ice cream!

mmmm..... ice cream. kev and i went to our local ice cream parlour today (can't remember its name but its on landstraße hauptstraße) and got yummy ice creams. i must say all the ice cream in vienna seems delicious. probably because we are close to italy?!

i got my usual combo of pistachio and hazelnut (is the best!) and kev had his usual combo of chocolate and chocolate. seriously, its all he ever has!

quesadillas (and a big cool storm!)

last night before the england match kicked off we ate quesadillas with homemade guacamole (a jamie oliver recipe) from his book jamie's dinners. we have eaten them loads of times before and i love them! i would totally recommend them (they are great with a beer). guacamole is also one of my favourite things.

whilst we were tucking into the yummy quesadillas a huge storm came over vienna. the sky suddenly blackened and the wind really picked up and was sweeping through the apartment and bashing the open windows. i LOVE storms! kev and i were both hanging out of the windows taking pictures of the sky (until the heavy rain meant we had to close the windows).

yay for the world cup!

i'm so excited the world cup started yesterday! as you may have worked out from earlier posts, i love football... and you can't beat the world cup. its such a fantastic tournament.

this is a bit of a rubbish picture i took (from our tv at home) of the opening match between the hosts south africa and mexico. i've watched 3 of the 4 matches played so far... and i'm hoping to see as many as possible! (without becoming too much of a hermit). it's a shame that austria didn't make it through as i would have liked to be here to experience the atmosphere (although, i'm not sure that austria are a big footballing nation?).

kev and i went to relax in the park today... and took a mini picnic of bread filled with peppered salami, cream cheese, gherkins and salad (yum)... and then delicious strawberries (with beer!).

talking of beer... stiegl are doing special bottle caps of all the countries flags participating in the world cup. so obviously i have to collect them all (i am such a marketers dream!)

we appear to have 15 caps so far.... but there are plenty more bottles in the fridge to be drunk. with england playing their first match tonight it could be a long (and stressful) night....!

wandering...

so, it was another really hot day in vienna (it clouded over but was still very warm) and after my german course this morning, i just couldn't face doing any more studying so i decided to take a walk in our district in a direction i hadn't really explored before. i ended up on the 'landstrasse gürtel' and found some green space in which to wander around....

the great thing i've noticed about vienna is that all the parks have loads of benches... so i took a seat on one and enjoyed a few hours reading my book. there was even a mini waterfall (not sure what else to call it!). i love the sound of running water.... and all the roses smelt so lovely! it was strange to think i was so close to such a busy main road.

i also discovered a stone elephant! i thought he was cool (but not sure what he was doing there?!)

and some pigeons kept jumping on each other... i don't even want to think about what they may have been up to...!

on the way home i decided to stop at our local cafe/restaurant/bar (think its a bit of everything) and continue reading my book with a nice cold drink.

and yes, that is a beer... and yes, i know i'm weak!! (it tasted damn good though). so, for now from me it's....

!

another afternoon in the park

phewy... its damn HOT in vienna at the moment! days like these call for lovely ice cold bottles of beer (or my preference would be a really cold fizzy pint of strongbow). i've resisted temptation so far (can't ruin the mini challenge after just one day) but there are loads of cold beers in the beer fridge and they're calling my name!!

the weather called for another afternoon studying in the park. i found a nice shady spot under a tree (it was way too hot in the sun) which would have been great except that i kept being attacked by ants (okay, they weren't attacking me as such) but they kept running over my books and my legs and i was worried that one might end up in my pants! (and we all know no one wants ants in their pants).

trying to concentrate on studying was made even harder by the fact that there were a group of people in the park enjoying beers together and listening to music (i was quite impressed when i heard 'black rebel motorcycle club' played). all i could think was 'i wanna be doing thaaaaaat!!!!'.

i've managed to stick to the salads today.... although i think i may have opened the fridge door about a gazillion times to just stare at the contents and hope that something REALLY tasty will appear. you can tell i am REALLY bored today. does anyone else open the fridge door every 10 minutes when they are bored, or is it just me?!

anyway, i went for mozzarella and avocado today... with a few linseeds thrown on top (just because they were in the cupboard!). i then ate the same again for dinner (only bigger) and this time i allowed myself 2 chopped new potatoes. wow, what a treat! can't wait for tomorrow.

the first of many....

.... oh yes, its salads for me EVERY day now! (no more making yummy pies or baking cakes for a while unfortunately). i need to get in shape, and quickly. although i can see me getting bored of salad pretty fast!

this was my tuna salad i ate tonight. it tasted good.... but it would have been even better with a big dollop of mayo on the top and bread on the side. must. not. eat. bread.
i'm finding it really hard to eat healthily here. all the bread is soooo good....the salami, the sausage, the cheese, the pizza, the ice cream and obviously the cakes! (although i'm yet to try many cakes.... i did finally eat my first apple strudel here last week. quite different to the strudel we are used to in england...it was served cold rather than hot).
AND don't even get me started on all the beer and white wine i seem to be consuming!
okay, i've set myself a mini challenge... lets see if i can make it to the weekend eating salad everyday, no bread, and no alcohol. yikes!
(can't believe i'm worried about only 3 days...small steps at a time!).

sunny day in wien!

it has been a gloriously sunny and hot day in wien today (okay, i know its not been that hot but it's hot to me!). i left the apartment this morning to walk to my new deutschkurs and the difference in climate hit me (in comparison to england), it felt and smelt just like i was on holiday! i'm not sure how to describe it... but the air is just different to the uk. it was lovely walking in the sunshine but unfortunately by the time i got to the deutsch akademie (to meet my new course colleagues, as i missed the first class yesterday) i looked like such a sweaty betty! how embarrassing. spot the english girl with the bright red sweaty face eh.

i've been working hard studying this afternoon but with it being such a lovely day outside... i have to admit i was feeling pretty bored and lonely in the apartment by myself. especially after spending the weekend surrounded by friends (and my boyfriend is working away in budapest until friday evening). so i decided to head to the local park and take my books with me... and it made me feel a lot better!

i'm still feeling warm now and it's 7pm! (and the forecast says there is even hotter weather to come. eek).
i definitely need to buy some new cooler clothes!

a little trip back to england!

wow - what a weekend that was!!! but i'm suffering for it now....
i flew back to my hometown in england on thursday night and arrived back in vienna today at lunchtime after getting up at 4.15 am! i am SO tired, i don't quite know what to do with myself!
it's been a fab weekend for my friend's 'hen 'do'... there has been lots of drinking, eating, cocktail making, fancy dress, dancing, sunshine... and catching up with great friends.
now back to reality in vienna. and back to the diet in time for the wedding in 8 weeks time. eeeek!!!!

the big orange sofa

okay, so in a previous post i mentioned our temporary sofa. i just had to show it to you!!
to cut a long story short.... we moved into our apartment 12 weeks ago and ordered a sofa 11 weeks ago (which was due to be ready after 9 weeks)... BUT its been delayed so the company delivered a temporary one on thursday for us to use in the meantime (as we've had nothing to sit on for the past 12 weeks). check it out!!

ha. isn't it a beauty?! (don't worry - the one we've ordered isn't orange leather - well, at least i hope not. the sales assistant spoke very little english??!!).

i'll miss you...

this is in loving memory of my great-grandma, florence, who very sadly passed away last night aged 95. she lived to a very old age and i feel extremely lucky that i was able to know her and spend so many years with her in my life.
i've been thinking about how i remember her.... not the very frail old lady in a wheelchair living in the rest home who no longer knew who i was.... but the funny, sometimes hilarious lady who used to look after me when i was little, who taught me to play card games, who took me to bingo at the local church hall with her friends, cook me fried egg and chips for tea and let me stay with her on a friday night, who let me help her tidy her cupboards and dust the little trinkets on her dressing table. i'll always remember her laughing and saying and doing silly things that always got us laughing with her.

this picture was taken the last time i saw her (in march) before i moved to live in vienna. its strange but as i left i just knew that i would never see her again.
she was a sweet lady. i'll never forget you great-nan flo.

family visit

blimey, where did that week go to?! its been a great week but i am sooooo tired. my mum and brother have been here since monday (they flew home to england last night) so its been very busy, LOTS of sightseeing, walking, eating and drinking beer! (diet not going well).

okay, here is a quick run down of our week....

monday (montag) - we went for a long wander around the ring road seeing the sights as we walked and ate yummy lunch at the museums quartier. there was something going on at the rathaus-platz (i presume for the bank holiday) which we stumbled across. it was a really hot day and i got rather sunburnt!

this last photo was taken in graben. it appears to be pinocchio with a spider hanging off his nose?!

tuesday (dienstag) - after my german course we went to karlsplatz and then naschmarkt and spent a lovely long lunch there eating and drinking beer in the sun. we then wandered around gumpendorfer and mariahilfer strasse before getting caught in a huge downpour of rain!

wednesday (mittwoch) - we spent all afternoon walking around the lovely schlosspark at schönbrunn.

and in the evening we ate a traditional austrian meal at 'salm brau' in rennweg (but i forgot to take any pictures!). they also brew their own great beer.

thursday (donnerstag) - we went to the würstelstand at hoher markt and i introduced my mum and brother to käsekrainers!

(this is me and my bro'!)

we passed a shop selling all kinds of shaped marzipan including hedgehogs and jacket potatoes. how cute!

it then rained heavily pretty much all afternoon and so we took cover in a pub/bar and stayed there drinking beer all afternoon. oohps! 

we later went for dinner at an italian in the innere stadt (pizzeria rossini in schonlaterngasse). ate a great pizza!

(this was mine with an egg baked in the middle. was really yummy!)

friday (freitag) - on their final day here we wandered down alongside the donaukanal with an ice cream (i love the graffiti art down there) over to prater and then walked around the amusement park. was fun watching people on all the rides! (hopefully i will go on a few myself next time but i was too full from the huge lunch i had eaten followed by ice cream and thought it a bit risky that i might see it again!).

and now i'm enjoying a relaxed (and very much needed) saturday in the apartment before our next guests arrive on tuesday!
we finally have a sofa to relax on (if only a temporary one) but more on that to follow later!