Tag Archives: weather

1 degree

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It’s cold in Vienna, already.  We’ve already hit the freezing mark (not officially yet — officially we’ve gotten down to 1, apparently, but there was ice on the sidewalk when we left for the zoo yesterday morning) and the warmest it’s gotten in the past several days is about 12 degrees (low 50s).  This week is forecast to be more of the same, with lots of nights nearly hitting the freezing mark and several days of high temperatures in the single digits.

I absolutely love the onset of colder weather.  I’d much prefer to have a slightly chilly October, rather than a warm one — I much rather be bundled up in scarves, hats and sweaters than to be wearing shorts while pumpkin picking.  This is my kind of October.

I do have to admit, though, that as much as I like the chill in the air, the smell of woodsmoke and the sparkle of frost, it puts me more in mind of November or December than October.  (I’ve already caught myself singing Christmas Carols with the kids a few times!)  And, despite my careful research into relative temperatures, I’m a bit worried about what December, January and February have in store for us.

So far, though, our apartment is warm, I can find coffee and hot chestnuts on the street corners, and (most of) our sweaters and cold-weather clothing safely arrived from home.  If I could just find someplace that sells hot cider, I’d be all set.

Happy place

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This evening, I went out for my usual “hour off” at Starbucks — just me, a book, and a cappucino with whipped cream.  (Another thing I know I will miss when I go back to the States — they don’t sweeten their whipped cream here, which I think is AWESOME.)

As much as I deeply, truly love my children, having an hour where I don’t have to be “on” is great.  It really isn’t so much about having a break from changing diapers or kissing boo boos, it’s more that I’m not “in charge”, I’m not responsible for anyone or anything for a little while.  My brain can rest.  I can put myself first for a few blissful minutes, without having to put anyone else second.  It’s really nice.

021This evening, walking back, it was chilly and raining . . . which I love.  I decided, on my walk back in the rain, that this is my third favorite kind of weather (after 65 degrees and sunny, and then any kind of snow).  I think I may actually be another species, because I don’t think very many human beings LOVE cold and wet weather.  All the people I passed on the street were bundled up and under umbrellas, hurrying to their destinations, while I grinned and barely kept myself from skipping down the sidewalk.

Now, after dinner and baths and stories, the kids are sleeping.  I’m sitting and listening to Miles Davis.  Today was a very good day.

The elements

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I’ve always considered myself to be an outdoorsy person.  I like to be outside.  I’m a horseback rider, and have been for over 25 years.  I’ve taught riding, on and off for years, too.  I like to walk outside, go camping and swim, too.  So, it has come as a bit of a shock to me that now, with no outdoor hobbies, I am more in touch with the weather and it’s slight permutations than I ever have been before.

Part of it is our apartment.  At home, we lived in a north-facing apartment with windows on only one wall.  At both of my last two jobs, before leaving the workforce when Benjamin was born, I rarely even saw outside, and was only out in the weather on my way to or from work.  On the other hand, our apartment here has windows on all 4 sides, and a terrace in the middle.  I can go outside without leaving my apartment.  We don’t have central air, and (ironically) our heat is somewhat centrally controlled by the City of Vienna (I’m still learning about how this works, as it’s just starting to get cold).  I’m much more aware of the amount of cloud cover, precipitation and temperature than I ever have been before while indoors, to be sure.  Now that Benjamin is in school, I also have an hour long commute to pick him up and bring him home every day.

I don’t have a car, so when I do go out, into the weather, it’s not just a quick dash from door to car, and then from car to school and back.  I’m out, walking in the weather (whatever it may be) at least every weekday.

Today was a rainy, cold day in Vienna.  It was a major reminder of something I’ve been slowly realizing:  I can’t just grit my teeth, “make do” and get through the weather in Vienna (especially the upcoming winter).  Today was rough, and it’s October.  We just don’t have the equipment.  My boys have rain coats, but not enough layering pieces to put underneath when it’s cold and rainy but not so inclement as to pull out the winter parkas.  And, their legs are mostly unprotected from the elements (particularly an issue for Liam, who is in the stroller, legs out).  Neither of them have rain boots (or, for that matter, snow boots) right now.  I don’t own a functional umbrella.

When I first got here, I was surprised by all the “weather gear” I saw.  The Viennese seem to have about 12 different kinds of coats, twice that many kinds of footwear, scarves for use in all types of weather (literally — they wear them in July), plus hats, gloves, mittens, balaclavas.  They have rain covers as well as snow buntings for their strollers.  Their strollers even have holsters for their umbrellas.

Today was a good lesson in outerwear.  I wore my raincoat and boots — I was fine.  Benjamin wore his raincoat and sneakers — he was ok, but was worried about getting his light-up shoes in the rain puddles, lest it short them out (not something I had thought of?).  Poor Liam.  I put him in fleece pajamas, to make sure he was snug and covered, and then put his raincoat on top.  His clothes got pretty wet, but he stayed dry.  Of course, once we went inside the trains and the school, he got overheated in about a second.

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It’s only October.  I need to get myself equipped.

Picnic and pumpkin cake

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Another beautiful Sunday here in Vienna.  The last few weekends have been like this, and each time, we think it’ll probably be the last one.

I’m holding out hope for yet one more, because I was sick again today and missed out on enjoying the beautiful autumn weather.  I didn’t leave the house.  I didn’t do anything, except sleep and occasionally attempt to keep my children from meeting an early demise.

Dan did a great job of wrangling everyone, but I’m also incredibly grateful for our downstairs neighbor.  She called up earlier and invited us all to join her family for a picnic in the park and some of the cake she was baking.  I was too sick to go, but Dan and the boys took her up on her offer.  From all accounts, they had a great time (and they even brought some cake back for me — yummy!).  They ate cake, my neighbor’s oldest daugher played endlessly with Benjamin (and a little with Liam) and Dan got to chat with our neighbor.

It’s always a bummer to be sick.  Worse for it to be on the weekend.  Worse for it to be on a beautiful day.  Worse for it to interfere with plans I have with the kids (we were planning to go to the zoo today).  It was really nice that my kids got to get out and enjoy the day, even though I was stuck inside.  With any luck, I’ll be feeling better tomorrow!  And with an extra bit of luck, next weekend will be beautiful, too.

Storms

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We’re getting a pretty massive thunderstorm in Vienna right now.  It’s been windy all day (and getting cooler since about 3:00 — woo hoo!) and raining on and off, and then a few minutes ago, the thunder and lightning started.  I don’t know enough about the weather patterns in central Europe to speak with any authority, but I imagine these winds and storms blowing right down from the Alps.  They have that kind of gravitas.

Back at home, everyone is hunkering down for a massive storm of their own:  Hurricane Irene is upon them with flooding, winds and general, low-level panic.  All up and down the east coast of the US, people are evacuating and bracing for intense damage.  In the DC area, they get it all:  hurricanes, massive snowstorms, flooding, tornadoes . . . even earthquakes, as proven earlier this week.  They don’t really specialize in any one kind of disaster.  We got to do all of them from time to time, with neither enough practice nor enough local funding to handle anything perfectly smoothly.  Everyone stocks up on toilet paper, milk and water and stays in.  I’m not criticizing — I think it’s a pretty good plan, and has served us well for everything from hurricanes to “snowmageddon”.

I think I’m safely out of the path of any hurricanes while I’m living here in Vienna, but I’m thinking of everyone at home and hoping that they all stay safe and dry.  I’m sitting here in a big storm, too — I’m with you all in spirit.

Nope, still summer

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A week or so ago, I wrote that things felt chilly here, and that I thought maybe fall was upon us.  Nope.  Still summer.

It has been HOT here this week.  It’s been in the 90s all week, and before everyone from home hits me with, “Bah!  90s?!?  It’s August!  We do that in our sleep!”, I will remind you that no, in fact, you don’t.  When you go to sleep, it’s cool and pleasant — nice temperatures and not too humid, thanks to lovely air conditioning.  Most Americans venture out into the 90+ degree heat for only a few minutes at a time — until they get to their car, until they get into work, or a shop, until they get home.  (Hey, I’m with you — that’s how I like it, too.)  Inside, it’s 72-ish all the time.  If you really want to cool off, hit a movie or the mall — it’s often even colder in there.  (Last summer, when I was pregnant with Liam and suffering in the heat, I used to go to the mall and just walk around in the lovely, cool air conditioning.  Ah!)

This is 80, 85, 90 degrees 24 hours a day.  There is no respite.  Our houses don’t have air conditioning (or, if they do, like mine, it’s in a single room), the shops don’t have air conditioning, the movies and malls are barely air conditioned (if at all), only the most modern of trains have air conditioning.  (At least, if you’re riding the U-bahn, some of the stations are underground, so that’s pretty pleasant.)  Last night, in my air conditioned living room, it got down to 80.  That was the coolest room in the house.  Liam, in particular, feels about the heat the way that I do, and even Benjamin, who usually asks to be bundled up on the warmest nights, woke up at 3 in the morning and asked that I remove all of the blankets from his bed.  No one in the house got much sleep last night, and we aren’t due to see relief from this until Saturday.

I am hot, I am sweaty, I am not a fan of this weather.  I can live with it, but watching my kids suffer through it is really hard.  Benjamin gets so sweaty when he runs around and plays.  I’ve put all of our mid-day park trips and excursions on hold until the weather breaks.  Liam gets unhappy when the indoor temperature goes above about 75, so I actually can’t sleep at night for worrying about him in his 80+ degree room.  He wakes up screaming and sweaty and there’s little to do to comfort him, since holding him just makes him hotter.

Our living room air conditioner is set to 78 degrees.  It has not shut off in over 72 hours.  If things don’t improve tonight, we’re all going to have a sleepover around the air conditioner tomorrow night.  80 degrees might seem like a really pleasant sleeping temperature after the past few nights.

Ok, I get, it Austrian summer:  you’re not over.  Point taken.

Autumn in August

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I love the fall — it is, without question, my favorite season, and always has been.  But, I wasn’t really prepared to greet it in August.  Waking up this morning, there was a definite change in the weather.  We’ve had cool, even chilly, days throughout the summer, but this feels less transient — this feels like fall.  Our other cool days have been gray and rainy.  Today was bright and sunny, but crisp and cool.  At the warmest part of the day, it was a little warm in the sunshine and perfect in the shade, but by this evening, it was chilly even in the sun.  Feels like October to me.

Maybe we’ll have a really long fall that fades gently into a snowy winter (because that would be GREAT).  Or maybe it will feel like January here by the time we get to mid-October.  The light is changing, the weather is changing, the wind is changing — I think summer in Vienna is winding down.

Impervious

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It had been about a week since I’d had an hour “off”, so after I got the kids down for their naps today, and after Dan got home (he only worked a half day today to be able to spend extra time with his parents while they’re visiting) I grabbed my book and headed to Starbucks to have lunch all by myself.  It’s a good thing for me to do — even just having a little time off from the moment-to-moment demands of being a mom does wonders for my resiliency.  I got myself a sandwich and an iced tea, grabbed a seat at the very last outdoor table, and sat down to read.

A few minutes after I sat down, the threatening clouds gave way to a little drizzle and then a decent rain.  I scooted my table over a bit to be better covered by the umbrella and continued on with my lunch and my book.  Looking around a few minutes later, I realized that the packed outdoor seating area had been deserted by all but me and two others.  After a few minutes, the wet and the cold started to bother me a little, and I decided that I really needed a warm cup of coffee.  So, I grabbed my wallet, but arranged my book and bag to make it very obvious my seat was still taken — I wanted hot coffee, but not at the expense of my seat.

I went inside to wait in line to order my coffee, looked out the steamy window into the rain at the deserted patio and laughed at myself.  In the steady rain, on a chilly afternoon, I decided I needed to save my seat at the outdoor cafe.  (In that moment, I failed to realize that just because I enjoyed my arrangement so much did not mean that anyone else would want to be in it.  I managed to get my coffee and get back outside without losing my seat, strangely enough.)

057Later this afternoon, we all went to the Belvedere Palace to do some sightseeing.  It’s one of the places I went with Dan last year when I came to visit — I was amazed by the scale and beauty of the grounds, and that was in February.  It was even more magnificent today — the flowers are in bloom, the trees are full and green and all of the fountains were on.  It was Benjamin’s first time there, and he loved it.  He loves fountains and flowers, and the palace grounds offered a ton of freedom for running and playing.  He ran around in circles, ran up a ramp and down the stairs and challenged all of us to races.  (I haven’t run so much in years.)

070At the end of his exploring, we came upon some fresh puddles from this morning’s rain.  He wanted to splash, and he did, with enthusiasm.  I explained that his shoes and socks might get wet, and that we still had to go to dinner afterwards.  He started with small splashes, but worked his way up until the water was flying and he was getting soaked.  At one point, I opened my mouth to tell him I thought he had saturated himself thoroughly enough . . . and then I realized:  I spent my lunch sitting outside in the rain.  Who am I to tell him to stop splashing because he’s getting too wet?  So, I let him splash.  (And I give him credit:  he didn’t complain once about being wet.)

First prayer

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It was cold here today — not cool, cold.  Our high was 14 Celcius, it varied between rainy and drizzly all day, and the wind went from a strong breeze to “Oh dear, what was that?!?”  If you had been plopped down in Vienna today, you would absolutely have believed it was April if that’s what you’d been told.  (I was thrilled, actually — I think it’s beautiful weather, and a real treat to have in July, especially after the heat we’ve had lately . . . but I think it may have been a bit too much for our fair-weather-dwelling houseguests.)

Today was, however, our first planned day of sightseeing with our visitors.  They arrived Friday, we did our “chores” yesterday, and today our plan was to see two of the most essential sights of Vienna:  St. Stephen’s and the Hofburg.  Well, it rained and it was cold.  We went anyway.

We went to St. Stephen’s.  We had planned to perhaps do a tour or climb one of the towers, but Dan’s parents weren’t really interesed in the tour and the weather didn’t make the climb in the tower sound too inviting, so we were just going to explore the cathedral on our own.  Of course, when we got there, the cathedreal wasn’t available to visit, but we still were able to wander around in the entry area and get to experience the beautiful church a bit.

It is amazing inside.  It’s huge, and beautiful, full of statues and stained glass.  It smells like incense and it’s just the right amount of dark and mysterious.  There are basins of holy water in the entrance and there are prayer candles in the nooks and alcoves — Benjamin was fascinated (as he was the first time we went, on Easter).  He really wanted to see the candles, so I took him to look.  He asked about them and I did my best to explain.  He asked if a prayer was like making a wish, and I told him that it was — that it was making a wish for good things to happen for people that you love, and that you tell it to God so that he can help you make it happen.  He wanted to make a wish, so we purchased a candle and lit it.  He wished for, “All the people that I love to be happy”.  (I am amazed by him — by his kindness and his understanding.)

And then he asked me if he could blow the candle out, and I had to explain the difference between a prayer candle and a birthday candle.  He seemed ok with it.

On the way home we walked past the Hofburg, through the Volksgarten, past the Parliament and the Rathaus and back to home, where we stayed for the rest of our rainy and cold afternoon.  To me, it was a lovely Sunday, but I’m not sure we did a very good job as hosts and tour guides.  That’s ok — we have 7 more days.

The heat

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I can’t stand the heat.  It’s driving me nuts.  I’ve never been one of those people who longs for the heat of summer — I’ve always been someone who would rather be too cold than too hot (my philosophy is that you can always put more layers on, but there are only so many you can take off).  I hate being sweaty when I’m sitting still — not my style.  It’s not super hot here . . . 85 or so during the heat of the afternoon, but it varies between 5 to 10 degrees hotter than that in our apartment.  I’m used to setting my air conditioning at home at a max of 72, so this is rough for me.  Benjamin seems unfazed by it, but Liam is sweating all day, and we’ve started going out in the afternoons just to get out of here at the hottest part of the day.

We have huge, beautiful windows which, when opened, allow a great cross breeze and really cool everything off.  But, these windows are about 5 feet tall and open like French doors — each has a radiator positioned directly underneath it, so even though the sill is 3 feet off the floor, it is not out of the reach of a 2 year old.  And we live on the 6th (also top) floor.  So, we can’t open the windows when Benjamin is awake.  They actually have a funny design that allows us to open a single pane of the window about 4 inches, which allows the air to move a little, but we’re pretty stifled up here.

The whole attitude towards heat is different here — no one has air conditioning, and the Viennese alter their dress very little, even when it’s very hot outside (3 piece suits, dresses with tights, jackets and even scarves are common to see).  I don’t know how they do it.

I think that it’s similar to how we deal with snow in the DC area.  We don’t get a ton of snow (winter of 2010 notwithstanding) so when we do, we close everything down, do our best to get it out of our way (kind of) and move on.  We’re really just gritting our teeth, closing our eyes and pushing through:  we’re surviving, we’re not thriving.  Besides, it’ll be gone in a few days.  We don’t invest a lot in dealing with snow, because it’s just not a space we need to live in for very long.

I think the heat is the same here.  It’s about the same here as it is at home, temperature wise (although a lot less humid) but it won’t be as hot for as much of the summer as we experience at home.  So, rather than adjust their surroundings to be something they can thrive in, they just grit their teeth and push through.

I can appreciate the Viennese (and, I think Europeans in general) being steadfast in the face of the heat — I can see that if it isn’t bad for too long, they don’t have the requisite motivation to alter their homes or their wardrobes significantly for it.  (Although I do wish they at least put ice in the drinks.)  I also hear it’s something you get used to (I hope so).

Dan brought home a fan today.  I think it may be the best gift he’s ever brought me.