Running around town...

Life size cleats outside the MuseumQuartier - they move the two team's cleats who are facing off next to the center with a life size soccer ball

Elizabeth and I had a lot of fun trying on all the hats while shopping...

No playing soccer in the streets!

None of the windows the same size? what a weird apartment complex!

Grusse aus Wien!
(Greetings from Vienna!)

Today's weather has been all over the place. This morning it was nice and cool and breezy, then while my class was waiting for our prof outside the Leopold museum (she's normally 10-15 late everyday... I know, what fun!) it started to rain. When she finally came we spent our morning looking at various painting from Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt, and when we walked out of the museum it was already starting to heat up. Sarah Fetter and I picked up Billa then headed over to the University bookstore to get some sweatshirts (as gifts, not to wear right now!) By the time we left the university, it was really humid and hot! We headed back to the institute where I met up with Elizabeth, and, after deciding she wasn't going to get to use any of the three working computers anytime soon, headed off with me to Stephansplatz to do some shopping. The first store we went into had a basement FILLED with all sorts of hats - various sizes, shapes, fabrics, colors - we were having a lot of fun playing with those. After a while it was just getting too warm so we grabbed some gelato, talked with a woman from California while in line, and went our separate ways. I was then able to take a nice nap, then once the weather was more bearable, Rachel and I went to see the Hundertwasserhaus this evening. Hundertwasser is an artist who likes to play with color, and his apartment complex has several different shapes and strange columns, no two windows are the same size or in the same place, the floors are purposely uneven, the roof has a forest of trees growing on it and there are trees growing out of the apartment windows - you get the idea, it's crazy! He said he wouldn't take any money for designing it because it was worth it just so something ugly didn't go up in its place - what a guy. Now I'm slowly starting to organize my stuff and figure out how I'm going to pack it all up in just a few days!

Random things I've experienced:

• Large purple boxes can be used either for piling up and building a wall, or for sitting on.
• Not having your house frau around means running out of clean clothes and having to do your own dishes.
• It takes a very special face to pull of a patent red hat, and I don't have that face.
• Grandmas who don't like embroidered dishcloths, cuckoo clocks, or journaling are really hard to shop for in Vienna.
• Just because something says it tastes like an apple/cranberry sparkling water, doesn't mean it will, and you get stuck drinking a large bottle of grossness.
• On the other hand, Rauch ice tea is some of the best bottled tea I've ever had.
• More men wearing too short cut-off shorts... must mean it's summertime in Europe!
• The door in St. Stephans once used as the entrance for the royals is now used as the entrance to the gift shop...

I'm nearly falling asleep at the computer right now - I'm not looking forward to having jet lag again in a few days... oh well, better have fun in Vienna while it lasts!

Until next time,
Andi