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.

arena

just some photos i took a few weeks ago when we went to see the war on drugs at the arena in vienna (a strange name for a band i know). they were really amazing. even better than i expected. i always love going to the arena.

my weekend

we spent a lovely afternoon at naschmarkt where we bought flowers and yummy cherries. we sat drinking a beer and watching the very cute dog lounging in the sunshine. he was really adorable!
on saturday we also visited vintagerie where we purchased our little drinks trolley. i've wanted one for ages and i love it! vintagerie is a great little vintage showroom where they specialise in viennese design (as well as other pieces). they even serve you with a glass of pink fizz to enjoy whilst you browse around.
on sunday we relaxed again in the local park with a small picnic. i'm now reading the tortoise and the hare by elizabeth jenkins and really loving it.

play loud

i love the sticker on the new album by the black keys. it is good advice. you really should take a listen.

national day

yesterday was a public holiday here in austria for 'national day'. it was a gloomy, wet and grey day and so we chose to spend it cosy at home. it was so lovely to relax, take a long bath, read and catch up on some tv watching.

it was also the start of our holiday as we are off to berlin today! YAY! i am so excited and cannot wait to explore a new city.

the photos are of flowers that our lovely friends jenny and thomas bought for us and some books that i bought way back with some birthday vouchers. they are from the virago modern classics series. i love the design of the covers (i already own excellent women by barbara pym which i LOVED). i need a new book to take to berlin with me (as i finished on the road by jack kerouac yesterday). i think i'll start with my cousin rachel! (rebecca by daphne du maurier is one of my favourite ever books).

interpol at the gasometer

kev and i finally went to our first gig in vienna last night. interpol played at the gasometer and they were AWESOME. we've seen interpol a couple of times before (both times in london) so it was great to see them in a different country and venue. their sound is always amazing and i could just listen to the lead singers voice for hours.

hot dog anyone?!

i tried to take some pictures of them onstage but we have a new camera which i don't know how to work (i need to read the instruction manual and find out what all the settings are!) and i couldn't actually see the stage (i'm too short) so i just had to wave the camera above my head and hope for the best.

i was happy looking at the pretty lights and listening to the music until about 50 minutes into the set when some huge tall guy decides to come and barge into my personal space. so then my only view was this....

errr?!! rather annoying.... but great night! (poor kev had to get up at 4.30am this morning to fly back to zagreb for a meeting. he's gonna be dead!).

happy box

a happy box arrived from amazon this week containing four new books for me and the new albums from interpol and arcade fire! i've been listening to them ever since. its a shame because lots of people don't buy cd's anymore but then you miss out on the (often) amazing artwork that accompanies the cd (and therefore the music). i also like it when they include the lyrics.

(check out this cool website)

when i was back in england i was a member of a book group. i really miss meeting up with the group and having great discussions whilst munching on yummy food prepared by the monthly host. i'm trying to remain a long distance member but i'm a few books behind (don't know how that happened considering i've got more time now than ever?!). the four books that arrived have all been picked by members of the group. i can't wait to get reading!

although i need to finish the book i'm currently reading first (its one hundred years of solitude by gabriel garcia marquez - i've never read anything quite like it. its so bizarre and surreal... but there is something about it that really draws you in. i love it).

pizza pizza!

we made homemade pizza for dinner on saturday (okay, well that is a little lie because we didn't make the pizza bases - that is a little too ambitious for me at the moment i think! i bought organic brown bases).

mmmm....jalapenos! 

anyway, they were delicious and we ate them whilst watching the film rushmore. LOVED IT.

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).

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!).

sunday

what a beautiful day! (photos taken from our lounge window this morning). the sky is so blue today.

i've got a day of cleaning and ironing ahead of me.... but i don't mind. it keeps me busy! and i'm just excited about kev coming home tonight (hopefully in one piece!) and my friends sara and jack arrive from england tomorrow morning. yay! we get to hang out together for a whole week. its gonna be awesome.

i'm planning a whole day of listening to music whilst i 'work'. i'm currently listening to the black keys album brothers. i love it and i just can't stop listening to it (they were definitely the highlight performance at glastonbury for me). i also love the album cover. such a simple but cool idea.

enjoy your sunday everyone!

double vision

on sunday bf and i went to the english cinema here to see 'clash of the titans' (and yes if you are wondering, it was kev's choice!) but it was entertaining (if a little humorous for the wrong reasons!). the film is shown in 3D and it hadn't before crossed my mind how people who wear prescription glasses also wear 3D glasses??!
so here is a really unattractive photo that kev took on his blackberry of me wearing my 3D glasses over the top of my glasses so that the picture wouldn't be a complete 3D-blur!!

i must admit, the whole 3D thing was a bit of a let down... and it made me feel a little giddy! (but that might just be this particular film). kev didn't look too impressed when i said probably the most enjoyable part of the film was watching the actor sam worthington (i didn't really know who he was before... but he looked pretty cute in this film!). ha ha. maybe thats why i look so red?! damn my 'english rose complexion' (as my mum likes to call it).

oh and by the way, i forgot to mention in my last post that kev and i couldn't stop laughing in the cafe at the zoo because they were playing the rod stewart song 'do you think i'm sexy' ('if you want my body and you think i'm sexy, come on sugar let me know...'). seemed so bizarre in the surroundings!!! (and i now can't get the song out of my head).