concert performance of the Vienna Boys' Choir in the Hofburg chapel.  It turned out to be worth the loss of sleep: the combination of location and performance gave me goosepumps. After that, we walked to a few other sites, then took a horse-drawn carriage ride, which I have always wanted to do.  So much fun! It's a great way to get a feel for the old city.

What else did we do? Ate some more, walked around some more, and ended the weekend by watching the Germany-Australia football (soccer) match.

Oh yeah, we also came across some local wildlife, and stopped to smell the roses.     :-)