Into The Woods and Diving into the Arts

Although our night before had been tame, we did have grand plans for breakfast in the morning.  I sprung out of bed before the littles were even stirring and headed down the block to procure pastries to accompany an Austrian breakfast feast (this was all an effort to relive the glory days of Obertraun).  And after two days spent in the hubbub of the city, we decided it was time to head out to the Viennese countryside; to the Lainzer Tiergarten…where, inevitably, more chestnuts abounded.

While I will admit to being proficient at planning activities and adventures, I should not , in actuality, be responsible for leading the charge.  When that happens we end up where we were today; at the playground a mere 200 meters into the woods, laying on the grass while Mom made blobs of sand for the girls to play with and absolutely no motivation to hike into the wilderness.  John was not impressed.  So, after much coercion, we were all herded together for a hike into the woods.  We made it a fair distance before the girls started to wilt…but, unfortunately, Bailey goes straight from ‘wilting’ to ‘screaming her ever-loving head off’.  It’s really charming when she’s strapped to your back too…I highly recommend the experience any time you’re in our neck of the woods.  So, as usual, this was our sign to turn around and start making for home.  We did manage a pit stop for a picnic lunch and some rock collecting on the way, though.  I may give the kid a lot of flack for her behavior, but for a two-year old being pushed to the brink of exhaustion on a daily basis, Bailey really wasn't doing so bad.

Eventually, we made it back to the train and into our neighborhood where I abandoned our group to pop into Bobby’s, a British and American Food store.  Mom, Emily and I had been reminiscing about our trip to Scotland this time last year and were planning a surprise for the rest of the group.  Joe and John, apparently, were also feeling sentimental.  They must have also heard the call of Great Britain because they indulged in a trip to The Four Bells for some Pub food and Guinness on tap.  

The following morning, Mom, Emily and I were bustling about the kitchen together whipping up a traditional Scottish Breakfast, thanks to the supplies from Bobby’s and a working knowledge of the cuisine from our fantastic host, Grant, when we were staying over in Edinburgh.   We had a huge spread of fried eggs, sausage, sautéed mushrooms and tomatoes, beans, toast, potato pancakes, and authentic HAGGIS!! Mom made the HUGE mistake of reading the label of ingredients before we served it.  *shudder*  I ate it anyway. 

At this point in the visit, a big topic of conversation (when we weren’t busy being revolted by the robust constitution of the Scots) was what everyone  felt we hadn’t seen or done enough of yet.  The answer to this question will always be: eating cake/ice cream and drinking coffee…but outside of that, we felt it’d round out the visit to hit up an art museum.  And while we really wanted to show off the Belvedere palace, The Albertina, in the first district, was closer to the cake and coffee…and so, understandably won out. 

There is a really delicate balance to bringing kids into an art museum.  It’s actually best to go when it promises to be the most crowded (camouflaging the noise children are apt to make) and it helps if they’re relatively well-fed and well-exercised prior to the actual art-viewing.  Today, it helped that we had a number of people for Bailey to bounce around to and I’d have to say, overall, we managed a fairly smashing success.  We viewed two quite extensive collections as well as a walk through the palace’s apartments (originally built for Empress Sisi’s youngest daughter), which when there are kids in-tow is about as much as one can hope to manage.  After our culture-filled morning, we stopped at our favorite Wurstel stand (and by this I mean, the only one I will deign to patronize) for some wurst and pretzels…and a little Sturm for Mama…because I’m an addict.  We had been debating over a coffee house to visit after our al fresco lunch and opted to stop by Café Central; a busy, tourist-filled place by all means, but the impressive cakes more than make up for that. 

Perhaps to our good fortune, the place was bursting at the seams when we arrived; absolutely no place to stuff our large group.  So, John led everyone on a little tour of the nearby Ferstel Passage while I waited patiently for the amazing multi-tasking woman behind the pastry ‘buffet’ to have a moment to pack some cakes to take home. 

It all ended up well; Bailey caught a catnap on the way home and woke up in time to graze on our delectable tea party fare.  Mom suggested I pick out three cakes to take home, but I stood looking at them for so long that we ended up with six.  As it was, I could’ve gotten more.  We really enjoyed getting to try bites of each treat while Audrey honed in on and devoured her favorite; a chocolate dome.  (the kid has excellent taste)

After our most excellent tea party, we convinced the girls to give the movie The Princess Bride a try.  We really like finding movies that both the girls and we can enjoy together and  I think this time things clicked…especially for Audrey.  She loved Fezzik or “the good-guy giant” as she calls him and has been asking to watch it again ever since. 

Even though our normal schedule had been way off for some time, Sunday evenings for us are usually focused on preparing for the coming week; making sure things are ready for work and school and that things around the house are in relatively good order.  Ahough my family had another full day left in town, John still had to go in to work the next day and was trying to get everything prepared for the upcoming week.  I was already in my hot pink pants, which I imagine are the equivalent of other people’s sweat pants for indicating that I’m in for the night. (At least if there’s a fire, I’ll be standing on the street looking sassy…or at least ready to samba.) Emily, Mom and Joe, on the other hand, were itching for some more gelato from Zanoni & Zanoni .  So, while John caught a little American Football and Dad and I sat in the living room reading, the rest of the gang headed downtown for something sweet.  To be honest, it may take months before I'm up for doing anything past the girls' bedtime; I think I cashed in all my night owl chips for the year with Wiener Wiesn.  Kids, this is why you don't drink beer by the liter.