Updates

These last two weeks have been pretty low key, but we have been able to get out and see a little bit more of this great city. We explored the oldest parts of Vienna hoping to see some ghosts from WWII - but all we really saw was this creepazoid who invented the printing press. Behold Gutenberg:


So if you have ever felt guilty for not diligently reading your bible, you can blame this guy. He is the one who made mass production of the text possible.

We have really gotten to like this city. It has a lot to offer: great architecture, pastries, operas, drunk Turkish people singing songs at train stops etc. But by far one of the most magical things we have done here is skating at the Rathaus (pronounced "Rat House" [by Brett]). The rats were nice enough to set up a cool skating rink in front of the big city hall. We have posted pics of this previously, but this time we went and actually skated. Check this out:


Now, we understand that it has been beautiful weather back home in AZ. And to that, we would just like to inform you that in Vienna last Thursday mother nature dropped the biggest snowflakes that the cranky old hag ever produced. So we wish you the warmest and comfortable-est of springtimes.

In other news, I have just found out that I'm invited back to the Middle East to attend and assist in the conference that I helped plan last summer when we were in Jordan. So I'm headed back to Amman in June. And the Arab Institute (where I worked) is paying my travel expenses. Luckily I have a flexible work schedule so I can do things like this (you know, take off four days in the middle of the week to do something that has nothing really to do with my real job at IAEA).

Lindsey is keeping busy with her work. We are fortunate that she has a job that allows her to work from anywhere in the world as long as there is an internet connection. It has been an invaluable source of income. After all, we need money to go to places like Tacos Lopez and the Fresco Grill (the two best Mexican restaurants in town). Last night we had a nice evening at Tacos Lopez. Everything was completely magical and the atmosphere was great - until a dog started barking... from underneath the table next to us.

Dogs are allowed to go everywhere in this city. And these are not the personal assistant dogs that some people have. These are just regular old mutts that people can't seem to part with even when they go out for dinner. Can you imagine sitting at a Chili's or something and then a dog starts barking at you from the adjacent table? So it's little things like this that are still taking some getting used to.

Finally, here is a picture of an old Catholic cathedral in Vienna that is currently undergoing renovations. After Lindsey took this epic picture of me, we realized that there was an advertisement draped over the scaffolding. That's right, there is a huge advertisement for a mobile phone company on the side of a Catholic church:



And to send you off with a prettier image than my own, here are some pictures of Lindsey enjoying a jumbo (and apparently Jewish) krapfen, and posing in front of an outdoor market down town