FRIDAY IN VIENNA

LG and I find our way perfectly from the bus terminal in Bratislava Centrum to Vienna's Sudentirol bus terminal just south (sud)of Stephansplatz in the heart of Old Vienna. The U1 U-Bahn is easy to find and soon we are walking about Stephansplatz admiring the horses and carriages and window shopping. We have breakfast at Cafe Europe--open-faced turkey sandwiches (even though we asked for one egg salad and one ham). LG has a very tall hot chocolate with a tower of whipped cream and I savor my cappuccino (even though the waiter brings me melange, which is similar, but no foam).

LG loves the Swarkowski crystal displays and even gathers some crystal sprinkles in her small hand. She would love to walk out of the store with some, but... We can hardly wait for KF to see all the bling. KF discovered on Wednesday in L. Mikulas that her favorite design is hanging crystals!

 

We keep watch for DM, MK, KF, and baby NJ--finally seeing them coming out of the U-Bahn at 1:00pm. They're hungry and so we find the Weiner Wustof kiosk and order sausages with mustard to eat standing right in the middle of Stephansplatz. We've done this before in the freezing cold, so we're happy to be here on a warm, but windy, April day. The sun is shining and all is right in our world. A friendly clown makes balloon creations for all three girls, and DM makes a "donation."

Marielle takes the photo!

As anticipated KF loves, loves, loves Swarkowski. We have a scary moment while I'm distracted paying for gelato, KF wanders off. We find her in about 15 seconds, but it scares us all. She is too independent sometimes. She has no fear, except she really does't like people to get in her face unless she initiates. We say a sincere prayer of thanks.

 

After window shopping and lingering at an outdoor cafe while the little girls eat their gelato, we decide to take the U-Bahn2 to the Marriott Courtyard Vienna-Messe to check in and check out our hotel accommodations for the next two nights.

It is so windy as we walk the short distance from U-Bahn2 Krieau to the hotel! Our rooms are lovely. I settle in for a nap--I had about three hours of sleep last night and a busy morning with LG... We've been having such fun, but she had more sleep than I did last night and she never tires!

MK takes the girls to the park to play, and after about 2-1/2 hours, DM knocks on my hotel room door and says we're going to Vienna's only authentic Mexican restaurant, Tacos Lopez. Their friend Dulce came to Bratislava from Mexico for university and recently she brought DM and MK to this restaurant where she is treated like family. Even though there are reserved signs on each table, they make room because we are Dulce's friends!

Tacos Lopez is located near our hotel and although we've driven, it's an easy commute by th eU-Bahn--for future reference.



Very, very good food, and very, very nice people. DM has beef fajitas, MK has chicken mole, the little girls have chicken quesadillas with rice, and I have crispy chicken Tacos Dorados. YUM! I'm in heaven. We also enjoy fantastic guacamole and salsa with chips.

After dinner all the girls cross the street to the Spar gourmet grocery while DM pays for dinner and walks next door to Zum Inder to make reservations for tomorrow night. Always thinking ahead when it comes to meals. That's my boy!

We leave Spar with a few healthy foods, but mostly chocolate for family in the states and for RvH.

LG will share my room tonight because we have king-size beds in both rooms and just a pack-n-play for NJ. DM warns that LG sleeps like a clock--turning her body 360 degrees all night long.

LG settles in fairly easily, giving me time to blog. Now it's time for my shower and hair washing so that I'll be ready to go early tomorrow. We get a big breakfast at the Courtyard, and most of us will go to the Spanish Riding School at 10:00am to see the Lippzaners train.

We also plan to visit the Naschmarkt and the little girls want to find another playground.

A very good day in Vienna, Austria.