So Happy Together; A Weekend Update

In answer to my usual nightly query today, both girls answered that their favorite thing was: "Playing with my Papa"...and that pretty much sums up our weekend.

The End!

I honestly have no idea what's going on here...but it looks epic

There's no way I'd let you get off that easy.  But, in all seriousness, our weekend has involved practically nothing but focusing on our little foursome and having a heck of a good time.  Early Saturday morning, as I was taking one of my showers where I get to use up all the hot water and not worry about what the girls are destructing while temporarily unsupervised, John organized what has become one of the most epic story lines involving every single toy the girls have in the house and also a wooden castle (accompanying royalty included) that he brought home as a surprise Friday night.

The 'fire prison' and recently raided food storage house...tragic

When we eventually pried ourselves away from Never Never Land, we were much later than we would've liked to have been out the door.  For once I was able to blame our tardiness on something other than myself--it wasn't because I was blow drying my hair for the first time that week, but because we could not drag our kids away from their incredible imaginary world. And why would we want to?  But, Papa needed new suits, so we persevered through a trip to the mall...and picked up the story line as soon as we were home again--The evil Mad Hatters must be stopped!

The Ankeruhr with Maria Theresa and Prince Eugene of Savoy

Sunday morning was basically a repeat of Saturday except we eventually managed to get out of the house for a walk.  I've been  wanting to see the Ankeruhr at noon since we got here and things just haven't worked out right until today.  The Ankeruhr is a clock that was built between 1911 and 1917 using plans from the artist Franz von Matsch.  The clock is actually situated on a bridge that connects the Anker Insurance buildings and, especially considering the construction and renovation going on around it, does not stand out at all.  I still couldn't help but be drawn in by the detail and charmed by the twelve figures who slowly progress across the face at noon to music representing different time periods in Vienna. While most people who had gathered started to drift away after two or three of the figures had passed, we stayed for the duration and I really enjoyed getting to sit and talk with the girls about every aspect of it--to see the Ankeruhr through the eyes of my littles.

Picnic at Stadtpark

After exploring some more, we settled on a picnic lunch in Stadtpark, where the girls collected pine cones and gawked at the giant coy fish in the pond.  We're still trying to keep our little monsters on a fairly consistent schedule, so after getting them settled back down at home for naps, I headed back out for my Sunday afternoon break.

This week my little adventure, in a word, was: different. I have been sticking close to home for the past two weeks and was really looking forward to some time to be able to walk on my own and explore without having to worry about anyone else's stomach, bowels or state of mental health. I took the U-Bahn to Karlsplatz, walked past the Opera toilet and up to the Staatsoper, where I began my journey.  In all of our exploring we haven't actually stepped foot yet in quite a few of Vienna's districts and I wanted to get a feel for some of them.  After walking past some old familiars, I headed straight up to the 9th district, and back down and around to the Ring through the 8th...and while that may sound like a brief or direct route in print, in actuality, I was bumming around for over an hour.  I didn't take a lot of pictures because I was content to just take it in without breaking out the camera, but it was nice to get out of my usual first district haunts and to stalk what basically felt like other people's neighborhoods...fabulous Viennese neighborhoods, albeit, but homey all the same.  

The Votivekirche

As I was rounding back on the Staatsoper, it started to rain and I've never been so thankful that Audrey always insists I carry 'her' umbrella in my bag, because what started out as drips and drops, in true Viennese fashion, was soon a total downpour.  I wasn't really ready to head back home yet, but I knew any cafe that I easily spotted in the first district would now be completely packed with tourists dodging the rain...so I settled on what was easy and familiar and relatively unknown to the teeming masses: Cafe Hawelka.

What took me by shock was that while I had been thinking ahead to where I was going, I wasn't fully prepared for where everyone else would be...or rather not.

 EVERYONE had abandoned the sidewalks and was seeking shelter under the nearest eve, cafe umbrella or awning.  No one was walking--even the people with umbrellas were standing back, waiting.  All these people previously flooding the streets, taking the same picture of themselves in front of the same *insert tourist attraction here* were now forced to stop and watch...namely: ME.  As I sauntered down a deserted Kartnerstrasse under my umbrella with a hundred pairs of eyes trained on me.  It was an eery flip for someone so used to spending her Sunday afternoons mimicking trees or blending in with the crowd.  And I couldn't help but laugh--to smile knowingly at our ice cream man as I passed his booth and to grin at all the people forced to do what I chose to do at least once a week: STOP...Watch..Take a break.   

Miraculously, I found plenty of free tables when I got to Cafe Hawelka and I sank comfortably into it's dimly-lit interior for the first time. It was also the first time I've felt I really earned my Sunday afternoon break; I could've drowned in my coffee and I had to restrain myself from inhaling my cake...which I didn't even pause to photograph. After I took a breath and a moment to think--having already aired all my my errant, miscellaneous thoughts during my walk--my mind turned to home. I missed my girls.  I knew they were probably starting to wake up from naps by then and I wanted to kiss their sleepy heads. I didn't want to sit and savor anything for one more minute, I wanted my babies.  

Sleepy girls...my absolute favorite

So just like that, I was off, and that's something that's new here too--when I leave the house for my little adventures, sooner or later I find myself really wanting to go back home.  I miss being with my girls even though we're spending more time together here than we did before we moved; we are living in each other's pockets and it's where we want to be.  That just makes my heart happy.  It was a good weekend, and no matter what it brings, this will be a good week because we have each other--it is my slice of joy to cling to.  What is yours?