We got together with Lothar’s sister Helen and her family. Their building has an old-fashioned elevator! On their rooftop, they have a splended view over Vienna!
We mostly hung around their apartment and had some fun with the kids after walking out to pick each one up from their respective schools. For dinner, we ordered vegan and vegetarian Curry and all of it was very delicious.
On one of the days when the weather was not so nice, we went out to the big mall called Shopping City South, which is unsurprisingly South of Vienna.
We took Helen’s Mini! It was interesting getting used to the fact that every time you lift your foot off the gas the car would essentially start breaking. I took pictures of some of the lovely Christmas trees we saw around the mall.
We had lunch at the food court. I had a healthy tuna bowl, while Lothar chose McDonald’s which he loves to do once a trip. We didn’t buy too much and it was mostly about the atmosphere and just looking at everything in the shops.
In the evening we went out with Lothar’s friend Yorgen and his wife Pietra. We had a wonderful steak dinner and my dessert was potato dumplings with poppy seeds. Very interesting to try!
We had a great time with them and we all went home very late period when we walked outside it was pouring rain so Lothar and I ran back to our apartment covering ourselves as best as we could.
We accidentally slept in WAY too late one day. Almost noon! The weather still wasn’t nice, so we headed to the Albertine Art Gallery. It was a really nice mix of modern and classic artists, as well as some Vienna state home décor.
Some more shopping one one of Vienna’s many pedestrian-only shopping streets.
We stopped at a place with Donairs and Kebabs that’s what’s called “Oriental” here. Interesting!
On my long run day, I played Beat Saber for 45 minutes as intensely as I could. LOL It was ok because I was able to close the door and open a window once I got hot. I think it was a workout on par with a long run in the end.
Getting close to Christmas now, we did some last minute shopping. Then we just spent as little time outside as possible because it first snowed, then quickly turned to rain for the rest of the day. Afterward, we wrapped all the Christmas presents!
In the evening we went back to Helen’s and had dessert for dinner – Germknodel (a yummy steamed/baked bun filled with rose hip jam and topped with sugar and poppy seeds).
Clara showed us the book that she wrote. Holy smokes! as an 11-year-old, she has written a multi-chapter book. And it’s no ordinary book, it’s the beginnings of a fantasy epic! She has a fleshed-out main character (Derp the Pineapple Duck), a world, a map, and plans for all kinds of other characters that he will meet in the future and worlds that he will travel to… it’s a complex fantasy universe just like Harry Potter.
She’s also already created merch like a button, a keychain, a puzzle, collectibles, little cushions, and not only for the main character but most of his friends as well. There are illustrations of all the places and characters in the book. This is absolutely brilliant and I am amazed.
We had a nice time with the kids – they played the First Encounters game in VR and we watched a movie later.
