The tale of when my parents came to visit

My parents have left the building and only missed one flight to get back!! Hurray!!
I don't have too many photos from their first few days here or from when we went to Budapest. The lack of Budapest photos result from the fact that is was raining and windy pretty much alllllllllllllllllllllllll the time which wasn't the best motivation for me to want to look up at buildings or take any sort of photos. Also, my dad may or may not have documented every single place we went or every single thing we did with taking a picture (hint, he totally did) so if need be I'll just snag those from my parents.
After our return from soggy, chilly Budapest we arrived to a slightly less chilly and almost not at all rainy Vienna. So yay for that!! The first day back (Monday 17th) I couldn't really take them to see things since I had an exam so I just took them to my uni so they could see the campus. However, my prof didn't show up so me and my classmates just sat in the room for an hour before leaving a note on the board. Later we all got an e-mail from him saying that he was there, but we weren't, so the common theory is he just forgot or fell asleep or something (as he is oldish). For the rest of the week activities included showing them around the city to marvel at all the buildings with statues (there are quite a bunch), see Bepa's house, wandering through the two main markets, going to Mariahilferstrasse, Museums Quartier, a comic book store (of course, a requirement for my padre), and eating a tasty Austrian meal courtasy of Rebecca.
Oh yeah, we also went to the Museum of Natural History which turns out to be AMAZING!!! It's increadibly big and I'm definitaly going to return to view all the exhibits, maybe even this week (since my friends want to come along). An amusing anecdote, was that my mom was more impressed by how old the display cases looked than by all the lovely shiny things within (we were in the mineral display). I chuckled greatly at this.

Most importantly, there were...

Dinosaurs!!!

How some dinosaurs may have actually looked. Feathered fury

On Thursday we departed for a 5 hour train ride to Prague, but we didn't get in till like 10.00 so we just went straight to the hotel. The next day we met up with some friends of my parents (odd I know) who happened to be in Prague the same time as we were. First thing first, we journied to the castle district which has, (brace yourself this may come as a shock) a castle!! Though the thing which makes the whole area so photogenic is the church.

The drop-off led to Deer Moat, because a ruler was too lazy to leave the castle to go hunting.

After the castle we strolled over the Charles Bridge which is constantly under construction but also is where several (see many) artists sit to hawk their wares (which are all pretty awesome looking). Most of it was jewerly, but there was also things like magnets or photographs or painted pictures or just random metalwork. Oddly, the people selling the items weren't necessarily the people who made them. I could tell because each stand had a permit with a photo, and said photo did not always match up with the seller. But I guess if the stand owner is good enough, why not hire extra help?

Mom rubbing a plaque on the bridge that is supposed to bring luck. There's another plaque that's also all shiny but only because some locals buffed it up to make a joke.

After the castle area we went to this big square in the center to grab a drink and get some sitting down time (for the oldies :-P). At the square there was this fancy astronomical clock and since it was near the hour we paused to admire its intricate movements. These consisted of statues appearing in the window and then turning away. Also, a trumpeter (a real person) trumpeted at the top of the tower. Then we chilled at the Hilton (where my parent's friends were staying) before it was off to dinner. This restauraunt was ULTRA fancy. I could tell because the food was presented all pretty-like. Also, it was super tasty.

This just seems totally awesome to me

The next day we took part in a free walking tour, at which point we were supposed to meet up with my parent's friends, but we weren't able to locate them.

Our lovely guide James

The tour was actually really really good and we got to learn a lot of history about the area. Which led to my decision that my most favorite thing about Prague is, the word "defenstrate" is in great usage throughout their history. We went all throughout the main part of the city, including the Jewish Quarter which was pretty neat to see, considering there was an ultra old synogague.

Powder tower

Oldest functional synogogue in Europe.
Also, the Golem of Prague is located in the ceiling.

After the free walking tour my parents and I decided to go on the castle tour, also led by James, so we could learn a bit more about the district. We didn't actually go inside any of the buildings (but we had done that yesterday) but we got to learn more about the actual history and just how bad-ass the Czech people are (apparently it is very).

Famous pissing statue

A guard, keeping it real

Overlooking the city

The next day we were walking back along the Charle's Bridge so we could actually get something from one of the artists when we stumbled upon an extremely odd looking individual.

Aaron clone!!

On the Charle's Bridge. I totally got seperated from my folks and had a brief moment of "uh-oh"

Apparently marrionets are pretty common around here. I dub this one very pretty.

Concert in the Spanish Synagogue

View of the church and castle district

Back in Vienna we only had a day so I just took them to Naschmarkt again (they loved that place) and then to the Manner store so mom could get her pink umbrella. After going to a restaurant that is named after some kind of big black bird (but I don't think it's a crow or raven so I have no clue) I left their hotel since they were leaving at 6 in the morning and didn't want to take the last tram at 12.00 to the airport (since the trams stop running from 12.00 till 5.00) so they ordered a kind of cab. I however, am planning on kicking it student style and will probably be spending the night at the airport (since my plane leaves at 8). So, whoever wants to keep me company that night is welcome. :-D

Visiting Times: Various People in Vienna (a.k.a Aaron, Kristen, and Elise)

So on Wednesday while I while I was sitting in class Aaron managed to navigate successfully to a nearby cafe and get a strudel (a necessary thing to do in Vienna) and we even met up after class without any uh-ohs. From there, we went back to my place so I could drop off my bag and got lunch at a nearby Asian restaurant. Then it was into the Inner City and pretty much just wandered around, seeing the two Jewish museums (which were kinda disappointing, not much there) and attempting to go into the synagogue (turns out you can only enter with a tour and they're only available on Mon-Thurs which I didn't know so in the end we weren't able to go). I also showed him this big nifty clock and the Bermuda Triangle (an area with a plethora of bars that sadly, is not actually triangle shaped). Then we went to Stephanskirche which is one of the big main churchs in Vienna. And it was getting all snazzed up for Easter or some such holidy. This meant they were installing video screens so people waaaay in the back could see. VIDEO SCREENS!!! What madness.
We also went up in one of the bell towers (not the highest one, but the one with a still functioning bell).

Us at the top of the tower

After the church was more general wandering and I took him to the Manner store so he could buy many tasty wafer cookies and walked him past the Lipizzaner stables to marvel at the ultra classy horses (I don't know if the horses themselves are classy, but their genes must be). Of course, this led to much amusement of Aaron when he saw a store that stated Lipizzaner: the Better Taste. We also saw Hero's Square and Michael's Gate before I had us hop on a tram to go out to a Soho. Here there were cocktails and kareoke (not by any of us) and Aaron got to meet some of my buds, which was nice.
However, time was cut short as we then had to go pick up Kristen and Elise and take them to Dominik's. Dominik would be one of my totally awesome friends who didn't even hesitate when I asked if the girls could sleep at his place and just answered "yes," which I greatly appreciated. This was also despite the fact that he was doing field work. Anyways, he was too sleepy to go out with us that night so we just all went to Tunnel for the weekly BOKU international meeting.
This....was not a good plan. Being in that I got us horribly horribly lost and it took twice as long to get there as it should have, oops. On the bright side, we were all prety hungry so I'm sure all our pizzas were extra tasty. Although, our waiter was a little strange in that once she heard us speaking English she kinda refused to speak German, even though her German was better than her English. But oh well. We didn't stay out too late, and the return home was uneventful with the only significant thing being Aaron vowing to get a kebab from the (supposidly) best kebab stand in town.
The next day I have many more classes (yucky) so during my break I met up with Aaron to show him where our grandpa had lived. Then we swung by a cafe for a quick coffee and another apple strudel before I stuck Aaron on a tram and sent him to find Kristen and Elise (which he did with no problem). Apparently they went to Museum's Quarter where there were some....interesting statues of various parts of anatomy.
After my classes I met up with them to go to a tasty Pakastani place and then we dashed over to the State's Opera to get some standing tickets for The Flying Dutchman. Our places were not ideal as we got there a bit late and poor Aaron had to stand in the aisle where he couldn't read on the translation of the singing on the screen. But we filled him in later. As two hours of standing (with no break) left our feet a bit sore we left to find a place to sit for a bit and ended up going to Loos. This is a bar that is supposidly the birthplace of the cocktail. However, I was just amazed at how freakin' tiny the place was!! I'm guessing 20 people could fit in there, and that's pushing it. The drinks themselves were ok, but nothing spectacular so we left after our first drink.
And then I got us lost again.
But hey, in the process we got to see the Sacher Hotel (where the Sacher Torte comes from) and a lovely student protest/drum dancing party that was protesting tuition. I have trouble feeling sympathetic for these students though, as their tuition is still not 1/4th of what ours is.
On the way back Aaron did manage to get his kebab of legend, which I believe he said was ok.

Friday was the day of markets, since I took them to both Brunnenmarkt and Naschmarkt. First was breakfast at Tunnel and then we quickly wandered through Brunnenmarkt so they could see all the yummy foodstuff and complete randomness of the vendors who were selling clothes. Sadly, the market itself was a little sparse in the number of vendors. I guess they won't really return in full strength till the warm weather is here to stay.
After Brunnenmarkt we went off to Prater, which is Vienna's amusement park. Since the park was pretty much closed we just wandered around a not at all creepy deserted amusement park. There were some of these nifty, victorian-ish games to play though, all games of strength.

One involved punching things

The other involved getting this little rocket around the wheel as many times as possible

After Prater I took them to Naschmarkt to wander around a bit but the weather outside was getting frightful so we ducked into a cafe for some food and coffee before returning to my place. Here we simply chilled for a bit and watched some ski jumping on tv (not suprising, they're playing it like ALL THE TIME). After that was another cafe where not only did we get apple strudel, but also sacher torte (I have a hard time disliking a city where it's part of the cultural experience to eat lots of pastries :-D).
Then, we went to Dominik's and we all decided to make dinner. It got down pretty close to the wire, since the grocery stores close at seven and it was already five to seven, but we managed to get all the food we wanted and Aaron even broke out some fancy cheese he had bought earlier.

This is the fanciest (and only) appetizers I've had all year

Elise and Aaron did all the cooking. Look at them go!

Aaron explains what exactally we're eating (Nunu is the girl on the far left)

See what practial knowledge we learn

This face.....I have no words

On Saturday Aaron had to depart to return to his stupid life in Boston :-P, so we grabbed dinner at a cafe near Brunnenmarkt. It was pretty tasty but I think we scared the waiter because after he took our original order (and heard us speaking English) a different waiter came to take our food order. Also it was super crowded so service was kinda slow and I was getting worried about catching Aaron's flight, but it all worked out.
Also, Aaron got to see Brunnenmarkt on Saturday, when a lot more people are there and there's much more hand-made things. I got some lovely pussy willow branches (they sell them everywhere here around Easter) and walking back we ducked down a street that turned out to be an Easter market. It was rather small compared to the others here, but Aaron got to get a schaumroll (like a pastry dough hollow log filled with marshmallow cream) and I'm wondering if he's actually eaten that yet.
The transportation to and from the airport was very smooth, though I did get a little saddened when I had to hug him goodbye, but I'm ultra glad he visited as it was super fun.
In the evening I met up with Kristen and Elise again at a Turkish restaurant where I ate way too much delicious food. Which was a tasty mistake. Then we went back to Dominik's to chill for a bit before going out again.

He had glogi (Mulled wine)!! I was so happy!!

The brief chilling kinda led to some people falling asleep and others deciding to dogpile upon sleeping person.

I'm not nameing names here

Eventually, we went for a walk around the neighborhood to scavenge some food, and we did eventually find a kebab stand though the quality was less than good. At this point the wind had really picked up and I had definitaly missed my last tram so I just crashed on the floor, choosing a slightly uncomfortable floor to freezing, strong winds.

Gooooooooood morning ladies!!

Sunday was Sigmund day!! Sigmund Freud that is, as we went to the Freud museum.

Guess where it is!

It was actually pretty cool and had several rooms full of Freud's stuff and writings. One of the rooms was even re-created to look like it had originally with Freud, furniture and all.

Elise looking at Freud stuff

Kristen also looking at Freud stuff

After that I decided they should try some of the lovely gelato we have here so it was off to a place near Stephansplatz. However, what I didn't remember was how many flavors there are and since we were getting a style that is 3 different flavors, it took us a while to choose. I think the ice cream guys were getting a little impatient, but I feel like all Viennese vendors are. The minute you enter a store it's "Wie bitte? Wie bitte?" Which is kind of like "how can I help you?" This is kind of annoying because even if you tell them you're just looking they give you the most confused face.

Mmmmmm Gelato

As it turns out we kinda all forgot about Elise's lactose intolerance (it's not super bad) so I ended up finishing off her ice cream, which turned out to be a mistake. I was STUFFED!!!
We ducked back to Dominik's so they could pick up their stuff and he was nice enough to make lunch for everyone, proving he is still awesome even when even more tired from doing field work all week.
Getting to the train was kind of interesting as we got there essentialy JUST in time, but they boarded and I returned back to my room to recover from a week of pretty much walking all day long.
All in all, fantastically wonderful visits from both parties and hopefully despite all my mistakes they had an ok time.
Anyone else want to visit? Eh?? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehh??