Auf Wiedersehen

Today is our last day in Vienna.  I am so sad and trying not to burst into tears.  I really don't want to go home yet.  I am hoping that the volcano in Iceland will suddenly explode making air travel impossible for at least a couple weeks.  It will be good to be home, but I wanna stay here!  Mary can't decide if she wants to stay or go.  We will definitely be back in a couple years or so for sure.

Today, Mary wanted to go to the Schmetterling Haus (Butterfly House).  We walked to the Burg Garten, which is famous because it has a statue of Mozart.  I have actually never been to these gardens before or seen the Mozart statue up close!  I have seen it from the straßenbahn though (I have clearly figured out how to use the German letters and umlauts in my blog--it only took me a whole week).  I tried to get Mary to take a picture with the Mozart statue, but she refused.  She has not been very good about letting me take her picture at all this trip.  I have had to use bribery for a lot of the pictures I have of her.  She will regret that some day ha!

Back to the Schmetterling Haus.  We got our tickets and went in.  Holy humidity batman!  Yuck!  Luckily it is pretty small so we didn't have to spend too much time.  It is clearly a popular place for school trips.  There were so many school groups that came through just in the short time we were in there.  At one point I moved aside to let a large group of children get by and then a bunch of butterflies started landing on me.  It was so funny because the school kids were trying to tell me where the butterflies were landing.  I was clearly entertaining them.  It was tough getting Mary to leave.  She had the camera and was chasing butterflies to try to get their picture.  She was having a great time.

I dragged her our of there and we went and got some laugens to snack on before heading to the KunstHaus Wien.  One of the guide books recommended it for children, so I thought I would give it a try.  The museum, a former chair factory, now shows the works of painter and designer Friedensteich Hundertwasser.  It is filled with his paintings, drawings, and architectural projects.  Hundertwasser's trademarks are vivid colors contrasting with black and gold, shiny irregular shaped pillars, and no straight lines--even the floor is uneven. Mary and I took the straßenbahn and then walked to Hundertwasser Haus first which is an apartment building that he designed.  Outside the apartment building is a fountain and lots of little hills (again uneven surfaces) in the courtyard.  Mary had a good time running up and down the hills.  We took some pictures and then walked down to the museum.  The guidebook suggested getting there early to avoid crowds, but there was hardly anyone there.  We started looking at his paintings and Mary started being naughty right away.  She was thirsty, she had to go to the bathroom, she was hungry, she wanted a popsicle, she wanted to leave, etc.  Aaaahh!  I wanted to muzzle her!  I finally was able to get her interest in a couple paintings by having her count how many people she could find and how many fish and birds she could find.  That worked pretty good.  The model of Hunderwasser's ideal community also caught her attention.  Finally we went out to the cafe and had some juice--gespritzt of course.

On the way back to the straßenbahn, we stopped at the store so I could pick up some souvenirs and I had promised her a popsicle.  I waited in line and then paid for my items and when I turned to give Mary her popsicle she was sound asleep!  (oh yeah because I brought the stroller today!  Oh yeah I was using my brain today.  It was so much easier and transportation and just about everything in Vienna is extremely stroller friendly.  Much more so than New York city.  I can't believe I waited until the last day to use it.  Geez).  So I took the straßenbahn back to the center and strolled around and window shopped.  It was nice.  Mary finally woke up and asked for her popsicle.  Since I had thrown it away once it became a melted mess--luckily inside the wrapper, I promised her I would find another one.  Once I found one, we walked to the Rathaus park.  When I was on the straßenbahn, I noticed a playground.  I knew Mary would love to play, so I just sat on the bench and watched her run around.  She was so cute.  We played together on the teeter totter.  I hadn't seen one since I was a kid.  Why don't we have those in the US anymore?  This one was much improved since the days of my childhood.  She told me she wanted another kid to play on it with her, so I got off and went and sat down.  She was kind of timid and didn't really talk to the other kids.  She would follow them, but if they didn't pay her any attention, she would give up.  Finally she made friends with another little girl.  They played for a while, running around the playground.  It was fascinating to watch them, because Mary would speak to her in English, and she would speak to Mary in German, but they both seemed to understand each other.  Finally the other little girl had to leave.  Mary was pretty sad.  I pushed her on the swing for a little bit and then we left.

Okay so I have only been to two playgrounds now in Vienna, but they both had a sand area that also has a water faucet.  The kids mix it all together and it ends up being a big muddy mess.  I don't get it.  I mean I can see how it would be great for kids, but as a parent, yuck!  I wouldn't let Mary go near it.  Two kids were wearing these plastic/rubber type overalls that they probably use for when there is lots of snow--just so they could play in it.  At first I thought, well I guess maybe they have it because they are not close to a beach.  However there are beaches in Vienna along the Danube.  It seems very strange to me in a city like Vienna.

We dropped off our stuff at the hotel and then went and had dinner in the MuseumsQuartier at a restaurant called Milo.  I don't think the MuseumsQuartier existed when I lived here.  It is a very hip place with art museums and cafes.  The MuseumsQuartier is in buildings that used to be the court stables, so there are statues of horses on the buildings.  The cafe was super hip and I felt a little weird going there with Mary.    However she was seriously an angel.  We sat outside, but as soon as our food came, it started to rain.  Some ladies helped us carry everything inside.  The food was pretty good and the atmosphere was pretty cool, but I wasn't that impressed.  I think it would be a great place to come and just grab a drink with friends.

After dinner we came back to the hotel.  Ugh I still have to pack and grab a few things in the morning.  Lots to do and I am tired!  I will be happy to be home and get some more sleep.  This is vacation, but we have been on the go.  I always figure I can sleep at home all I want, but I don't get to be in Vienna whenever I want, so sleep is not a priority!  However I really think that a trip to Vienna should be followed by a trip into the alps for some relaxation and a slower pace.  I could see the alps when we were on the bus yesterday and I am pretty sure that I heard them calling my name.  Next time.