April 2011 - Happy Easter!!
April started off on a more energetic beat with a 30 mile bike ride to a small Austrian village near the Slovakian border for an Easter Market. The bike route followed Napoleon's advance through Austria in 1809 which was pretty interesting. We finally arrived at the Easter Market set at an amazing palace out in the middle of nowhere. The grounds were beautiful, the food was great, and the farmer tans were everywhere as Steph and I only managed to put sunscreen on our faces...whoops! We met up with one of Steph's colleagues whose boyfriend actually grew up in the next village over so he was happy to show us all around. It was much too late, and we were much too tired, so the train back to Vienna won over any thought of biking back.
We were off to Rome next for a belated birthday trip for Steph's 31st, which ended up being Vienna weekend in Rome. We met with with a few work friends who happened to be in Rome the same weekend. We arrived on a Friday and set out to find Steph's coveted fried artichoke restaurant with no luck. We settled on dinner with our Aussie friends in Trestevere followed by shots out of chocolate shot glasses...seriously. We both had been to Rome before so we had an abbreviated sightseeing list as there were only a couple of things we both had yet to see. Steph needed to see the Sistine Chapel, which was just as awesome as ever, and I, believe it or not, had not seen the inside of the Colosseum yet. So off we went! After a long day of sightseeing, lunch at Campo di Fiori, drinks on our hotel roof, dinner with friends at the Eat Pray Love restaurant near Piazza Navona, and a successful end to our determined hunt for Jewish fried artichokes (so delicious, you all need to try one!) our fun weekend in Italy came to an end. As April wraps up, I am definitely looking forward to the Spring in Vienna as May is just around the corner. To be continued.
(Pictures on the way!)
Spring 2011 Wrap-Up
JANUARY: 2011 started off in the freezing cold of Minnesota with a nice visit to see Steph and her family. We quickly learned no where is quite Minnesota cold, not even Vienna. Saw the collapsed Metrodome, Mall of America, and experienced a fun game called Horse Racing. Once back in Vienna, we kicked off the Vienna Ball Season in style at the Philharmonic Ball. Those dancing lessons paid off as we finally got to test out our impressive dancing skills. The waltz started out more like bumper cars with the packed dance floor, but finally opened up around 2:00 AM, allowing us to show off the skills. A visit from the DC boys reminded me how nice it was to see familiar faces and how little of an excuse we still needed to go out and do it up right. The Around the World Bar Crawl was a highlight of the weekend, thanks to Wayne, and bounced around the globe (I mean Vienna's Bars) visiting Ireland, Cuba, Turkey, Australia, USA, and Austria Apres Ski. What a night!
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| Where's Waldo? Vienna Philharmonic Ball, Musikverein |
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| Around the World Bar Crawl, Turkey (Kebab Stand) |
FEBRUARY: The next, and most favorite, of the Vienna Balls was the IAEA Ball at the Hofburg Palace. Steph wore my favorite of her four new ball gowns and we met up with our group of friends for a fun dinner at Sky Restaurant before heading to the ball. Waltz, Swing, Salsa, Cha-Cha, you name it, we danced it. With Moet bottle service at our table, how could we not be happy. The night ended as always, with a Kaiserkrainer from the Wurstel Stand. Valentine's Day was here before we knew it and what else to do but paint pottery at Made By You. That's right...a little art in all of us. My appetizer plate and Steph's coffee mug and serving plate were just the start. Let's just say Made By You is a bit addicting and needs a registered support group. February 2011 ended with a fun week in the Austrian Alps to a ski town called Schladming. We met up with Steph's fun Australian friend Anika and her family who were always up for a laugh and a good time. Our week was a fun version of Groundhog Day with us up at 9:00, on the slopes by 11:00, to the Apres Ski Bar by 4:30, dinner, drinks with the group, off to bed, and do it all over again. My snowboarding school had it's first success with Steph getting better by the day.
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| Part of the Vienna Crew, IAEA Ball, Hofburg Palace |
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| View from our balcony, Schladming, Austria |
MARCH: March started the same way February did, with another Vienna Ball. This time it was the Carnival inspired Masquerade Ball, also at the Hofburg Palace. Todd, Sarah, Lisa, Clint, Steph, and myself made it out for this one which made for another good night in Vienna. The Ben Folds concert was a great time, thanks to Kent and Amy for organizing that one. Always fun seeing a concert at a new venue. Steph's birthday was not far off and we celebrated with the thrill of a Murder Mystery party at my place. Good food, good wine, and great friends made for a great time....except for poor Barry Underwood (the victim in the Murder Mystery). Then Steph and I were off to Berlin to meet up with college friends Emily and Megan. We saw all the sights, enjoyed quite a few German beers, and encountered a flash-mob pillow fight immediately following a Yemeni protest near Brandenburg Gate....random for sure! March ended off in Irish style at the last of our Vienna Balls, the Irish Ball. Not the elegant ball that the rest were made to be, the Irish Ball was more like high school prom with all you can drink Guinness and Jameson, so there was not much to complain about. And you know those raffles that no one we know ever wins, well I managed to win one...finally!
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| Flash Mob Pillow Fight, Berlin, Germnay |
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| Winning gift basket, Me, and Steph, Irish Ball |
