London Bound! Originally we were going to meet Ted & Kim in London, then they were going to come visit us in Vienna. Then coincidentally Eddie & Roheela had similar plans at the same time. How fun, the more, the merrier. Sadly, the Icelandic volcano put a halt on Ted & Kim's flight and they weren't able to fly over (we will have take-2 next spring!). Luckily, Eddie & Roheela's flight the following day was successful and was the 2nd flight to land in Heathrow since the start of all the volcano and traveling madness.
Once in London it felt almost like home. Having studied abroad there in college, Andrew came along with me to some old stomping grounds. I felt like it was so easy- English everywhere to be heard and read, and we had a blast. It was so good to be with E & R and meet their English and Irish friends and paint the town. We spent all day & night making the best of our 3 days there.
Back in Vienna, Eddie & Roh made for some fun roommates. The mornings were spent making breakfast-including Eddie's famous french toast and pancakes and nights of playing intense card games into the wee hours. Being the sleeper-inners they are, it was almost comical to witness the infamous church bells outside our living room (AKA guest bedroom) window piously wake the angels. Eddie learned quickly and started wearing earplugs to bed-but nothing can really escape you from the heavenly sound right outside the window, especially on Sundays and holidays.
Eddie & Roh really explored the city with & without us. When I wasn't at school and when Andrew wasn't working, we loved getting out together. They even joined us in a double-header softball game. Aside from Vienna sightseeing, we rented a car and took a little venture. The first day we drove to Bratislava, Slovakia and then to Sopron, Hungary and back to Vienna. Along the way, we saw such things that looked like a hobbit village (a street lined with short houses with small doors), stumbled upon the European Kiteboarding tournament at Lake Neusiedlersee in Austria, and ended the night with our navigation system taking us down some crazy scary back roads in Hungary where we thought for a moment was "the end."
The next day we went on the most fantastic road trip. Passing through the gorgeous Austrian countryside, we headed northwest to a small town called St. Oswald bei Freistadt. E & R met a co-worker of Eddie's mom who is Austrian. Although he has lived in Seattle for 19 years, he told us that his parents would love to have us visit. Rudolph and Martha were the sweetest couple and most gracious hosts. The little country town they live in is straight from the movies. From the beginning they spoiled us-bought us dinner, cooked us breakfast, and fed us unlimited food, beer, schnapps, and bole (a spiked punch drink). The best part about this place is that we got to stay in their country cabin that was a few kilometers up the mountain from their house. The charming cabin was quaint, had no electricity, was equipped with the nicest outhouse we'd ever seen, and had 2 stocked fishing ponds on the property. We got to take our turns catching our fish. There was minimal screaming done by the girls as we reeled them in and Rudy conked them out. It was hard enough watching him filet the fish in front of us but at least we didn't have to do it ourselves. If catching our fish wasn't fun enough, the adorable couple smoked and prepared our catch of the day and we had ourselves a lovely lunch. The evening was spent sitting by the outdoor fire and gazing at the night sky that was splattered with stars. Sitting by candlelight, we talked and played games until the AM hours. That night, the four of us slept surprising well in the 2 twin-beds in our little cabin.
We spent the weekend walking the small town, drinking and filling up our water bottles with the local healing water, and visiting the brewery. Like everyday, we stopped to get ice cream. Gotta appreciate friends who made it a priority to have at least one stop for ice cream each day.
Having nearly 3 weeks to spend with Eddie & Roheela was incredible. When else do you get to spend day-in and day-out with such fun people? Sunrise, sunset. Although we didn't request anything from home (except pen pal letters from my past classroom that my class in Vienna is writing with), E & R came bearing gifts. They got us new ski goggles (they noticed how I borrowed Andrew's huge ones), Tillamook cheese (cheese is good here, but not the cheddar so much), a big box of chocolate for the prego lady, and some booze for the dad-to-be. Before they departed they got us some new place mats (we had service for 2), a salad bowl (again, ours served 2), an electric tea kettle (our stove kettle can take a little time), and a BBQ! We've got to hand it to them, they are observant to our needs/wants and know how to take care of us.
We are very happy that our world traveling friends put us on their vacationing map. Promise me that we can get back on the daily ice cream diet when we come home this summer!
