Franz And The Gang

Week three in Vienna, Austria in the year of our Lord two thousand and whatever.

Three words best describe these last weeks - Snow, Snow, Snore.

The snore because I have apparently found my new favorite late night activity. To be fair, snore should be extended to include talk, laugh and kick. Snoring actually happens a lot less than the other three, but all of them serve to keep Lindsey awake.

And snow because it has been snowing non-stop for the last 7 days. It's the kind of snow that flies at you sideways - not the happy, soft kind. Also, no matter what direction you are facing in this city, the snow is blowing directly into your eyeballs.

This is our street tonight


We did manage to get down to the Viennese Ice Dream. It is a huge ice skating rink set up in front of the castle-esque Vienna parliament building downtown. Of course, we couldn't bring ourselves to go skating in the 22 degree weather, but at least we got some hot chocolate and a tasty crepe.



Today (Saturday) I woke up, braved the cold, and purchased Lindsey's happiness - a heating pad. Back problems have been a real downer, so having a heating pad has become a real necessity. Also, I brought home some Vanilla donuts... which are awesome. These donuts called "krapfen" have raised the bar in a way that threatens to end my love affair with American donuts.

Have a taste:


Also, we've noticed that we go through a period of America-withdrawal a couple of weeks or so after we get to a new country. Today it came on pretty strong for me. So to nurse myself back to sanity, I took an extra-strength dose of David Allan Coe - king of outlaw country. Whenever I hear the rugged twang of DAC, blue and white start coursing through my veins to match the red of my pure American blood. Just look at his picture. And don't worry, he is as talented as he is beautiful.



But the big event for the day was our visit to the Military History Museum. It is weird to think about, but Austria has been involved a LOT of wars. I always assumed that whenever they were under threat of attack, they just sent Arnold Schwarzenegger to the front line to crack some skulls, flex some thighs, and it was game-over. Apparently I have been living under a complete misapprehension. There is tons of non-Arnold gear at this place. But by far the coolest thing among all the awesome things that the museum houses is the vehicle Archduke Franz Ferdinand was riding in when he and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo back in 1914. Also available for your viewing pleasure is the Archduke's uniform he was wearing when it happened - blood stains and all. It's crazy to think that we saw the actual blood that started World War I.

Check out these babies:


You can check out all the pictures from today by clicking here. I apologize in advance for the quality of the pictures. Our camera is... having troubles.

I'd love to write more, but there's a lot of American cola that I should be drinking right now. We hope you're warm wherever you are, and that you enjoy having your own vehicles to drive to the places that you want to go to, when you want to go to them.