How Old Are We?

Alysa and I had another epic day of sightseeing in Vienna, but this time, with an extra little goofiness and mischief. We started with a trip to a local amusement park, Prater, and enjoyed seeing the German version of a carnival. It was almost like being in the setting of a horror movie though because it was semi-deserted and chilly. A restaurant and a ride had just burned down to the ground too - they were completely flattened and blackened. Kinda spooky. We made light of the situation by finding a playground and pretending like we were four years old again.

Then we walked over to the Hundertwasserhaus and museum, which commemorate a local painter/architect who "didn't believe in straight lines". We tried not to trip on the curvy floors that bulged like a lumpy pillow.

We had an awesome lunch at a local cafe where famous Austrian composers were said to meet up to play chess, called Cafe Central. We tasted the chestnut soup and red cabbage soup, the latter of which was bright purple. With the green onions sprinkled on top of the purple, it could only be described as Barney soup. We also tried two more kinds of dumplings. These were absolutely stuffed with cheese and fried. We don't understand how Austrians can eat this ridiculously caloric food every day, not to mention their midday slice of chocolate cake or apple strudel. I can't say that I've been avoiding either of these cuisine staples while we're here though. Alysa and I have managed to convinced ourselves that we have the metabolism of a child, at least while its convenient during our trip :)

It's almost essential to eat like a chubby kid in this town though, which centers on dessert. I swear that the locals go to a cafe every afternoon for a slice of strudel or cake. We stepped into a Starbucks yesterday to find everyone clutching a coffee cup as well as a slice of cake. We thoroughly enjoyed a slice of Sachertorte today, which is a famous Viennese chocolate cake that has apricot in the frosting. Yummmyy.

Then we got our nerd on and explored the Haus of Musik, a museum on sound and music in Vienna. It was so cool, I highly recommend it for anyone who is under twelve or a geek at heart. We got to conduct the Vienna orchestra with a magic baton, see sound waves play with sand like they would the middle ear, and walk through the lives of famous Austrian composers like Beethoven, Strauss and Mozart. I think it was the first museum where we both walked out saying, "Let's do it again!!"

Then, unlike the classy Viennese folks, we snuck into the opera! We snagged tickets from some nice tourists who left early, maneuvered around guards to find secret stairways, and watched the show from the second floor balcony. The opera was Mozart's Die Zauberflote, which we had just learned about at the music museum. Our opera experience was really fun, even if we enjoyed the chase a bit more than the opera itself. Quite an exploratory day for a couple of kids who happen to be graduates.

Thank you for following us in our adventures.

Love,
Melissa and Alysa