Day 1202. We did not go anywhere these past few days. Thursday was a holiday in Austria, so that the kids did not have their dance class, and they don't have any regular activities on Friday. I had students on both days, though.
This morning I did not set an alarm. We were just gonna get up whenever and leave the house whenever we were ready. I let the kids watch Kasperl, which gave me another 20+ minutes to sleep. After breakfast we cleaned them up and dressed them and left just after 10 am to catch the 10:20 train, which we did. We got off at our usual stop, but then had to walk a bit to a bus stop. We took the bus for two stops, then had a lot of walking ahead of us. I didn't realize how much and that it was uphill. I had looked up the different ways to get to the Bohemian Prater, and there was no easy way. I was gonna take them to the Christmas market there at some point, and as Christine from Caritas was helping her friend there today, it was the perfect day to go. So, after we got off the bus, we started walking, first up, over and across the rails, then into the woods/park, up the hill, then into streets with little houses but where the streets were gated, so that we had to take a big detour. Once we got to the main street, it was all uphill and quite a challenge. I was glad, when it flattened out and we had finally reached the entrance to the Prater.
Because of the Christmas market some rides had opened up again, and most rides there are for little kids, which was great. We definitely have to go back there in the summer. The first ride we got to were the spinning tea cups, and as the kids enjoy those so much, they got to ride them. They sat in different cups and were laughing as usual, as it was going round to round. It seemed too hard to spin them though. And then Tammy started crying and wanted out. I still don't know why, as she later could not tell me why herself. Emmy continued laughing.
We continued walking, all the while keeping our eyes open to find the stand Christine was working at. In all the years I've lived in Vienna, I had never been to this amusement park as far as I know. We saw some stands and more rides and found the oldest caroussel in Europe. Tammy was still affected from her first ride, I guess, as she did not want to ride it, which is highly unusual, and so only the boys got on. Randy put them both into the helicopter, and the boys loved it. As for Tammy, she had spotted the duck ride right next to it and wanted to ride that one. As Randy had the money, I had to wait for him to be done. Of course Emmy then wanted to ride it as well, and so they both did. The ducks didn't just go round and round, but they also went up and down. Still, they were both smiling and laughing the whole time.
I finally reached Christine on the phone and asked her how to find her. Then we continued walking. With noon approaching and the kids getting hungry, we were also looking for a place to eat at. We found one stand, but it was another half hour for the food to be ready, and it was all outside. We crossed over to the other side to see what food they had to offer there, and suddenly we stood in front of a lifesize nativity with real animals. There was a donkey and two goats. The kids were excited, and Tammy wanted to pet them, which she did. The boys were more cautious but both go to pet them too. Then we walked on and reached the end of the park, so all we could do was to turn around and continue looking for Christine. We did see a restaurant there at least, one that we could go into to sit in the warmth.
While we were walking back, a guy overheard me talking to the kids and started talking to me. He was working, maybe even living there, and told me how they had tried to get a bus stop from the city, as well as a parking garage, but had always been turned down. What a shame.
And then we found Christine. She was at a stand selling soup. As there were few people at the market anyway (I was told most people come in the afternoon), she came around to us, and then she offered the kids some children's punch to warm up. She could see how cold they were. We talked to her for a little bit and then left to go eat. It was 12:20, when we went into the restaurant we had seen. We sat right by the entrance and got a high chair for Sammy. It was actually a "Heuriger", a traditional Austrian place, which meant that I had to go to the counter to order our food, while a waiter took our drink order. The kids came with me, and then went to the bathroom with me. They had a lady sitting there, which is also very traditional. She takes care of the toilets and has a little tray for money you're supposed to give for using the facilities. When she saw the kids, she thought they were just so very cute. By the time we were back at the table, the food was already there. I split it up among them. Tammy once again would only eat fries and no meat, while the boys ate it all, and Randy ate whatever they didn't. After they were done, they started looking out the window and getting a little rowdy and loud. Especially an old lady sitting nearby complained about them. It was time to move on. Randy ended up grabbing them by their legs and holding them upside down to detain them, as they would not stop. The kids actually loved it and were laughing.
The owner of the place came by and asked whether they had seen the pigs. We told him we knew nothing about pigs, and he told us where they were. So we put their coats back on and went outside to where they were. There was a big, black, male pig right there. He had said that they could pet them, so Randy went first to make sure it was safe, then Tammy wanted to pet it as well. The owner joined us and showed them the other pigs behind the fence. I also put Sammy by the fence to look at the pigs close up, but it was Tammy who tried to pet them. Then the owner gave them some food and gave some food to the kids to throw to the pigs. The big, black heifer with big teeth was also enjoying that food.
Then it was time to start our long journey home. This time we were gonna go a different route. We were already close to the other end of the park and continued walking that way, down the hill, and right by the church we go to Sunday nights. We soon reached the tram stop and got on the tram. The kids were watching videos, while Sammy was pushing the door button, but with not as much success as usual, so that it did not beep all the time. After we got off, we bought some fresh chestnuts and went to the train platform, where the train pulled up a few minutes later. By 2:15 pm we were back home.
It was an hour later than usual and high time for them to lie down for their nap. I sat down by them, but soon left to lie down myself as I was very tired. Just before 4 pm I was woken up by Emmy who walked into the room. Then Randy returned from a grocery store run, and then Sammy woke up, followed by Tammy. And then all three ended up in bed with me for a few minutes before they went downstairs with Randy. As for me, I only had an hour left to get some work done, and I used the time well, even though I did not finish what I was working on.
At 6 pm I went to the kitchen to start making their dinner, and then Randy and the kids already came upstairs. They were watching Superbook, while I was in the kitchen, and Sammy was playing. At 6:30 we sat down at the table. After they were done eating, they went into the bathtub, where they ate most of their food. Then we got them ready for bed. All ready, I sat down with them to open the two advent calendars with little booklets. Sammy was standing in his bed, while the other two were standing on the floor next to me. And suddenly Sammy fell out of his bed. I don't know how he had done it. He landed on the back of his head and was crying hard. I picked him up and comforted him, then we started reading the stories. After we were done with everything, they went into bed, and I sat down by them. We talked for a little bit before I encouraged them to go to sleep. I was getting hungry and glad, when Randy was done eating and took my place. I went to the kitchen to make my salad, and sat down to eat just before 9:30 pm. After I was done eating, I continued working on the task from the afternoon and finished it. Only then was I able to start working on today's pictures, and that's the reason why it's already 1:30 now as I finish writing this. Now I have to clean the kitchen and then sleep a few hours, as we'll have to get up earlier tomorrow.
