auf wiedersehen wien

wow. has it really been two weeks?

i've been wanting to write a final post for my blog... i wanted to try and bring together all my thoughts and experiences of living in vienna... as the 'new girl'... but in all honesty, i'm struggling to find the words.

i started this little blog as just a way to document the little everyday things happening in vienna so i could share them with family and friends back home in england. as time went by i realised how much i love taking photographs (even though i have no idea how to use my camera), and how thrilling it was to discover other people (other than those who knew me) also read the blog too. now i love that i have a permanent visual diary of our whole experience.

what surprised me the most was how through my blog i was able to meet some truly lovely people in vienna who became my friends. i'm so grateful for that.

i won't lie, at times (particularly in the first year) it was really really tough living in vienna. i felt extremely lonely, frustrated, isolated, lost, tearful, and sometimes just bewildered. the language was always a massive struggle for me.... but we stuck on through the difficult times and now they don't seem so important. in fact, i think they have enriched the whole experience. i have learnt so much about myself through facing the challenges.

living in vienna for two and a half years was truly an amazing experience and i will always look back on our life here with a smile on my face. memories i will treasure forever.

i guess its time to say goodbye to this chapter and move on to the next.... thank you for being here with me along the way.

i will now be posting over on my new blog rockinkez where i hope to rediscover my hometown of brighton and continue taking photographs of my everyday life. i'd love you to join me!

so, auf wiedersehen wien! i'll miss you.

lately

time has been going so super fast lately and my head is still in a spin over our move back to england. as i am typing this five removal guys are packing up our apartment. it feels very weird.

this summer has been so much fun in vienna. there has been so much sunshine, we've enjoyed some amazing times with friends, been to budapest and seen lots of live bands. including patti smith this week who was totally AMAZING (can't stop singing gloria in my head).

talking of music that is stuck in my head i absolutely adore cat power's new song ruin. but be warned, its very catchy! i can't wait for the release of her new album sun on 3rd september.

i'm not really sure what i've been doing with the rest of my time. the great gatsby was the last book i read but that was aaaaages ago. i've started the stranger's child by alan hollinghurst but its sadly been sitting unread. we have become obsessed with watching breaking bad though. its seriously brilliant. so maybe i've just been watching lots of tv!

i had to say goodbye to work colleagues this week which was also very weird. it feels like maybe i'm on holiday and i'll be going back in a couple of weeks. tonight is our final night in vienna and i'm not looking forward to saying our last goodbyes. sad times. but also exciting new times ahead.

some big news

okay, so yep... i have some news. something i've been wanting to post for a few weeks but i think i have been putting it off. so now i'm just gonna come out and say that kev and i will be leaving vienna and moving back to england at the end of august. it has happened a bit out of the blue and it all still feels a little unreal at the moment (even though it is now less than 5 weeks away. YIKES).

i guess if i'm honest i'm feeling quite mixed emotions about everything. i love brighton and i miss family and friends and so its exciting to be moving back, but i'm really going to miss vienna. i feel like i have finally settled into a life here and now we are leaving. there is so much to think about and it feels a little overwhelming to say the least!

so there, i've said it.

sad day in vienna

so, i've been unable to blog because our macbook sort of died. kev took it to the mac doctor today and they confirmed that the hard drive has failed. we had not backed up anything since february which basically means that we've lost all our photographs since then (including australia) *extreme sad face
it also means that i can't blog properly until we get the hard drive replaced and spend a small fortune!

but on a positive note it is a public holiday here tomorrow and we are going to graz on friday for a long weekend! we thought it was about time we started exploring more of austria and i can't wait!

i hope to be back soon......

glimpses of the wedding

we had the most wonderful weekend in england. the wedding was amazing. despite the rain, a power cut and the brides sister going into labour, the day was still so perfect. i'm still smiling! just so happy for the married couple.

they had a cake made of cheese!

my new favourite thing to eat

so, a bad picture... but i am totally addicted to eating jamie oliver's 'killer jerk chicken' from his 30 minute meals book. it is SO good. served with rice and beans, a refreshing chopped salad and yogurt. (okay, i've realised i might be a little bit obsessed with jamie oliver! ha).

i'm on a bit of a health kick at the moment (isn't everyone?). trying to lose a few pounds in desperation before our trip to australia in mid february (think i may have left it a bit late but i have to try!). the thought of wearing a bikini at the moment sends me into a complete panic.

i've also signed up to take part in the vienna marathon this year. don't worry, i haven't completely lost my mind. i'm in a relay team with work colleagues and i'm running the shortest part of 5.7 km (someone else has to run 16.1 km! eek!). however, i'm really not a running person and i'm struggling to run 1 km at the moment without needing to stop. so this is going to be quite a challenge!

hello 2012

i've been ill at home in bed for the past few days. really not the greatest way to start off the new year, but it has given me the opportunity to look back through my blog at what has happened over the past year. it reminded me of what wonderful times we've had in vienna, amazing meals, great times with friends, visiting new places. i hope that we can do lots more of that in 2012. there are so many more restaurants to visit! and cafes, museums, art exhibitions, shops..... i really want to keep exploring this city.

when back in england over the holidays i started to get a little homesick. it surprises me sometimes how much i crave and miss familiarity. but i need to keep focused on the new and what the future holds rather than looking back.

i considered the goals i made last year at the start of 2011 and they haven't really changed. i still want to lose a few pounds, read lots of books, take lots of photographs, cook new recipes and learn german. but i think my main goal for this year is to get into shape! (its going to be tough!) that, and start thinking more about the things i do have here rather than the things i don't. also to stop giving myself such a hard time that my level of german is still completely basic (and really rather rubbish). i need to get over my lack of confidence with it. i'm really not sure how to do that.

new year celebrations

we spent new years eve with our friends at their place drinking red wine and lots of champagne, eating raclette (which was super fun!) and watching fireworks down by the canal with sparklers. it was a wonderful evening.

before midnight we saw a little of dinner for one. i was amazed that i had never heard of the short comedy sketch before yet it appears to have obtained cult status in some countries, including austria, and is shown on tv every new years eve!

we also discovered another new years eve tradition of melting lead shapes over a flame. once the lead has melted you pour it into a bowl of water and the new shape predicts the coming year. mine made a very odd shape which we couldn't seem to decipher!

new year came with a bang!

there are so many fireworks in vienna at new year! i love the abstract shapes they make.

a little late, but happy new year!

christmas is over for another year

well, since my last post i've been to england and back for christmas. its been a whirlwind of last minute shopping, catching up with friends, hanging out with family, and eating and drinking far too much!

the first two photos are at home in vienna. we didn't have a tree this year which made me very sad.... but the tree would have been home all alone over christmas so it seemed a bit silly to buy one (i refuse to have a fake tree).

the rest of the photos were taken at my grandparents house on christmas day. we had a lovely day together with glasses of sherry, a HUGE christmas roast (there was so much on my plate i kept discovering new things underneath!), lots of red wine, trifle, party poppers (we have a long running tradition in our family of aiming them at the chandelier to see who can hit it the most!), christmas crackers, music, a board game and snooker in the evening.

there is such a build up to christmas in december and then it always seems over in a flash. but i'm really happy i got to go home and spend it with family and friends. even if i am now completely exhausted and dreading work tomorrow!

happy (late) halloween

so the plan was for me to share lots of pictures from our amazing trip to berlin.... but kev has flown to new york for a conference with the memory card uploader thingy (what is that thing called?) and so that scuppered all the plans.

instead you have this rather random picture of me and my awesome friend taken many many halloweens ago (i made the dress from a pair of net curtains i bought in a charity shop. and during the evening i nearly set myself alight on candles!). in case you are wondering who sharron is... she was papa lazarou from the black comedy a league of gentlemen. HILARIOUS. it really made me laugh finding this photo again. we are both holding a glass of rather potent punch (that particular year i think we set a record for the amount of party guests to puke from our punch concoction!).

this year i spent halloween at home alone. i miss dressing up!

polaroid [im]possible

one thing i got to do this past weekend was visit the polaroid exhibition at the westlicht museum of photography. i really loved the exhibition and i was mega excited to find the impossible project had a pop up shop a few doors down!
i always wanted a polaroid camera and my wish finally came true last year when i bought one on ebay (for only £10 i think). i bought it more as an object and didn't really think that it would work (the seller didn't know).
but now i have film (that i purchased in the pop up shop in the hope it might work) and it appeared to load correctly. eek! now i'm scared to take a picture. only 8 shots. my. the pressure!

for all you people out there that would like to see the exhibition you have, er, 4 days!

a lesson in photography

on tuesday late afternoon/evening kev and i attended a photography course run by a colleague of kev's. we did a bit of theory first (and i got totally confused!) and then we went over to stadtpark to take some photographs and try out a few new things.

now i openly admit i have no idea how to use my camera properly and i am ashamed to say i still use the auto settings.... so this was a good opportunity to learn! (this was actually one of my new years resolutions. not sure where the past 5 months have gone?!). anyway... i was pretty terrible! we tried taking photos in different light, action photos and some portraits using different manual settings, changing the shutter speed, etc. we learnt a few new techniques and tips. all my photos were a disaster but here are a few to show that i did actually take some.

this last one of kev makes me laugh!

i thoroughly enjoyed the course and it has certainly motivated me to read the camera manual for a start!