Trains, Churches and Jet lag, oh my!

Saturday was a long day. It started, yet again, at 3am with the murmuring protests of my two-year-old. We decided to stick to routine and made toast and eggs for breakfast--which after my underwhelming dinner the previous night was a welcome taste of familiarity. We whiled away the morning getting ready, doing chores and reading books before heading out around 7am on an adventure. I cannot express how much I love that Audrey refers to every outing as an adventure...and they truly are. We stopped by the bakery at the end of our street where Audrey devoured a marmalade turnover and the rest of us savored some sweet rolls. Then we headed down the deserted streets to our U-Bahn stop. 

Vienna has one of the best public transportation systems I've ever seen--there are underground trains, trams and busses that all operate on the same system of payment. For example, John and I bought 8-Day passes, meaning, every day we use public transit, we validate our card and then are allowed to ride any form of public transportation until 1am the next day. It's pretty nifty stuff. We're planning on purchasing a year-long pass shortly so we can ride anything any time and don't have to worry about it for another year. 

Now, if the girls thought our playgroundpalooza was exciting, they were over the moon to find out we would be train hopping all day. We rode the U-1 out to the VIC (the UN center where John will be working) He wanted to get a feel for how long the commute would take and Audrey had been asking where John's new job was, so we killed two birds with one stone. We got out and surveyed the area--the UN Complex has quite a unique presence; it is really more of a mini-city, composed of several tall, curved buildings forming a complex.  John will be working for the IAEA, but there are several other organizations located within the VIC.  Most of these are UN organizations dealing with anything from international trade laws to outer space affairs. (Go ahead and take that and run with it, Mom)

Since everything one would need is actually located in the UN Center (a commissary, dry cleaners, hair dresser, and medical clinic to begin with), we hopped back on the U-Bahn towards the first district.  The girls insisted on sitting next to each other on the train and laughed hysterically all the way to the center of the city where we got off at Stephansplatz. Understandably, this is a busy U-Bahn stop, even on Saturday morning when most shops are closed. We took three escalators up to the ground level and I just about fell over as we rose up to the street. For the most part so far, we've been focused inward, making sure our bodies are adjusting, grocery shopping and getting to know our temporary neighborhood in the 4th district. So, even though we've been here a few days, we were still overwhelmed by this gorgeous sight.  I knew when we got off the train that the Stephansdom would be there, but BAM! it might as well have slapped me in the face. "I am Vienna!" it seems to proclaim. Gorgeous, richly detailed and enchanting...yet totally at home amongst the surrounding architecture. Majestic seems to be the norm here, and oh, how I love it. We slowly walked the perimeter, openly ogling the grand facade as we went.  We also took advantage of the early hour to slip in to view the interior of the church. And this is where sightseeing with two youngin's gets tricky. There are many places in Vienna that are child friendly, but an operating church where people are praying is not one of them. It was all we could manage to keep Bailey quiet--I don't blame her--she was just expressing what the rest of us were exclaiming in our heads: WOW! Look Audee! LOOK!

 

John was absolutely enthralled with the building and I've given him free reign to stop on his way home from work, without kiddos, to stop and gawk some more. We may not have a host of babysitters over here, but I know that John and I are committed to making time to see the sights and adequately soak up the culture. I have a feeling that solo jots about town for both of us will soon become the norm. I have an overwhelming desire to find the best coffee houses in town and John will have his fill of incredible historic sights to see. A lot of them will be suitable for family outings, but it's nice to know our heads are both in the same place. 

By the time we got back to our apartment, it was only 10:30, but in our little jet-lagged world, that means we were well overdue for some lunch. We fed the girls and put them down for naps and I headed out on my own with my umbrella to explore a few stores I had seen on our earlier outings. 

I stopped into a natural foods store to check out the lay of the land. I grabbed some green tea, which I neglected to pack (the horror!) and I also found organic Canadian maple syrup, which I'm told is a rarity over here. True or not, I decided to give into my hoarding urge and bought some. And because supermarkets are closed on Sundays, I hit up one that claimed to be 'gourmet' on my way home. I know I was whining about my shopping experience the other day, but I'm honestly determined to adapt, so I've decided to scope out as many different markets as I can find. And since I'm only buying what I can carry home, it's easy to work these little visits in quite frequently. I'm starting to get the hang of the fast-paced check out process and am also coming to realize that these places are so small that people are just going to be all up in my business and I need to get used to it. 

When I got home I made a little lunch for myself out of some cheese, cold cuts and big fat olives. Everyone else in the apartment was dead to the world, sleeping, so I figured I could afford to take a quick snooze. 

Sigh

I don't know why I can't learn from these things. My body thinks that mid-afternoon is night time...and collectively, the four of us ended up taking a five hour nap. 

*headdesk*

This jet lag thing is quite the challenge. We started with a firm, schedule-oriented plan that didn't work, so the rest has been trial and sleep-deprived error. We're hoping to make Sunday our hardcore transition day. 

Because we slept so long, we decided to just hang out at home for the evening, make some dinner and get everyone as drowsy as possible with the help of some sleepy time tea for the girls and Valerian for John and I. I had a glass of wine with dinner too, so I, at least, was good and drowsy by bedtime.

We also decided it'd be best to split up the girls for bed time-Audrey slept with John and The Bear and I were paired to spar with each other for the night. We got about three hours of sleep out of Bailey before she woke up at 1am. She then proceeded to wrestle, cry, laugh hysterically and demand everything from "Me back hurtin" to "Me go see Papa!" and my personal favorite: "Me watch a movie!". We finally threw in the towel around 3:30 and let the girls watch a movie while John and I drank coffee in a half-comatose state. 

Our game plan for today (which is obviously subject to change) is to let Bailey nap in the early morning (I'm talking 5:30 here) and skip our usual cluster bomb of a nap in the afternoon. This could be a really great idea or a miserable failure...and probably both. 

We're determined to keep a positive spirit; I mean, we may be sleep deprived, but we're in one of the most culturally rich cities on this planet...life is good.  

Wish you were here.

...so you could watch my kids at 3am.