the next week

week 2
Vienna

after my week-long experience and some sad goodbyes to the friends i made there, Katharina (the mom of the family i was staying with), myself and the youngest kid, Daniel returned to Vienna where i was to spend the week there; exploring many different areas of the city. Katharina left for work in the morning, so i was left to fend for myself (which was quite fun) and Daniel was off to his daycare..so i was also alone. :D so the first day i decided to go scan the shopping scene and went down to the nearby underground station and took it to a station that was in the central part of vienna. walking around a bit, i tried looking for an H&M (cause there freakin everywhere) as a sign for the beginings of a shopping street or mall..finally of about 10minutes of failed searching i broke down and asked a [very nice and well-dressed] woman in my horrible german accent "wo ist das H&M?" and not understanding, she replied "was?"..then i repeated the question with my british accent and she replied (in perfect english) "oh, its just down the street" as she pointed to the street that seemed to extend forever (I later learned that it actually did..with many amazing shops)..thanking her, i continued on my way, finally reaching H&M and finding MANY other "zupa-cool" stores..like Esprit, United Colors of Benetton, Gil, Puma, Zara..i could go on. i shoped a while, getting many gifts for my friends back home, deciding to get that over and done with so i could figure out what money i could spend for myself and food. i met up with Katharina later that day at the Stephansdom (which was literally breathtaking when i first saw it) and we had lunch and took a tourn on a hoarse-drawn carrage around the oldest part of vienna..she pointed out many interestig sights that i later went and saw. that night we went to this Music Film Festival held at the gorgeous city hall, and saw a concert of some concerto (i forget which one) and i walked around afterwards by myself to see what vienna was like at night..didnt see anything that i didnt expect, so that was pretty fun. my week contineued to be simliar, the next day i went with some famliy friends of theirs to a public "bath" which, no is not what americans call a "bath", but just a public swiming pool. i got a little sunburned (i put on sunscreen!), but none the less, it was fun. on wednesday, Katharinas mom took me sightseeing and showed me the parts of vienna that tourists wouldnt see unless they where kidnapped and where taken there (im not saying these places where sketchy, but they where clearly out-of-the-way). On thursday i went to the palace of Shönbrun and walked around a bit and admired the pretty gardens..then i went and saw many other buildings that i didnt get to see the previous day..it was pretty intence; the number of things that i saw that day..i even amazed Katharina when i told her about all the places i went. i left on saturday morning by train with her nice who was going (like me) up to the lake district on Atersee. all i can say is that Vienna is amazing. I ♥WIEN