Mina went home yesterday. The boys and I escorted her to the airport, partly to make it easier for her to find her way, but mostly because I wanted to be able to be with her for as long as we could. It was hard to say goodbye to her. We had a wonderful time visiting with her. I am so grateful that she came to see us, and I’m so glad that we got to share some of the things that we’re enjoying the most about living here. I miss her. I wish she was still here.
I know it’s going to happen before it does. We had a busy week. I’m exhausted, stressed and sad that Mina flew home today. The kids are tired and completely off their schedules — and although they don’t know how to express it, I know they’re missing Mina, too. It’s almost guaranteed to be a rough day all around.
I hate it, but of course it had to come — today was Mina’s last day in Vienna. (Technically, she doesn’t leave until tomorrow, but we’ll leave for the airport before 7:30 in the morning, so that doesn’t really count.) I don’t want to focus on the sadness of her leaving, but I am sad. It has been wonderful and amazing having her here. I don’t want her to go.
We started our day early with breakfast out. We wanted to be sure to introduce Mina to Cafe Landtmann — a place we’ve often enjoyed, especially for their decadent coffees and delectable desserts (even for breakfast), as well as their fantastic location and view of the Burgtheater and Rathaus. We left the house early enough that on the way out, when B got a little too exuberant in the courtyard, we had to remind him that it was early on a Saturday. And when we got to the restaurant, we were among the earliest diners. We enjoyed an excellent breakfast, including breakfast dessert (strawberry tart, truffle cake and even ice cream).
It was another pretty quiet day in Mina’s adventure. She joined me in taking B to school this morning, but before we left, as I was grabbing a bite to eat in the kitchen, she looked beyond me, out the window, and exclaimed, “What the heck is going on over at the Rathaus?!?” Which is weird because we can only see the very top, and unnerving because anytime anyone exclaims about something behind you it triggers a little of a horror movie feeling.
We’ve had a couple of days so far during Mina’s visit where we didn’t do anything overly remarkable. Sunday, the day she arrived, we visited an Easter Market. Tuesday, we went to the park and on a long walking tour of Vienna in the dark. Wednesday, we explored the sights along the Ring, took a break in a cafe and went to see a movie (just me and Mina went to see the movie). So, actually, I guess even those days were pretty busy.
Today, we *really* took a break. Liam, Dan and Mina slept in. Dan, who is still sick with a bad cold, stayed home from work again today. I took Benjamin to school for his Easter party. (We were going to keep him home this entire week, but his teachers really didn’t want him to miss the Easter party, so they specifically asked us if it would be possible for him to attend today, which I think is fantastic.) Benjamin had an excellent time at his party — the Easter Bunny visited the school while they were out playing in the garden, he found an egg during the ensuing Easter Egg hunt, and then he came home laden down with a parcel full of treats.
And . . . that’s it. That’s what we did today. We hung out, introduced Mina to the Backyardigans, ate cookies, put puzzles together. We all took naps. We got to show Mina a little bit more of what a “normal” day here is like (although our typical days don’t include that much resting or the Easter Bunny visiting the school). This afternoon, Mina got to see what our apartment is like in the rain (Mina, like me, like my mom, thinks this is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon, not a disappointment). It was a nice, quiet day. Back to adventure tomorrow. Maybe.
As we did yesterday, we decided to change our plans when we got up this morning. Again, we had intended to visit Schonbrunn, but the forecast was for clouds (as it turns out, we’ve had sunshine almost all day) and we were worn out from our late tour around the city, so we decided to put Schonbrunn off until Saturday. That left us, for the second day in a row, without any major or concrete plans. And, for the second day in a row, our day didn’t suffer for the lack of itinerary at all.
Yesterday was a big day of sightseeing. I actually didn’t realize how much we had accomplished yesterday until I sat down last night to go through all the pictures I had taken throughout the day. We saw and did a lot — we hit all of the major 1st district spots in one day, with two kids it tow. Impressive.
But it meant that today we were all worn out. We had designs on taking the Strassenbahn out to Schonbrunn to see the Easter market and the palace, but there was no way that was happening. We *could* have done it, but we lacked the motivation. So, instead, we went to the park. We took the boys to the Rathauspark playground and let them swing, slide and play in the sand. They got a chance to run around and stretch their legs and just do kid stuff, without taking too much out of the grown ups, which was perfect.
This evening, though, we were feeling up for a little more adventure and took my neighbor up on her offer of a walking tour of the oldest parts of Vienna. She grew up here, attended school here, and is raising a family here, so she has a lot of information and a neat perspective on the city. We didn’t start our tour until after dinner, and we weren’t planning on taking the boys (Dan was going to stay home and put them to bed while Mina and I went on the tour) but after our late and enthusiastic trip to the park, their naps were late and long. Since they had only woken up a little while before dinner, we opted to take them with us instead.
We had a lovely, busy and very fun day showing Mina around Vienna. We took in all the major sights of the 1st district — we saw Michaelerplatz, the Hofburg, stopped at my favorite Starbucks for a melange, walked along the Graben, visited Stephansdom, (went home, took a nap), saw the Rathaus and walked around the Volksgarten. Then, as a perfect finish to a very thoroughly Viennese day, we had dinner at Cafe Central.
The Easter Markets opened in Vienna this weekend. I’m really excited about it — not only are they full of fun things to see, enjoy and eat, but they’re a very strong reminder of the best parts of our earliest time as residents of Vienna. Not first when we arrived, but just as we were getting familiar and comfortable with the city, the markets were being set up, and we enjoyed some of our first leisurely weekends exploring them.