Mom and Dad’s Last Day or So (4/18ish)
So it was Wednesday night and I took Mom and Dad out to the 10er Marie for dinner. It’s the heurigen that I went to with the Schaubs when they took me out to dinner. You order food by weight and everything is absolutely amazing. We got half a liter of Grüner Veltliner and then a bunch of cold salads. I also made sure we got some Liptauer cheese and Daddy got a bunch of meat to try, but he didn’t want to share until he started getting full. Then Mom and I got to try some. For dessert, we got mélanges and some coconut macaroon sort of things. They were rather tasty. After it was all said and done, I was a bit tipsy and the waiter that wanted his picture with me remembered me.
Then we went back to my apartment so that I could pack up my life in Vienna to send home with them. It was a pretty big undertaking since they were repacking themselves at the same time, so we pretty much took over the entire floor of my room. For all the chaos that ensued, we managed to get everything home that needed to go home. And I could send a package at the end of the semester with all the chatzki that I collected in the mean time. Which is what I ended up doing.
The next day, I skipped my drama class so that I could have lunch with Mom and Dad one last time, especially since dinner wasn’t really an option – I had class and they had to get to the train station. We went back to Bettlstudent and I got the schnitzel again. I think that that is one of the only places in Austria that carries Pepsi products. And for what you pay, you get a good amount of soda. I was a happy camper J Then I ran off to IES for my last class of the day and met up with Mom and Dad afterwards. We ran back to the apartment and grabbed the bags, and then it was time to take them to the train station.
We had a bit of time before the train actually came, so we sat and chatted. Once they could get on the train, I visited with them for a bit, but since I didn’t want to go to Frankfurt, I had to make sure I got off in time. Mom was getting teary-eyed again, and I told her that if she didn’t cheer up I wasn’t going to come home. That fixed that problem. I’m starting to think that Mom is either getting more emotional or that she’s starting to like crying. I mean, she cried when she got here and then she cried when left.
Friday, 4/20
After class today, we set up a shopping date. It was bunches of wonderful fun, and I bought a dress to wear home. It’s a green halter sundress from H&M. I think it’s really cute, and pretty much absolutely adorable, and since Anna got the same one, we decided to wear them at the same time later in the week.
There was also a festival in front of the Rathaus. Apparently this goes on every year, and it was kind of like the Bloomsburg Fair, but with men in lederhosen and lots of yodeling and such going on. And of course, the customary wines and beers and pretzels. This was extremely entertaining because there was a live band there and the Austrians were really getting into their music – like clapping and singing and stuff. From a people who are known for lack of expression, this was pretty darn cool. And then Wini got in on the act, so we have video of her being silly.
After things split up for a bit, I ran home to drop off my things and grab my laptop because we were having a movie night at Andre’s before we left for Amsterdam the next day. There were a bunch of girls – maybe seven or so – and Andre and we all watched Euro Trip, which is a pretty nifty movie. It totally fits all the stereotypes of Europe. And so funny!! We laughed and ate cake and cookies and had an awesome time. Mandy and I were the last to leave, and Andre had to run my phone down to the bus stop for us because I had forgotten it in his apartment.
Saturday, 4/21
The girls (Mandy, Barbara, and Anna) and I met at the Westbahnhof at 10:00 so we could grab the bus to the airport. We got there just in time because a bus was leaving within about ten minutes or so. The ride to the airport took about an hour, so we chatted and talked about what we wanted to do in Amsterdam. Once we got to the airport, we checked in and searched for some fodder. I think I should have just gotten a sandwich from Anker before we left Vienna proper because airport food is ridiculously expensive and not so great. But they did have 7Up which was kind of exciting. It reminded me up the commercials back in the day with the red dots. After our snack break, we had about an hour before the flight left, so we chilled. I’m a fan of getting places early so I can relax and take it a bit easy (that, and being in Europe has made me figure in getting lost time whenever I go somewhere, so I usually end up being early – which is a good thing, according to my mom).
Finally it was time to hop on the plane and jet set across Europe to Amsterdam for about two days of fun. On board, I was next to Mandy, so we took pictures and I ended up sleeping for a bit, just to catch up from Mom and Dad’s visit – those parents of mine really ran me ragged!
About an hour or two later, we landed in A-dam and made our way to the hostel, which was situated very closely to the Red Light District. It made for a lot of fun. We were in an eighteen-person room, and it turns out there were a lot of snorers in there (they drove Barbara nuts – they would snore in chorus, so that by the time she coughed enough to wake one up to stop him from snoring, another would begin…lol). And the lockers were absolutely amazing – they were fifty-gallon drums, with a huge padlock that we had to put a deposit on to use. On our last morning, I was a bit worried that we’d have to climb in to get all our things out – those buggers are really deep! But the strange thing is that we didn’t put anybody in the locker to take pictures…opportunity lost. Next time, I suppose.
On our way out for the afternoon, we asked our friendly desk person about the tulip gardens. This really opened the guy up. He had been a bit standoffish before, but after that, he couldn’t do enough for us. It was kind of funny. Smiling really works J.
After we crossed the river on our way to the Sex Museum, we found one of the most amazing things ever – McDonald’s. Now, I know you all are probably really sick of reading about my Mickey D’s experiences, but it’s like a little piece of home everywhere you go. And you know that it’s always going to be the same, no matter what. Very comforting. And the fries were cheaper than they were in Vienna. That’s one thing I’ve noticed. I think I’m coming up with my own McDonald’s Fries Index, comparable to the BigMac Index, and the current trend is that the further south you go in Europe, the more expensive a small fry becomes. In Italy, the small is about 1,65 Euro, and I want to say it was only about 0,95 Euro in A-dam (Vienna, which was my base, ran 1,15 Euro at the Mickey D’s by IES). I’m not sure if the other countries make McDonald’s use potatoes produced in that country, but I know for sure that Austria does – oh, socialism, how I’ve come to appreciate you and your quirks.
Then, wonder of all wonders, fifty feet down the street from Mickey D’s was the Sex Museum. I’ll take my cue from Barbara and neither confirm nor deny whether or not I actually went inside, since some of the pictures that I may or may not have taken seemed to offend some people (I’ll be nice and not mention names). I’ll just say that it was very entertaining and that there was a sleazy guy that may or may not have followed us around as we may or may not have posed with various paraphernalia. Someday I’ll have the pictures from that glorious event, and if you’re nice and not of delicate sensibilities, you can see them.
The next stop on our first tour of A-dam was about another hundred feet down the street, and it was a fries place. In case you haven’t figured this out yet, I travel on my stomach, and places tend to have a food theme – Rome was gelato and now A-dam is French fries. These were particularly good, and decidedly fresh cut. We watched them make them right in front of us. They were kind of like wow. And yum.
At the end of all this, we found a carnival of some sort. I still don’t know what they were celebrating, but it was right in front of the palace, and the Netherlands’ idea of a small cotton candy is pretty darn awesome. Three of us split one, and it was the size of two of my heads – Barbara has pictures of that too, I think. Anna got a waffle that had hard chocolate on it and that was pretty yummy too.
Then we just wandered Amsterdam for a while. Since we were right by the Palace, we had a gaze at that and the New Church, which is right across the street. But both were closed, so we didn’t actually get inside them. Looking back, I think A-dam is one of the only places in Europe where I wasn’t in a church. How weird is that?
I also pretty much decided I loved Amsterdam because all the buildings have such character. They all tilt. And it’s completely hilarious because each house is maybe only twenty feet wide. The houses also all have a pulley system on the top of the house; I think they use them to get things up and down from the upper stories. This brings me to a side note: Stories in Europe are numbered differently than they are in the United States. At home, the bottom floor is the first floor, but here it’s called the ground floor and what would be the second floor at home is called the first floor here. Remember that because it causes some confusion later on, and I finally just started asking people which system they were using – American or European numbering.
Another interesting thing in Amsterdam is that everything is labeled with XXX. Now, I’m not sure if it’s because it’s known for the sex district, or the sex industry adopted the XXX because of Amsterdam, but either way, I found it entertaining. And it made for great discussion and pictures as we walked along the canals. Another side note – Amsterdam has a lot of canals. I think I like it better than Venice because you can also walk in straight lines in Amsterdam, but I’ll get to that later.
Somewhere along our walk, we decided that we should start hunting something up for dinner, and managed to stumble across a place called 1870, which was the year the restaurant was founded. It was a very chill place, and the food was really awesome. They had these big tables that people would share, or the waitresses would kick people out of that table if they wanted to use it for someone else. Initially, our waitress addressed us in Dutch, which sounds a lot like a mix between German and English, and it wasn’t until after she left that we realized none of us understood what she said. I guess it’s sort of a compliment because we must be starting to fit in and maybe even look European. One can always hope. I got the chicken dish of the day, which reminded me of chicken biryani. It came with rice and green beans. When we were almost done eating, a huge group of Americans came in, and this one guy had the most amazing 80’s reject jacket. It was kind of iridescent and yellow and purple all at the same time. I think somebody got a picture of that too.
After dinner, we ran back to the hostel to grab our coats before we hit the Red Light District. Even though it was really warm in Vienna when we left, it was still a bit chilly in A-dam. You’d think that after the Berlin experience where I practically froze my feet off that I would start realizing that the rest of Europe doesn’t have the same kind of weather that Vienna has – especially when you go north.
Anyway, then it was time for the Red Light District. Now, I think those of you not in your twenties should just skip the next couple of paragraphs because even though they won’t be explicit, you might not want to think of me in that area of A-dam. Let me just say that it was an experience. On the way there, some sleazy guy made kissy sounds at me, and I think it was the first time in Europe that I was uncomfortable at all in that way. It made me zip up my jacket to my chin and not want to look at people in the face. And it was so hard to do because I’m so used to looking people in the eye and being like, look at me. The male population in the Red Light District during the nighttime hour is predominantly male – duh. You have hookers in the windows of their businesses and they can beat the crap out of you if you take a picture of them. They stand and pose and make come-hither looks and gestures at the population on the street. I think one of the most disturbing aspects of this whole thing was seeing men actually leave the businesses and imagining what had just happened inside. And by the way, the lights in the Red Light District are actually red, just in case you were wondering.
Since the Erotic Museum is also in the Red Light District, we stopped in there. Now this was just downright funny. They had an animated video of a “dirty” Cinderella and a whole room decorated in a very sexual fashion with fairy tales as a theme. It was great fun watching the men drag their wives and girlfriends through the museum, especially when they saw a group of four young girls there, because the men would look slightly embarrassed and the women would just look exasperated or bored. At one point, I think on the third floor, there was a window where you could pose as a hooker, and yes, we did take advantage of it. Like I said, the whole thing was great fun. They also had fun condoms shaped like zebras or mushrooms, and for some reason, when I put in the money for one, two came out for me, so I gave one to Barbara. The gift shop area was great – we decided that we should throw bachelorette parties and import decorations and such from A-dam.
Since it was getting late, we decided to head back home, which required buttoning up and walking with downcast eyes until we were back on our street. Ice cream was required, and they actually have Ben and Jerry’s in A-dam, so we got a pint of Chocolate Fudge Brownie to split and a couple of waters. We sat in the hallway outside our room and had major bonding conversation, but first we had to walk through the bar that smelled distinctly like pot. It was kind of really gross, and as we walked through, we got The Look, which kind of examines you and wonders what the hell you’re doing there. After we downed the pint and all the water, we grabbed shower and hit the sack with our eighteen other roommates for a fun-filled night of chorus snoring (which I thankfully slept through).
Sunday, 4/22
Sunday we got to sleep in a bit, and were out of the hostel by 9:30. Friendly desk guy was there again this morning and gave us some tips on getting to Kirkengaard (?) which is what I think the name of the tulip garden was. We hopped a bus to the airport where the tour left from, and when we got to the ticket window at the airport and requested tickets for the tulips, the guy made fun of us!! He was actually really personable and teased us all about different things – I love when people are good at their jobs and actually like working.
The tulips were pretty nifty and we ended up spending over three hours in the gardens. In my notes about it, it says I have to research them some more, but since I’m writing this in a hostel in Munich, I don’t have Internet access, so you don’t get a whole lot of information about it. Anyway, our trip started out by fitting three of us in a pair of clogs near the front of the gardens and then wandering through taking pictures of flowers and illegally stepping on the grass. It was a bit nerve-racking trying to keep track of Anna, and we joked with her that she needed a harness like a little kid because she kept getting distracted by pretty things and climbing rocks to take pictures and we kept losing her for long stretches of time. J
We also found a windmill in the gardens. And I literally mean found because we neglected to get a map, so we really just wandered for a few hours. In front of the windmill was an orchestra or a band and I think I remember small children singing too. It all created a very nice atmosphere. I took about a gazillion pictures while we were in the garden, and you’ll get to hear more about that a little later. Finally, it was time to head back to A-dam so we could hit up a museum or so before it got too late.
On the list of things we still wanted to do in A-dam was visiting the Old Church. Now keep in mind that both churches are really old, but I guess it would make sense that the Old Church was older than that New Church. The Old Church is actually really close to the Red Light District, to the point that there are prostitutes in the windows across the street from the church. I guess that makes sense though – commit adultery and then you can stop off on your way to dinner for a confession. Seems like the Catholic way of doing things – very hypocritical.
Then we hit up the festival again for a very nutritious lunch – chocolate covered waffles. Yum. Afterwards, we stopped by some famous cigar shop so I could send home four to the boys for their graduation (the boys, in this case, being Matt and his roommates JJ, Tim, and Mike). They even had Cubans there, but I couldn’t even buy them from the shop because I’m American and because of the whole embargo thing that I’m pretty sure isn’t doing much to hurt the Cuban economy anyway.
Since it was getting late, we had to rush a bit to get to the Van Gogh museum, but on the way I made a detour to get a watercolor. It has all the houses leaning on it and a bridge that we actually passed in our wanderings. The one I wanted had better color than the other that was a similar scene, but because it was slightly bent, I got the guy to give me a break on the price. Yay!
Eventually we managed to find the Van Gogh museum, but it definitely took a couple of tries. We only had about half an hour inside the museum, but it was pretty darn cool. I managed to see everything that I wanted to, but they didn’t have some of the pictures that I know as Van Gogh – like the café scene or Starry Night. But they did have the one of the flowers and his self-portraits. After Mandy and I did a quick run-through of the gift shop to buy postcards of our favorite art, I made a video message that I sent to Mom and Erika. It was kind of nifty.
On our way to the Van Gogh Museum, we passed the IAmsterdam sign, which has letters that are about seven feet tall. We decided to do a group picture with it and then have each person take a letter so that we could put them together to be a banner or something. So we got on and played with the letters, making cute and/or funny poses with each, and I think they came out awesome. Barbara has the pictures, but I plan on stealing them from her facebook once I get home and have my external with me again.
After our playtime with the IAmsterdam sign, we wandered the town for dinner. Since we were in a shop so Barbara could buy batteries for her camera, we asked the very nice and helpful boy behind the desk for recommendations. Apparently there is a place in Amsterdam that serves only one dish, and is a bit expensive, but its amazing. However, since the dish was beef and Barbara doesn’t really eat beef, we ended up going to a really nice Italian place instead. I think we all got pizzas (mine was ham and mushroom and the other one that sticks out in my mind was Anna’s because she got banana).
Once we were back in “our” area of the city, I got more fries and we stopped in Mickey D’s for a soda. I don’t know how long we ended up staying there, but it might have been half an hour or so. Now the only thing that you can eat to top off fries is ice cream, and after our chill break, that’s what we did. It took a while to hunt it down, but we managed to find it after we cut through the Red Light District (which is very slow on Sunday evenings). I got a nice combination of chocolate and lemon.
Then we headed back to the hostel and our last night in the eighteen-person room.
Monday, 4/23
Today was our last day in A-dam. It’s kind of sad because we had such a good time. We had to be out by ten, but since our bags were light, we walked down to the Rembrandt Museum and looked at the art that they had there. It was really interesting because Barbara is an art history major, so between her and the explanations near each painting, we had a pretty good idea of what was going on. And we got to see “The Nightwatch,” which is Rembrandt’s most well-known work (I didn’t know it). But it was nifty all the same.
We also had to squeeze in a canal ride before we left, and there is a free one from the train station to Northern Amsterdam. We hopped on that and rode it back and forth, and I think some of the people watching us thought we were a bit nuts. But it was a good time.
Eventually it was time to start heading home for real, so we grabbed a train to the airport and then hopped a plane and were on our way home. During the flight, I took a bunch of pictures of the clouds and sky, but I think at some point I wanted to delete a picture that didn’t come out too good, and I ended up deleting the whole card without knowing it. When I found my mistake a few days later, I was sick. I had taken so many pictures of tulips and houses and everything else and it was all gone. Luckily for me, I was with three girls who take a bazillion pictures each, so when I get home at the end of the semester, I’ll go through their pictures and borrow them too.
After the flight, Mandy and Anna went one way to get home and Barbara and I went the other. I think we should have just followed Mandy and Anna because we ended up taking the wrong bus and getting off at Schottentor instead of the Westbahnhof. That part wasn’t so fun because I wanted to get home and take care of some things before I had to go to a play for my drama class later on. Either way, it turned out okay because I got home and managed to breathe for a few minutes before I had to leave again.
Höllenangst was a pretty good play. It’s about this guy who thinks he made a deal with the devil and sold his soul. The “devil” is actually another protagonist who gave the somewhat stupid man money for his shirt. The “devil” is actually married to a girl whose uncle is going to send her to a convent because he doesn’t know that she’s married. Pretty much it’s a whole big mess, but it was really entertaining (there was a lot of humor in it) and at times it was kind of trippy because of how the scenes were broken up with musical numbers. They had a guy that looked like he should have worked in Vegas come out in a white suit and sing in English (keep in mind that the entire play was in German). And then, after the play, it was time to go home and do some work.
Friday, 4/27
My time in Vienna is getting short and there is a lot I haven’t really seen. I think it’s because when you live in a place, you don’t really expect to leave it anytime soon and those things will always be there to see. But unfortunately, my time in Vienna wasn’t for forever (yet) so I had to get in as much sightseeing in my last two weeks or so as I could. I started out today with the Naturhistorisches Museum.
After classes, I met up with Anna and Mandy to hit up the museum. For the entire semester, they had been advertising an exhibit of the Bog People. Apparently, some people were buried in a bog or something and they were really well preserved – we’re talking hair and all, people. Well, that’s what I was going to see, but they were moved the week before. How sucky is that? But we got to see lots of preserved animals, most of which had really bad taxidermy jobs. Think crooked eyes and such. There were also a lot of things floating in jars, so I can’t say that this was my favorite museum in all of Vienna.
On the way into the museum, we passed a herd of the Mozart men (you know, the cape guys turned crazy jacket guys that I’ve mentioned before). I had the chutzpah (Matt, you should know that word) to take a picture of one of them and then he started approaching us. He spoke to us in English, and since I really didn’t want to deal with him, I told him that I only spoke Spanish (in Spanish). He kept trying to talk to us, but we just walked away and laughed. He saw us again on the way out and as he started to approach us, he stopped and said, “Oh, I remember you” and walked away. Oops. I guess my Spanish wasn’t as convincing as I thought it was. But I kind of feel bad because the guy was just trying to do his job, even if they are really annoying. You have to know that it’s a high point in my day when they don’t approach me – I take it as I’m starting to look less American and fitting in more.
After the museum, we declared it a frozen pizza night at my apartment, so we split up to do our shopping. I got a margarita pizza because those are the best froze pizza kinds and a watermelon for dessert. I also grabbed an Edelweiß beer since I had had one with Mom the weekend before in Salzburg, but it turns out that they make like three different kinds, and I think I picked the wrong one because it wasn’t as good. I think most of my roommates were home that night, and I felt bad, but I had to kick Alison and Jeremy out of the kitchen so we could use the oven. They were going to make a big meal, but they needed the oven for something ridiculous like two hours, and since the girls and I had plans to go to see “The Third Man,” we needed to use the oven more than they did.
Once pizza night was over, and after a few games of Uno, we (Anna, Mandy, and I) headed out to the Burgkino on the Ring. Barbara went home, I think to work on some homework because her friend was coming the next day and she needed to get ahead. But we made plans to meet and go to Schönbrunn the next day because I hadn’t been there yet. The rest of us met Wini outside the movie theater and bought our tickets. I can honestly say that the movie is pretty disappointing. I even fell asleep. I mean, I can see where it would have been important to Vienna as a city, but the entire storyline and such was corny and stiff. But to each their own, because Wini and Anna liked it.
Since it was after midnight by the time the movie was done, I had to take the night bus home. While I was waiting for it at Dr. Karl-Renner-Ring, a drunk guy came up and started talking politics with me. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t necessarily agree with the war in Iraq and I don’t always like President Bush or his decisions, but he is my President and the United States is my home, and when somebody starts trash-talking them, especially when that somebody hasn’t been there and really doesn’t have a clue, then I’m going to get fired up. And that’s what I did. He started going off and saying that Americans should never get involved in world politics and yadda yadda yadda, which prompted me to tell him that had we not gotten involved in World War Two, then Austria would probably still be under Nazi rule and that he had no right to criticize my country when his was doing nothing against terrorism. Then the guy had the audacity to follow me onto the bus and try to continue the conversation, even though I was pointedly ignoring him since he was being ridiculous. The people around me started rolling their eyes at him and I was just so angry with him.
As much as I say I love Vienna and Austria, having that conversation with him really reminded me that in my heart I am an American and that I am proud of my country and its heritage. It may not be perfect, but when it comes right down to it, the United States is my home and I love it.
Saturday, 4/28
Because Friday was such a late night, we decided to sleep in a bit and I didn’t end up meeting Barbara at the Westbahnhof until noon. This might have been a problem, but her friend hadn’t shown up yet, so she was worried, but I didn’t feel like I was holding them up at all. Chris, her friend from home and her roommate last fall, was supposed to have been in the Westbahnhof by six, but he still hadn’t shown by noon. I don’t think he had her phone number, and she didn’t have his, so there was no real way to contact him. At one point, Barbara emailed him I think and sent him her number so that he could call her when he got to Vienna. Since we had nothing else to do except wait, we went to Schönbrunn.
The palace was pretty nifty. It was still all decorated like it was a hundred years ago, and we got audioguides to listen to as we went through the rooms. I still don’t understand why I’m not allowed to take pictures if I paid to get in the museum, especially when I don’t use flash anyway, but that’s the way of the world. And I’ve just gotten really good at taking covert pictures. About two-thirds of the way through the tour, Barbara got a call from Chris saying that he was at the Westbahnhof. She gave him directions to Schönbrunn and said she’d meet him at the UBahn stop.
I wanted to look around the gift shop for a bit longer, so we split up for a bit and Barbara said she’d call me when they got back to Schönbrunn. Well, I made it through the gift shop and part of the wagon museum, and then we ended up going in opposite directions in the gardens, so it took a while to meet up with Chris and Barbara, but eventually we did by the Gloriette, which is on top of the hill.
Chris is very nice. He’s been taking German, but he doesn’t want to do a major because he just likes the literature part of it and not the other stuff. Personally, I’m more of a fan of the non-literature requirements – they’re a lot more interesting. But it turns out that he was actually in a few classes with Matt. Small world. Anyway, Chris is studying in Berlin this semester and he’ll be there until December because he’s also taking an internship there.
After we had met up and taken some pictures of the views, Chris wanted to see the Belvedere, so we stopped there on the way back to the first district. I got to see the Garden Lust exhibit, which was kind of cool because they had a Monet, but the head exhibit, which is supposed to be really cool, wasn’t up because they were restoring it. That’s kind of disappointing, but I’ll get back to Vienna some day and I’ll get to see it then. I also got a call from Mandy at this point, so we met up with her before we went back to the Westbahnhof to meet Chris’ friend Aaron, who was also visiting for the weekend.
All five of us and Liz went out to dinner at Selbsverständlich for dinner. On Saturday nights, they run a happy hour where all the dinners are half price. It’s pretty much the sweetest deal in town, and I managed to go more than a few times over the course of the semester. Dinner was a lot of fun because both boys are very nice, but as all things are, there were some awkward moments. I’m starting to believe that you don’t grow out of your awkwardness during your teens, and that you really just stay awkward through your twenties. It’s the only explanation that makes sense.
Since the only way to end a meal is with gelato, we got off the UBahn at Barbara’s stop and had gelato at that Zanoni’s. I was also silly and wasn’t prepared for a night out, so we also stopped at Barbara’s apartment so the boys could put their things down and I could borrow a jacket from her. In case you haven’t noticed yet, I tend to be overly optimistic when it comes to temperature and weather, so I’m not generally prepared for when it gets cold or rainy.
Anyway, the boys, Mandy, Barbara, and I ventured into the first district so they could have a tour. We rode the Ring for a while and walked over toward the Secession Building, which I think might be Barbara’s favorite building in Vienna. It was a really good time, and as we were walking up Kärtnerstraße, I decided to branch off from the group and run for another gelato. It was pretty much my lucky night because my gelato guy gave it to me for free – how awesome is that??? Of course, I had been cultivating a relationship with him since January. Once I got outside, I gave Mandy a call and I sensed some serious jealousy on the other end of the phone J. What can I say? He’s my gelato guy and we have a special connection.
