Dressing up with Grandma and Poppy

My mother-in-law only dresses like a witch

All told we had three great weeks with Grandma and Poppy. I will really miss Santa Claus chasing the leprechaun around the house in search of wishes and Sir Luchador begging favor from the princess.

I will also miss the nice chats with Grandma and all the help with the baby. Thanks to my inlaws, I got my hair done, my teeth cleaned and learned to waltz. Pretty fancy! We celebrated Halloween early and had lots of fun decorating the house and getting in costume.

We also got to celebrate Poppy’s birthday with a firecracker stuck in a brick of cheese from the alps. That was great. Leo was terrified but then couldn’t tear his eyes away, he’ll be a pyromaniac like his dad and uncles for sure.

Duke left again for another trip Friday evening and I was planning to take it easy. I had a friend over Saturday in the morning and she mentioned that she was going to a pumpkin festival in the afternoon. I told her how much fun we had last year. I had been thinking about going, but had meant to call a friend to go along with, since although I now know the way to Heaven, and could get there with both kids by myself, I couldn’t imagine how I’d have much fun and keep them happy once we got up there. I hadn’t called the friend because she was in Venice. Plus, I was planning to take it easy.

So our guests invited us to come along. At this point it was past noon and Allison was wearing white dress shoes two sizes too big, a pink hooded blanket and nothing else. She was not interested in going at all, until I mentioned we were going in a car. There were just enough seats and after we finished getting all four car seats in, I realized they were going to a different pumpkin fest, one in Zellendorf far outside the city. It was too late to turn back, so we went. The festival was huge, with lots and lots of people and pumpkins everywhere.

 

Pumpkin Festival

Allison couldn’t have been happier, she saw a marching band, rode a pony, got her face painted and rode carnival rides. Leo pooped out his clothes and fussed most of the drive back, but I think he had a good time too. I got to know a new friend and ate a strange but wonderful fried apple-pumpkin thing. Tomorrow we will take it easy.

PS) ‘Tomorrow’ was Sunday and we went to the Safety Festival at the Rathaus (City Hall) for Austrian National Day.  Allison had her face painted, jumped in a bouncy-house helicopter, and we watched a re-enactment of the rescue of a window washer from Austria’s tallest building.  Today, Monday, we managed to have a quiet day.

Livin’ it Up! Why Expat is the new Local

Vienna is the best city in the world, but you’d never know it from the grumpy Viennese. In order to take advantage of the festivals, exhibitions, and simple beauty –you’ve got to:
1) face the possibility of bad weather
2) leave your neighborhood, possibly even having to transfer lines
3) break a routine or two

It’s often the case that people can live in a place for years without visiting the major tourist attractions until a guest arrives, but the Viennese seem especially proud of isolating themselves in a particular district and avoiding changes in the routine. Even the big festivals and cultural events are part of a set routine, changing little from year to year. This explains why the attendance at the new Weiner Wiesn is 20% foreigners. The other 80% are probably from out of town.

The tourists are taking pictures of us!

Sunday we took the train out to the Kamptal region and hiked to the Rosenburg Castle for a knights tournament. We made the mistake of following a young knight and princess who looked like they knew where they were going and ended up on the road instead of the much shorter hiking trail. We arrived during the first tournament and cheered on the knights as they speared wild boat, sliced at cabbage and apples, and jousted.

Boar on Wheels!

We ate traditional medieval food like cheese bread and käsekrainers (cheese filled sausage) and bought a sheepskin. The weather was fantastic and the setting gorgeous. It was a perfect day and we clambered down the right trail back to the station and town exhausted.

Seriously, how can you miss this sign?

Monday morning I set off on the Otto Wagner walking tour with Grandma and crossed town back and forth following Otto Wagner’s architectural impact on the city, particularly on the transportation system. The theme was: Vienna pretends like they always honored Otto Wagner, but the truth is that the city planned to demolish this ( pavilion, station, bridge) and it was barely saved by some technical students in the (50s,70s,90s). I won’t look the same at infrastructure again!

Otto Wagner building adorned with Laurel leaves

On Wednesday we went to the Zoo. Most of the other visitors were speaking in Russian. The weather was pleasant and the penguins were especially delightful.

Elegant Vienna residents going about their daily routines

Even though I’ve been dozens of times I’m still amazed. It was Lee’s first trip and his eyes got huge when he saw the elephants.

On Friday we went to the Circus Roncalli. Acrobats, Clowns and Ponies make for a splendid show. I spent the entire three hour performance pacing the top walkway, where it was only loud and not very loud for the baby. After a terrifying beginning Leo slept through the whole thing. This episode actually reflects that I am crazy for bringing a baby to the circus and not that the Viennese are too busy sipping coffee and buying bread to enjoy the circus, although that is also true. Allison loved it and even though she’s not even 3 I wouldn’t be surprised if the memory stays with her.

The days in between we went to the park, read the newspaper, went shopping, had coffee, did laundry, and even went out for dinner — all the perfectly normal things that are perfectly delightful as part of a normal routine, which I guess would be enough if there wasn’t all the other stuff to do, but there is a lot going on and if the locals aren’t going to participate I guess it’s up to me.

The Time Allison ate More Ribs than Grandma

So while Grandma, Poppy and I were at the Belvedere, Duke was visiting the Pyramids and lying in mummy holes. Pretty awesome.

By Sunday we were all together again and headed to the Weiner Wiesn, aka Vienna’s Oktoberfest. When you go it feels like an old tradition, but really it’s only the fourth year they’ve held it. Like 90% of attendees, we wore our lederhosen and dirndls, and like 20%, we are foreigners. We only went to the free part during the day, because loud and smoky tents aren’t suitable for babies or grandparents. We did collect stamps at various booths and got something at almost every one: lederhosen onesie, pine tree schnapps, grape juice, beer, coconut treat, weisswurst, pretzels and mustard, the only thing we skipped was professional hair braiding. We enjoyed the music and kids area too.

The next day we went to the Haus Des Meeres aquarium and had a great time. Leo really seemed to enjoy it and Allison loved sharing one of her favorite places with Poppy. On the way home I tripped getting off the bus and landed in a big heap with both kids. It was scary and stupid, but it was just around the corner from the pediatrician and she was able to see us right away and rule out anything major. After that the rest of the week was pretty quiet and we were really careful.

Zacherlfabrik

Poppy, Grandma, Leo and I spent one day exploring parks. We started at the Setagaya Japanese garden and stumbled across the zacherlfabrik while taking a quick walk through the 19th before hoping on the bus 10A to Turkenschanz park. We were enchanted by the big, beautiful Turkenschanz park and really enjoyed lunch at Mayerei. It was all new to me and exciting to discover a new part of town.

Spry Grandma climbed up on the horse statue in Turkenschanz Park

We had our friend Misha over for Dinner and Leo had a good check up at the doctor, he’s getting so big, and apparently it’s not just me that thinks so because the doctor weighed him in at 6.11 kilos and in the 90%.

Leo at 3 months

On Saturday we went to AKH and played at the park and got all you can eat ribs and chicken wings at Gangl. They didn’t make Allison pay and that was probably a mistake because she ate more than grandma!

I’ve been having a lot of fun handing the baby over and just playing with Allison. It’s been a year since I could really run, jump, climb and tumble and it feels great to just play. The baby is also having a lot of fun, he smiles all the time. Allison is having the most fun though, she really loves her grandparents so much.

View from the top of the slide tower!

Busy Bees and the Second Business Trip

Last Sunday we went to a kite festival, but despite running around like idiots we only got a kite in the air for about a minute. It wasn’t quite windy enough, although enough people managed to have kites up to make us keep trying. It was a beautiful day with good friends and we were happy to get ice cream and play at a playground. Duke is gone again, this time in Egypt. It’s been easy besides taking care of the kids I got a lot of reading done.

The last three books: Lean In, Sisterland, and Middlemarch have all dealt with women’s character and choices given the opportunities available and the outcome on their lives and ultimately, power. I thought Sheryl Sandberg made some excellent points about why women are missing from the top levels of leadership, although the anecdotes were unbearable. Similarly Curtis Mayfield’s novel about identical twins has an interesting plot, but unlikeable characters and too many details of the endless errands that compose suburban family life. Middlemarch, well I’m only half way through but I like it and despite the circumstances of provincial 19th century England being completely irrelevant, it holds more truths than the other two.

So I did some reading and got the house in order, more or less, for Grandma and Poppy’s arrival Thursday.

Allison is delighted to have them here, we barely got her to kindergarten with the excuse that they were sick with JETLAG, but she got there and then grandma, poppy, Leo and I went to the Belvedere, an art museum and palace in one. It’s awful for toddlers and I got to see so much more than last time. Plus, they have a new garden installation entitled, “the perfect tourist takes the perfect picture.” Voila

We got lunch at nearby Salm Brau, which was on their “to do again” list and it was delicious fried fish and potato salad, which is delightful in Austria because it has a light vinegar dressing and no mayo. I snuck a little beer from my father in the law and that was great too.

On Saturday we went to a bee festival in Heaven. It was chilly and poorly attended, but we dressed the kids up like bees and tasted gobs of honey and got even more to bring home. Our favorite is from linden trees. We ate at the Waldgrill at Cobenzl and I had a delightful duck and plum cake too. We got home tired and just a little while later Duke got home from Egypt.