Hullo, Mom and Dad

Once I got home from Rome, I barely had time to get settled and enough work done to cover me for Tuesday and Wednesday, and Mom and Dad were in town. It was really only the week before I left for Rome that their plans were finalized. Needless to say, I was incredibly happy to see them. I think they missed me!

Mom and Dad got in around 7:30 on Tuesday (that's April 10, for those of you worried about dates at home) and I met them at the train station. Mom was so happy to see me that she cried!! She seemed to do an abnormal amount of that during the time she was here. I guess she missed me a lot. Daddy only cries when I leave for college or Austria, not when he gets to see me again. I think he makes a bit more sense.

Anyway, we took their suitcases to their hostel/apartment and then ventured into the first district for dinner. There is a restaurant that isn't too far from IES that I took them too. It's called Studentenbettl or Bettlstudent, I'm not sure which. But that doesn't really matter since I know where it is. I think we all got schnitzel that night. Dad got his with fries and a beer and so did Mom. I got mine with the potatoe salad and a glass of wine. I think I shocked Dad with how much I could eat, especially after I said that I wasn't particularly hungry. I mean, I did clear the entire plate and eat all of my potatoe salad. Then I think we ordered an apple strudel to share, and I ate a large part of that too. Then since it was getting late, as in heading toward midnight, we figured out how to use public transportation to get them home. I'm pretty sure it was well after midnight by the time I got home, but it was so good to see them. A little weird since it was like two worlds colliding, but I was really happy that they came. Over dinner, they caught me up with all the things that had been happening at home, and I heard all sorts of stories about the horses eating baby Matthew's hat and different things that happened to Erika, including her meningitis/tonsilitis thing. Poor Pooks.

I met Mom and Dad again on Wednesday morning at their apartment so we could go to breakfast and to see the Lipizanner stallions doing their morning exercises. Since they were running behind, they didn't get to eat breakfast and we went right to the horses. It was pretty darn cool to see. There weren't many Aires Above Ground, but I had a fun time just watching them practice. I could see how it would get boring if you didn't ride or have a background in horses, but when you can pick out if a rider is struggling or a horse is giving someone a hard time, watching them practice becomes a lot more entertaining. We watched the whole practice, which lasted about two hours, and then I think I took my parents to Wolfganger (?) for lunch. Again, its one of those things where I know where it is, so I don't have to bother with names. Then I had to run to class because my econ class meets only once a week and its my favorite class, so I try to not miss it (aka, I haven't missed that one at all this semester).

After class, Mom and Dad were waiting for me outside of IES. We walked around the first district for a while and window shopped. And actually went in the H&M's because there were some things I had wanted to try on and Mom liked their window displays. After our shopping adventures, we went to Billa to stock them up on the essentials -- beer and cake. Literally. We got them a bunch of different beers to try (I don't touch the stuff) and some cakes for them to eat for breakfast. Then we went to dinner at a Gasthaus that I know of in the first district. Dad liked this one too. I think we had schnitzel again, and Mom got something with a creamier sauce and mushrooms which was very good. For dessert, we walked up to my gelato place near Stephensdom. If you haven't heard already, this place is amazing. I've been cultivating a relationship with one particular gelato man and up until this point he hadn't given me a break on my gelato. However, since I visit him at least once a week, it had to be coming soon. Then we sauntered back down Kärtnerstrasse so we could get Mom and Dad home since it was getting late again. I rode with them on the way home, and then got myself home not too much later. (All of the time Mom and Dad were here, I pretty much only slept at my apartment -- I'm not sure my flatties knew I existed because I'd get in really late and then be out again really early).

On Thursdays, I have class at eight, so I wasn't going to meet Mom and Dad until after German. I can't exactly remember what we did that day for lunch, but I'm sure it was something nice. Then I had to run back to IES for my afternoon classes. I skipped my second class that day and instead we tried to get on line for Stehplatz at the Opera to see Fille de Regiment, which was supposed to be amazing. However, the line was out the door and they didn't expect anyone to turn in their tickets prior to the performance, so we had to scrap that idea and decided to go shopping again. I felt really bad that they didn't get to see an opera while they were here, but I'm definitely going to try to take Paul and Erika to see something when they come. For dinner that night, we had Käsekrainers from the stand on Würstel-street. That's not really the name of the street, but that's where the stand is, so in my mind it works. It's like IES isn't really on Johannesgasse, it's on Mickey D's Street because that's the sign on the corner. I think it makes a lot of sense, even if you don't.

On Friday after my German class, I met up with Mom and Dad at their apartment. They were already checked out, so I helped them take their luggage to my apartment where we would keep it for the weekend since we were going to Salzburg. After we dropped off the luggage and they had met Ellie and Rosa, our cleaning lady that I really don't want to make angry, we went for lunch in the first district and then walked over to the Naschmarkt. On the way, we got some fries from Micky D's and Mom agreed that they tasted different from home. Still good, but different.

Daddy absolutely loved the Naschmarkt, which is like a huge farmer's market. He even bought some clementines, those crazy little oranges. Mom and I made the scarf sellers happy because we cleaned out a lot of their stock. I don't even want to think about how many we bought. But it was a lot. We had to carry them with us to Salzburg because we weren't going back to the apartment before we left, so it's a good thing that they fold up really small and aren't that heavy, even when you buy them in bulk.

On the way to Salzburg, we mostly read on the train. I'm pretty sure I took a nap because by this point in the week, I was really tired. All of this running between classes and entertaining Mom and Dad had really worn me out. Don't get me wrong, I loved that they came, but it was a rough week and a half. We got into Salzburg around six or so, and bought tickets to use the buses for the weekend. Then we walked over to Spaghetti and Co, a nifty little restaurant on the street with the really cool signs. I was impressed because Dad said it was nice to have a bit of a break from schnitzel for a while. I never thought I'd hear him say that, especially since all he'd been talking about before he came was how much schnitzel he wanted to eat.

And then I got to introduce them to the marvel that is Haus Am Moos. I absolutely love this B&B. Andre found it last time we went to Salzburg, and the people remembered me from before, which was pretty darn amazing. That night, we checked in, and went right to bed because it had been a busy day. However, we asked Walter, the owner, where he thought we should go on Saturday because we thought he might have some suggestions. He actually told us to not go to Innsbruck, because he said the only thing that was there was the "goldene Dacherl" which is the golden roof, but in the diminutive form because the Austrians tend to make fun of it. Instead, he told us that we should go to Hallstadt, the most picturesque (in my opinion) part of Austria that I've seen. He said it was an excellent day trip. So that's what we decided to do. And that's what I'll tell you about in the next post!