Well, it only took a week of sweltering, humid heat for me to wake up to a windy overcast day and say "Yes! I love cold rain!" It has been gloriously cool the last two days and we've had every single window in the apartment open letting those cool breezes through. This makes for some interesting 'interactions' with the neighbors...namely the dude across the street who lives with his parents and NEVER wears a shirt. It also means we have surround sound during football matches. Any goal scored elicits a smattering of victorious hoots or forceful expletives that can be heard all down the street. Ah, apartment living! I'm honestly not complaining--it is terribly entertaining.
It seems like we have really been looking forward to our weekend with Papa more than usual this week. Don't get me wrong, we had tons of fun gallivanting around town while he was at work, but everything is more fun when Papa is involved. The countdown to Friday evening seemed to start Monday morning and the girls were so excited when Papa came home Friday night and announced he didn't have to go to work for the next two days. We celebrated by eating a simple dinner and heading out on the town for our Friday night walk.
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| The quartet on Kartnerstrasse |
I don't think I can express how good it is for our souls to walk downtown like this every week. We walked, ran and skipped through our neighborhood, garnering skeptical glances and broad smiles from people on the street. A guy at the Kebab stand even tried to give Bailey a running hug. She chickened out at the last second, but eventually gave him a shy 'buh buh!' (which is Austrian for 'Bye Bye'). We paused as usual at the Staatsoper to take in part of the night's live showing on the screen outside the building. After our fill of sweet, swelling opera, we continued down Kartnerstrasse to check out the night's street performers--a blind man singing opera, jugglers putting on a hysterically dramatic show, a young, unassuming dude playing accordion, a group in shiny robes with plastered smiles half-heartedly singing christian music, and Audrey's favorite: a quartet playing everything from Metallica to (I kid you not, Mom) the theme from Last of the Mohicans. I adore that song, but ever since we heard some Native American street performers playing it on their wooden flutes while in Scotland, I can't seem to escape it. Audrey informed me after listening to three of the quartet's songs that she is going to play the cello when she's big. I'm holding her to that.
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| Bailey said "Him a silly guy!" |
We headed towards Stephansdom on the promise of gelato. Audrey has staunchly requested strawberry ever since we moved here, but Bailey has moved on from chocolate or mango to lemon. She's got broad tastes, that one! We stood in Stephansplatz admiring one of the best human statues we've encountered yet and trying to avoid the clown proffering balloon animals. We walked the perimeter of the old Gothic cathedral, both John and I trying to memorize details that we hadn't yet taken in, though I can't count how many times we've walked this same path. And when we went inside to take yet another glance at the old girl's glorious interior we were greeted with the sound of organ music and swelling voices; the sanctuary of the church was closed for choir practice. Audrey and Bailey loved it, but soon it was time to leave--to walk past the crowds shouting for the breakdancers in the square and hop on the train back home.
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| A homeless woman staring at Christ on the rear of Stephansdom |
This Friday night walk is becoming ritual; it's path is always the same, but somehow, every week we encounter a totally new and original bevvy of cultural experiences--everything from opera to hip hop. It's a grand way to celebrate our little slice of pure joy that is spending 48 hours as nothing but a family.
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