holiday

just a quick little post to say i'm off on my summer holiday in about erm, 10 minutes! so my posts over the next 2 weeks might be a bit sporadic if at all. firstly i'm flying back to england this morning to see some of my lovely friends that i've known since university (can't wait to see them) and then i'm off to cyprus to see another lovely friend get married! its all very exciting!

i'll be back soon. have a great week everyone :)

a trip down the sewers!

on saturday kev and i went along with the 'meet up' group (that i met on wednesday night at the open air cinema) to the third man sewer tour. for those of you who haven't seen the film... part of it is shot in the sewers of vienna.... and so the tour takes you to the location and also teaches you some information about one of the world's oldest sewer systems. sounds random i know! (and a little stinky). but it was actually a lot less smelly than i thought it would be and the tour was really good.

it was difficult to take pictures down there as it was really dark (we got to wear hard hats with lights on the front! i was excited) but here are a few so you can get an idea of what its like down there...

the last ones are not very clear i know because i couldn't keep the camera still enough.... but i actually really like the slightly spooky abstract quality to them. i've no idea where the red patch came from in the last photo (maybe its a ghostly spirit?!!!).

a day of wandering

after getting pretty much zero sleep last night (i'm surprised i actually have any flesh left on my bones) and having a little weep at 3am (yeah, i know - what an idiot!) i needed to get out of the apartment today. i had no real purpose to my walk. i'd reach the end of a road and just decide left or right and i did this for a few hours... just walking up and down streets in the local districts (3rd, 4th and 5th). i discovered a few really cool looking shops (but didn't venture in - couldn't torture myself to look at things i couldn't buy!) and also some great looking cafés and local little places to eat which i must remember to return to and try out at some point.

its been great to get out and spend a day looking at whats around me. here are a few pictures of things i've seen along the way....

i like the design of this building

a cute funny little mosaic character on a building wall (like a space invader!)

a sign on the pavement

a random ear sculpture

an old street sign

and a statue in the grounds of the belvedere (where i sat and read my book for an hour)

i then had a few 'happy hour' beers at salm bräu before i headed home! i'm now looking forward to the weekend. enjoy everyone :) 

the third man

last night i returned to karlsplatz to see an outside cinema screening of the third man. its a pretty famous post second world war film set in vienna which i'm ashamed to say, i hadn't seen before last night.
i'm so glad i went because the film was brilliant and watching it in such surroundings (actually in vienna with karlskirche looming in the background) made it even more special.

a(nother!) picture of karlskirche from where i was sitting as the daylight was starting to fade

a terrible picture of the screen with the church looking scarily illuminated! (i'm still figuring out how to use my camera properly at night but just took a quick shot on auto setting so you got the idea)

the only downsides to the evening were that it was stupidly busy for the amount of seats provided so i had to sit on a very hard pavement for the duration of the film (serious numb bum!). and i got really bitten by those EVIL mozzies again (despite having repellent on). (i thought i was going to scratch my skin off in the night! arghhhhhh).

i walked home and passed the fountain on the way (see i told you the fountain at night would make a reappearance! its been a while....)

and then i ate a kebab! yum. i know... everyone thinks kebabs are evil... but they taste bloody good in my opinion. i was so hungry (no dinner) i couldn't wait to stuff it all in my mouth (so no pictures i'm afraid).

the outside world

meet my new buddy, mr owl (yeah okay, its a crap name but its the best i could come up with on the spot, okay...?).

i've not seen much of the outside world these past few days (okay, pretty much zero) and so mr owl and i have been hanging out (seeing as i can't seem to drag myself off the sofa?). don't get me wrong, i've been loving not working for these past four months (my last job sucked, big time - old boss please don't be reading this!) but i seem to have a severe lack of motivation at the moment. even to get off the sofa. and get dressed.

luckily, a girl that i met on my german course emailed me and asked if i would like to meet up today. so YAY! i actually got dressed before 2pm and went OUTSIDE.

here are some snaps i took during my day...

i love the way the sun is shining off the roof of stephansdom

an old sign

the beautiful old stadtbahn buildings designed by architect otto wagner (i love these buildings)

and karlskirche (also at karlsplatz) which finally doesn't have any scaffolding! yay!

tonight i'm off to meet a bunch of strangers.... wish me luck.

perfect lazy sunday

this picture i took a week or so ago is totally unrelated to my sunday... but i thought you might wanna see some pretty cupcakes?!

anyway, kev and i had the perfect lazy sunday relaxing at home this weekend. we didn't leave the apartment all day and it was great. we cooked, watched two films, watched numerous episodes of how i met your mother (think i might be slightly addicted to it) and listened to the cure album 'disintegration' (which is seriously one of my favourite all time albums EVER. i would say top 10 albums ever but i don't have a top 10 as its completely impossible for me to choose only 10 albums!). anyway, here is a live version of the title track. i LOVE it.

we also tried out the rosé wine we bought at the market and i have to say for €2 it really wasn't bad at all (we drank the whole bottle anyway!).

stomach

on saturday night kev and i went out to a restaurant called stomach (yep, thats what its called!) after i received a recommendation from dorte (who writes this lovely blog). we called too late to get a reservation in the lovely leafy courtyard but inside the restaurant is really lovely too, like an old farmhouse (and it turned out to be a blessing that we didn't get a table outside as whilst we were still there, a HUGE storm started - but more of that later).

i have to say, the food was amazing. and this is now my favourite restaurant in vienna (but obviously i have a lot more to try out yet!). everything was great.... the food, the (quite eccentric and funny) service from (who i think was) the owner, the atmosphere, the wine....

they also had little tea light candles in paper bags on each table (which cast a really lovely light)

but kev and i couldn't help think that they were a little dangerous?!?!

we couldn't understand most of the menu (because our german is rubbish) but thought, hey... lets just order and see what we get!

for starter kev had the most delicious little kebab type things with a salad (which had an amazing dressing). i was really jealous.

i went for something really traditional and ordered tafelspitz, and it came with a really tasty kidney bean and radish salad.

next kev ordered roast beef (because he was playing it safe!) but it turned out to be an excellent choice. it tasted soooooo good.

and i went for zander (which is a type of fish) with cous cous. it was really tasty.

for dessert kev spotted another table eating a big chocolate cake so there was only one choice! (there was a cheese plate on the menu but unfortunately i was too full from the other two courses. damn it).
i did try the cake though and it was really good cake. the owner (who served us all night) said he has been addicted to the cake for 21 years!

we'd already eaten half of it before i remembered to take a photo.

it was such a lovely meal and a wonderful evening which the owner finished off by saying he would be back with a 'terminator'! (he had quite a sense of humour this guy.. and i'm not sure whether he might have had a few drinks himself by this point, but anyway...) he came back with two really strong shots on the house which of course we couldn't refuse! he then sat down at the table with us whilst he added up the bill.

when we left the restaurant the storm was still in full force, the rain was heavy and the sky was bright with lightening. we ran to the nearest U bahn station (which luckily is really close) but at the other end we have about a 10 minute walk to our apartment. it was raining really heavily at this point and we tried to run between shop covers and doorways but this was quite tricky as i had open sandals on and my feet were sliding all over the place. we laughed our heads off and laughed even more when we got home and realised that i looked like this....

i can't believe i've put this hideous picture on here of me, but hey, its funny. and it demonstrates how wet we were! i then became concerned that my new 100% silk romper (which is dry clean only) may have shrunk. kev said i sounded like i was in the 80's!

it was the best night!

karmelitermarkt

kev and i got the U bahn to the 2nd district yesterday and headed to the market at karmeliterplatz. its a cute little market that i haven't been to before. on saturdays farmers come to sell their produce. we bought a litre bottle of rosé wine from a farmer for only €2! (although we haven't actually tasted it yet).

i think its the sort of place you need to get to early as we arrived at midday and many stalls were already packing up (kev and i are really not morning people. something i need to try and change living in this city i think). but it was nice to have a little wander around. all the produce looked amazing. there was bread, wine, cheese, eggs, flowers, vegetables and loads of lovely looking fruit like cherries, raspberries and blueberries.

there are some lovely buildings overlooking the market too.

we decided to sit at a café called tewa (there is also one at naschmarkt) and have a beer... and lucky we did because about two minutes later it started chucking it down with rain. this called for another beer and lunch whilst we waited for the rain to stop!

the food pictures don't look great because we'd already tucked in before i remembered to take any! but kev had a grilled chicken mixed plate (although it mostly seemed to be a bowl of hummus?) and i had a falafel and hummus sandwich. was yummy!

a little update

hey there folks!
well.... i've been a little quiet for a few days so what can i update you with?

1. its still hot! (although it rained very heavily today whilst we were at the market. i thought it might clear some of the humidity. but nope, i'm still sweating. lots. how nice.

2. on thursday i did something totally out of my comfort zone! we've been here for four months now and i'm still no closer to making any friends in the city. it gets kinda lonely i have to say. so, rather than sitting in the apartment waiting for someone to knock on my door and say 'hey, wanna be my friend'?! (hmmm, i don't think thats gonna happen is it?) i thought it was about time i did something proactive. so thanks to my lovely friend over at because she's perth it (who sent me the link for meetup.com) i joined an 'internationals in wien' meet up group and signed up for my first 'meet' on thursday afternoon at café sacher. however, it didn't exactly go to plan..... because i couldn't find anyone! i wandered around trying to spot the organiser (i had only seen his picture on the website) but i just couldn't see anyone fitting his picture. luckily, a girl who was also there for her first meet saw me wandering around and looking confused so she came up and spoke to me. as we couldn't find anyone else we stayed and had a drink together so it wasn't a total disaster. hopefully the next meet on wednesday night will be more successful!

3. you may have noticed that i haven't mentioned my german course for a while. thats because it ended and i decided to take a bit of a break. in all honesty, i hated the last course i took and i dreaded going every morning. i'm not sure what happened but from the 2nd level to the 3rd level there appeared to be a
huge jump. suddenly everyone was way above my level and i spent most of the class not having a clue what the teacher or anyone was saying! i've now totally lost all confidence with it... and so i've somehow gotta find it within me to pick up my books again and give it another go.

4. we have a nice little local café/restaurant/bar just around the corner from us which has a beer garden. yay! and we've been along twice this week when kev has finished work.

when we first went to dreier i felt a little awkward as you get the impression its very much for 'local' people. but after numerous visits the waiters now recognise us and i feel much more welcome.

4. i made an awesome greek salad the other day for dinner! (from this recipe - although i had to leave out the olives as kev hates them).

5. i know everyone has now forgotten about the world cup (btw, what a terrible final!) but i managed to collect all 32 beer bottle tops (you'll remember i mentioned i was collecting them here).

i got quite a few odd looks from people in the supermarkets as i searched for the missing flags, but i eventually found all 32 to complete the set. now i have no idea what to do with them!

right, i'm off to get ready as kev is taking me out for a meal tonight. yay! (i'm sure there will be pictures to show you tomorrow!).

i'm melting

i'm really struggling with all this heat. i know, i know... i should be happy and thankful that i've got all this sunshine to enjoy. but unfortunately its bringing back childhood memories of when my mum would take me and my younger brother to the beach and we'd sit and complain 'muuum, its toooo hot' with beach towels over our heads!

i've never been a great lover of the heat and i don't enjoy sunbathing... but i'm no where near as bad as i used to be. i mean, i've coped in egypt, morocco, argentina, south africa and many other places (but that was on holiday). this is where i live, and so it somehow seems different. i don't have my air-conditioned hotel room to go back to, or a big pool (or sea) to jump into and cool off! (ah, to jump in a big lovely swimming pool right now would be AMAZING).

i've hardly been sleeping because its just not cooling down in the apartment so i'm feeling pretty sleep deprived at the moment.... and i've also become a bit of a hermit this week (i've realised that i've only stepped out of the apartment to go to the supermarket). i just can't face going out because i'm sweating inside so i don't wanna know how hot it is outside!

any tips on how to cool down?! maybe a nice big glass of ice cold wine white spritzer would help?

or i could go and jump in the fountain by the russian soldier monument at schwarzenbergplatz!

although, i don't really fancy getting arrested. (btw, this isn't me! hee hee).

saturday night, i feel the air is getting hot!

anyone else remember the whigfield song?! (yeah, it was baaaaad, i know. but that didn't stop me and my friends doing the whigfield dance at our local 'disco'). anywayyyyy....


i forgot to mention that on saturday night we went to halle cafe restaurant. we sat outside... and got eaten by mosquitoes... but that didn't ruin what was a lovely evening. i really like it at this cafe restaurant as its relaxing and not too fussy, and after 3 visits, i've really enjoyed every meal. although the menu is not huge i always find it difficult to decide what to eat as everything sounds and looks yummy.

i was having a steak craving on saturday and luckily for me they had steak on the menu! (they change the menu every few weeks).

it was deeeeelicious. (kev chose the same to avoid the food envy he had the night before!).

sara had a really unusual dish of red snapper with warm hummus and i think they were curried vegetables? but whatever it was, it was one of the most yummy dishes i've tried in ages. unusual flavours... i've not had warm hummus before but it really worked.

i think jack was a little less keen on his meal... i think it was a bit too 'healthy' for him! i didn't try it but kev said it was really tasty. it was stir-fried chicken with erm... some kind of fruit? mango maybe? (my memory of saturday night is not too great. if you remember we had been drinking wine at the heuriger all afternoon :)).

but the best part of the meal for me was the cheeeeeeeese plate (i LOVE cheese but sometimes i think cheese plates in restaurants can be quite disappointing. this one certainly wasn't). i want to go back now just for the cheese plate. i can't even tell you what was on it... i do remember dolcelatte (which was so delicious) and the creamiest softest goats cheese i think i've ever eaten. it came with slices of lovely brown bread.

now i've made myself feel VERY hungry so i'm off to make myself a salad for lunch. only 19 days until i'm bridesmaid (EEEK!).

lazy sunday at prater

after a busy and hot week in vienna, we headed to prater on sunday for a little rest and relaxation. we took shelter under the shade of a tree, ate a picnic and read our books. was lovely (apart from the bugs that kept dive-bombing my face! damn bugs and mozzies).

but i couldn't let sara and jack leave vienna without a trip to the amusement park at prater and take a ride on the famous riesenrad.

amongst many other rides there is also this crazily high swing ride that i am dying to go on... but no one will go on with me! (there is no way i'm getting kev on there).

but how cool does that look!

in the evening we sadly waved goodbye to sara and jack at the CAT station after what had been a wonderful week. thanks guys :)