Went shopping on Mariahilferstrasse today! But not for myself, rather as the personal image consultant for my friend Abe, a Mexican from Texas, is in dire need of a warm coat. The 5th avenue of Vienna, Mariahilferstrasse has everything you could possibly need. Of course finding what you need at an afforadble price, takes the skill of a seasoned shopper, like me. We wandered for quite some time and eventually found an H&M coat he liked and I approved, but not in his size, so we went and got sushi.
After sushi I left for Mayo's place, where we were having dinner and on the way picked up a few sweets and treats. When I arrived I was warmly greeted by Mayo's brother, Kay, and her mother, Edita, who was already in the kitchen preparing the chicken. I helped Mayo make a Gugelhupf cake and when we were finished, we had some time to chat in both English and German. Dinner was fantabulous! It was so nice to have a real meal with real family and sit down and enjoy it together.
When we were finished, Mayo and I headed out to Stephansplatz to meet with a few of her friends from school. They introduced me to Zanoni and Zanoni, an Italian gelato place right off of Stephansplatz that has the best Eis creations! They are a bit expensive but not too bad if you split them and they are totally worth it! Vienna is known for it's Eis but really it all just Italian. We chatted - auf Deutsch - for hours and I learned a lot about the Austrian school system and about the matriculation process for Uni, which is good because I have to figure out how to register.
And after a while, we decided to head to happy hour at First American Bar, not the famous Alfred Loos one, but another American bar. We sat upstairs in this classy little place, in a cozy little booth and ordered half off - because how else can a student afford to go out - American named drinks. Yay understanding what is going on and not having to translate everything! By this point, my brain was pretty drained from trying to keep up with Dani's speedy German and I was beginning to feel tired, and I am sure the dim lighting and cosmo didn't help. We were here for about another hour, until the waiter rudely told us if we weren't going to order anything else, we had to peace. Which ended up working out well for my exhauseted self, although the girls were very upset by how rude he was, since in Vienna typically once you order something you can sit for as long as you like and not have to worry about it and it wasn't like the place was packed, there were several spaces open around us. We couldn't figure it out, but oh well, they lost a few clients.
I realized I didn't really have any photos of my home away from home, so here is a shot of the Wiener Staatsoper from the front row of the Standing Room seats
The curtain call for Arabella! Time to run to the stage door!
Bo was about to leave, but I would hear none of it and asked politely for a photo and played the we are young singers card, he graciously signed our programs and...
With BO SKOVHUS!!!
We also stuck around and chatted with Camilla Nylund, who played Arabella, talking about singing and her advice for young singers: find a good teacher and don't start singing things too big for your voice before you are ready!
After our exciting evening we went to Zanoni and Zanoni to celebrate Kelly's birthday!
With the whole Dürergasse Hostel group!
At Zanoni and Zanoni, Jonathan, who is studying in Prague, told me about these Apple Bombs he had a bakery near his place, which were essentially baked apples wrapped in pie crust. Needless to say, I went home and started in on them right away. Best idea ever.
