« May 2006 | Main | July 2006 »
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Up, up and away again
So I am already getting on a plane again tomorrow to travel back to the US. This trip really flew by.
Saturday I was at the hair dresser's, then we went to the Heurigen for lunch and in the evening I met up with a friend I hadn't seen in ages (probably 10 years or more). We sat on her balcony till about midnight and watched the summer solstice bonfires and fireworks in the surrounding areas.
Today flew by as well. Got up kind of late, had lunch, went in the pool for over an hour (I wish I could take the pool home *g*) and later in the evening when we were back in Vienna went to downtown Vienna with my mom to go to my favorite "running sushi" place. It's a really neat restaurant where you sit next to a convequor belt and the food comes by you on little plates and you pick what you want. They have Chinese dishes as well as sushi. Really yummy.
No real plans for tomorrow. Gonna sleep late. It's already 11:30 pm now. Then probably just hang out till we have to leave for the airport at about 2 or 2:30 pm. My flight is at 5:20 pm. Talk to you all when I get back. :)
Posted by Hanna at 05:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Friday, June 23, 2006
More Austrian Updates
So I survived the day of the funeral. It was at noon today. It was a very small affair with just a few relatives, mostly people I haven't seen in quite some time.
It was a very moving (I really had to hold back my tears a few times or I would have started bawling like a baby) and nice service and the luckily weather wasn't too bad either so we didn't get rained on and it wasn't too crazy hot either.
After the funeral we went to a nearby restaurant for lunch and a little get together. It was nice to eat traditional Austrian food again.
Tonight for dinner I had pizza. Ham, mushrooms and garlic. Very yummy. Now I am sooo full though. I don't know if I should have eaten this much but it's so hard to resist pizza.
Tomorrow I have my hair dresser appointment at 9 am. Afterwards we are having lunch at a traditional Heurigen (they serve different kinds of wine and some traditional food) and then grocery shopping so I can take some things back. I have already accumulated so much stuff ... I hope I won't have to pay extra for my bag on my return flight. :)
Posted by Hanna at 02:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Arrived safely
Here's a short update just to say that I have arrived safely. The flight was ok. We left NY about 1 1/2 hrs late but only arrived about 15 min late. I can't complain about the Austrian Airlines service at all and the food was ok too. I just hate flying overnight cause I can never get a good night's sleep and always end up being groggy and all.
It's almost 3 pm here but I can't really determine what time it really feels like. I was able to sit out in the garden already and might go swimming in our pool later. I know I should feel better tomorrow with the jetlag and all. We will see. The funeral is tomorrow so I am obviously not looking forward to that part of the day.
Posted by Hanna at 08:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Going away
Ok so I am leaving for Austria today. I am all packed and at work right now. Gonna leave work at about 2:30. The plane doesn't leave till 6:15 but you have to check-in 2 hours early plus I want to have something to eat at the airport before the flight.
I think this is gonna be a whirlwind trip. I have plans for pretty much every day that I am gonna be there. Let's hope I can fight the jetlag. And I hope the flight goes smooth. I am really not looking forward to the long flight. Oh well.
Not much else new really. I am bringing my leftover letters so hopefully I will be able to catch up on my mail while I am gone. I am also bringing a book and some magazines so we will see what I get done. :)
I will be back Monday night. Not sure if I will be able to update while I am gone. If I don't, see you all when I get back. :)
Posted by Hanna at 09:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Washington Pics
Ok finally here's the link to the pics we took in Washington DC in early June.
Click to see photos - you know you want to. :)
Hope you all enjoy them. Time for bed now ... even though I have barely got anything done. Tomorrow will be a busy day.
Posted by Hanna at 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
** HOT **
OMG what a HOT day. The picture on the left shows our car themometer when we got back into the car. It showed a 100F (approx. 37C).
Went to NYC today to watch a baseball game. NY Mets against the Baltimore Orioles. It was a fun game and the Mets won so that was good. :) Of course sitting in the scorching hot sun for 4 hours wasn't all that great but oh well. :) At least I know I am gonna sleep very well tonight - I am really worn out and tired.
After the game we headed to Times Square to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant Chevy's. YUM ! They have watermelon margaritas for the summer. I actually didn't get one cause I was too tired out from the sun but they sounded really good.
Short mail update. Received letters from Pamela/Florida, Barbara/Linz, Melanie/Ohio, Hayley/UK, Natalia/Poland, Steff/Maine and Lotte/Denmark. Replies going out tomorrow to: Melanie/Ohio, Hayley/UK, Natalia/Poland, Steff/Maine and Lotte/Denmark.
Also mailed letters to Kirsty/UK and Carmen/Germany last week Monday but never got around to updating about it. So you guys should have received those letters by now already. :)
Anyway, better get going so I can finish up some things. Still need to write out all the envelopes for my letters, need to make a to-do list so I don't forget anything for my Austria trip. And last but not least: Get some sleep. :)
Posted by Hanna at 09:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
May you both be united now and rest in peace
I received a call from my parents Monday afternoon to tell me that my grandmother had passed away. She was 86 years old. In a way it was sort of expected eventually since she was gradually going downhill. She was living at a nursing home and was having a lot of memory issues and just general dementia. But it was still a shock since I didn't really expected it to happen "just like that" out of the blue.
From what I have been told I guess she had lunch that day and when the nurse checked on her again she said she was looking pale and went to get the doctor but when the doctor checked she was already gone. I guess at least it was very quick and not painful.
I have decided to go to Austria for the funeral. I know it's a long trip but it just seems like the right thing to do. I am leaving next week Wed. (21st), arriving in Vienna Thursday morning. The funeral will be held on Friday at noon. I will stay until Monday (26th). It's a short trip and short notice fares to Europe are ridicously expensive but what are you gonna do ? You can't make plans for these kind of things.
The picture I have posted was taken in June 1980. I was not even a year old (hence the baby carriage). I was always very close to my grandparents while growing up. My grandfather would take me iceskating, to the circus, to the park, ... and I would bake cookies with my grandmother. My grandfather passed away when I was 15 so my grandmother outlived him by about almost 11 years. I hope they are together again and happy in heaven. May they rest in peace. :)
Posted by Hanna at 07:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Yay - Santa Barbara here we come !
Yay we booked our flights for July just now. I am so excited.
We are leaving Wednesday, July 19 and are coming back Monday, July 24. Well it's a red-eye so we really don't land back in CT until 6 am on Tuesday, 25th.
We are flying out of Hartford, CT which will help us save some money on parking. Plus it's a smaller airport and a bit easier to deal with. Our flight leaves at 7:15 am (ugh means we'll have to get up super early but oh well I guess) and connects in Salt Lake City. Then arrives at LAX at 2:09 pm.
On our way back it's a non-stop flight leaving LAX at 9:55 pm and arriving in Hartford at 6:10 am the next morning (just in time for work - ugh).
I am really excited right now - can you tell ? :) Anyway, very short mail update: Received letters from Charmaine/Malta, Angela/Virginia, Nicki/Australia, Carmen/Germany and Kirsty/UK. Letters already written (will mail Monday) to: Angela/Virginia and Nicki/Australia.
I know I still owe you pictures from Washington DC. Promise I'll upload those as soon as possible and post them for everyone. Ok ? :)
Posted by Hanna at 07:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Washington DC Update
A short post from Washington DC. Having a really great time so far.
We got to DC at about 5:30 pm last night (Fr). Headed to the hotel, checked in and then went out to dinner. We went to a really cool restaurant called "Grillfish". It was really yummy. After dinner we headed back to the hotel, had some drinks at the hotel bar and went back to our room.
Today we had breakfast at the hotel. Super expensive but good. Then went on to see 3 museums. We first went to the Air+Space Museum, then the American History museum and after that the Postal Museum. The postal museum is a much less known museum than the rest but I thought it was really neat. I love mail and everything that has to do with it so I thought it was really interesting and cool.
Had some drinks, wrote some postcards, headed back to the hotel for a bit and then went back out to meet some friends at the California Pizza Kitchen. We met up with Lexi and her boyfriend Steve who live in DC and also my two Austrian friends Elisabeth and Monika. They are doing an internship at the Austrian embassy in DC for 3 months. So it was great to meet up with them and see them as well.
Tomorrow we are off to the zoo. I love going to the zoo to see all the cute animals. I am excited to see the pandas as well. Yay. :)
Posted by Hanna at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Thursday, June 01, 2006
June ALREADY ?
I can't believe it's really June already. This year is flying by so quickly. On the other hand I am happy I guess. June, July and August are my favorite months. Well I like September and October too as the leaves change but it always has that feeling of "It's gonna get cold soon" hanging over you. I love the summer and the nice weather. Although having said that it can get so humid and brutally hot here in the Northeast sometimes .... but I guess you take the bad in with the good.
Anyway not all that much new since my last update. I managed to get done at noon on Monday. We headed to a local store that was having a big sale for Memorial Day and picked up two pairs of Converse sneakers for me. I have been dying to have some so I got a pink and a blue pair. I want to get a black & white one too but I'll pace myself and wait a little. :)
Short mail update: Sent letters out to Hayley/UK, Kirsty/UK, Jessica/Delaware, Pamela/Florida, Caroline/Scotland, Angela/Virginia and Natalia/Krakow. Also received a letter from Eunice/Malta.
Tomorrow we are heading down to Washington DC already. Yay. :) I am really looking forward to a few days away, even if it's just a Fr-Mon thing. It will be nice to get away, stay in a hotel, do some sightseeing, eat at new restaurants and just enjoy ourselves.
Posted by Hanna at 07:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack