After a grueling full day of work last Monday, John had Tuesday off for May Day, which it turns out is a socialist worker's party holiday, hence the parade and the marching band we heard from our windows that morning--listening to parades from the comfort of our own home? Now, there's something else that's new for us. We took our time getting ready, meaning it took me forever to sew up the rip in the pair of jeans I was going to wear. I only brought two pairs of pants, because I'm cool with being a minimalist and John needed plenty of work clothes, but that all changes really quickly when you're air drying denim and the seam where you carry your Zach Morris cell phone finally gives out in your backup jeans. Things over here might be different, but they're not cool-with-no-pants different...at least not in the city. Which is, perhaps, why we were headed out to the beach.
Remember the family with girls the same age as ours who came out a year before us? Steve and Megan invited us to go swimming at a beach called the Bundesbad on the Alte Donau (the Old Danube). And I apologize if all these Danube's I've been throwing out there might start to get confusing. Originally, the Danube, particularly in the area of Vienna was not one, large flowing river, but a web of large and smaller streams that changed courses over time. Because the Danube is central to Vienna's existence, they've understandably taken measures to control the flow of the river: the Donau (the main river) the Neue Donau (the previously mentioned excavated canal) and the Alte Donau, a branch that has been dammed and is now only fed by natural ground water. Looking at any map of Vienna, you'll see one large river with a thin strip of land running through it and a seemingly rogue branch to the East--this is where we were going to spend May Day.
Both the weather and the company could not have been more perfect. The Bundesbad is one of many beaches and play areas on the river which one must pay to enter. You wouldn't know it though, for how many people were out to soak up the sunshine. Steve, Meg and their girls met us at the U-Bahn station and walked with us down to the entrance. Here, the beach was actually a nice meandering grassy park that bordered the river. Instead of sand, there was a large gravel border along the water, complete with playground equipment both in and out of the water. Meg brought enough bathing suits, towels, sunscreen, swim diapers, and sun hats to outfit all of us (Just Bailey sprang for the swim diaper though). To say the girls went nuts would be a gross understatement. We had anticipated spending a few hours at the beach before calling it a day to head home for naps. Nope. We were there ALL DAY. The girls were in love with the water, the rocks, the play ground, and most especially, their new friends. It made my heart happy to see them so full of joy in playing together.
We really made a day of it; we ate lunch at the little stand conveniently located next to the water; the kids got to eat french fries and ice cream and bought bouncy balls out of the toy dispensers. They washed off all that ketchup in the river and played hard all afternoon. Bailey eventually racked out on my lap while snacking on goldfish and then proceeded to mess up the sand pit when she regained consciousness. It was truly an epic day--and not just for the kids.Meg and I left the men-folk talking politics over two or six beers while we supervised the kiddos and I actually got to have some real, native-English-speaking Mama conversation. The Walsh clan--all of them--are just good people. They were a blessing to us well before we got here and I know their family will prove indispensable in aiding our transition to this new little life of ours. I don't think we could've enjoyed the day more.
On our way out, the four girls ran ahead of the adults, holding hands, laughing and screaming. Seeing other kids love your kids and bringing them joy, man...it doesn't get much better than that.Audrey, in particular, was sad to see them go, but the silver lining was that we (meaning the girls) were all meeting up the next day at a mall...so I could buy pants. *facepalm* I hate shopping, really. I can't remember the last time I actually tried on clothes in a fitting room instead of stalking tall girl sales online. I loathe trying to find tall women's clothes amid the masses of taunting cute regular-size girl clothes. ugh. But, God sent me an angel--in the form of Megan, who took us to the mall and then took my kids to a play area while I was left in peace to shop and try on clothing. If you aren't a woman or you haven't had small children, well, I just can't think of any metaphor to give it due credit, but not having to worry about Bailey pulling all the neatly hung clothes onto the floor, running into or running away with strangers, opening the curtain while I'm half naked, trying on clothes or screaming like a banshee...wow...to say it felt good to avoid all that would be a gross understatement. Suddenly, this shopping thing didn't seem so bleak. I figured out the sizing after a few minutes and actually walked away with some cute stuff to get me through the summer. I met back up with the girls, we grabbed some lunch and hit up another store or two before heading to a PLAYGROUND (In case you haven't clued in--this is the new hot word...and it takes a lot of patience to spell out) where the girls ran wild for almost three hours.
We were in a little play area just outside the UN Center that had different sections representing different continents. Australia had a kangaroo, Asia had an odd, Indian looking palace, Europe had a circus tent made of logs and the Americas got teepees. I don't know who designed this place, but I was confused, slightly offended on behalf of native americans and confused some more. Luckily the girls don't care much about geography and stereotypes at this age and they couldn't have been happier. It was another reassuringly wonderful day. We've found friends and that is another level of hope in my book. 
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