!Yo Diggity!

Weinersnitchzel (I can’t spell normal words, let alone that one okay LUKE) originated in Vienna. So I got to try out a tiny sample:

Wow. That is one big piece of pork!!! hahahahaha
I’m not much one for fried food, but this actually was GOOD. No wonder they became famous!

Vienna was SOOOOOO georgeous!! Really a cool city and SO much to see!

We left Friday after work - was a RUSH to get out of here. I tell ya… they will just work us ’til the last second here at XOM! haha So I left work, took 30 minutes to throw some clothes in a bag and was OFF! Simone and I met Rachelle and Kara at the train station (Rachelle and Kara are the two gals from Indiana Weslyn who are here student teaching) after a slight shock - I had Simone and I headed to the wrong train station at first (whoops!). Luckily we found a very nice young man who spoke English AND knew exactly how to get to the right place.

So here we are at the train station (yes, Kara and I could be relatives - heehee):

I got a little help from a German women to figure out how to tell which train to get on. People really are very helpful here! So we got the right train with out a hitch!
It was the red team
vs. the green team
on the train. We actually did not plan that!

We arrived to Vienna late on Friday night… got my first experience in a European hotel. I found that yes, everything here in Europe IS smaller. When I first walked into the room - I about freaked ‘cause I thought we got a room with no beds!! haha - they were hidden around the corner…..

We woke up bright, early, and refreshed the next day! We had a lovely breakfast and headed out about 9a.m. Our first stop was Schonbrunn Palace - the summer home of the Hapsburgs (rulers of the area - or something… there is really so much history over here how do I know?). The grounds of this place were SO COOL. We toured the inside and outside. Was really incredible to imagine the place actually in use. The stories were very interesting too. Here’s some of those pics…. (I have so many to share!)

The palace

Whoops! Kara!! Look out… those horse and buggies also serve to fertilize the grounds!! hahaha

More pretty, pretty pictures….

After the palace we hit the town! Our first stop was…..

Do you see it…. ?

Ta-da!! STARBUCKS!!! Oh man, I never dreamed a caramel macchiato could be SO GOOD! I was in heaven.

Wow - that might be picture overload… more later….

F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “The true test of a first rate mind is the ability to hold two contradictory ideas at the same time.”

One of the biggest lesson’s I’ve learned here is that there are two sides to everything… my way of thinking, though might be good, sound or logical, may not be the best way and certainly not the only way. The best thing that I can do is put myself in the other person shoes… try and think what they may be thinking… then, based on that, come up with the best answer. I also have to realize that not everyone else has realized this concept yet. So on some occasions, the best I can do is swollow my pride and SMILE.

… stay tuned… I’m headed for the weekend in Vienna, Austria!

:)

By train Friday evening I’ll be back Sunday night…

So I don’t really know what the temperature is for certain as they always report in celcius and that means nothing to me. But what I CAN tell you is that it is cold. Probably not freezing yet here in the city BUT I did see my breath in the air this morning as I was coming out of the subway. Yike. It’s going to be a long winter!!