Seasons

Somehow nearly an entire season has come and gone since I last posted anything.  Certainly not for a lack of activities and celebrations, and not for lack of thinking about it, but I guess it's been a bit of a hectic season of ups and downs that was hard to capture appropriately in the right photos and words.  But every time I think I'll just stop trying to keep a record of things, I end up going back and looking something up in here and I'm thankful to have it.  So here's some attempt at highlighting a few things from these 2 months.

It started off with a trip to Croatia to see these two dear friends get married.  It was a wedding unlike any I've ever been to, with so many unique traditions to this region, but ultimately filled with family, good food, dancing, and lots of love.

Autumn in Vienna tends to often be very grey and cloudy, but occasionally we get these gorgeous blue sky days with all the colors on the trees.  My new u-bahn station is above ground and allows me to have this view of Kahlenberg after years of looking at Vienna from up there instead.

And then I turned 30.  It was the most wonderful 4 days of celebrations, of large group activities and dancing, of quiet dinners with one or two friends, and enjoying these people and this city I love so much.

A somewhat cloudy day trip to Krems on that birthday weekend as well.

Stephansplatz

For Halloween we spent part of our evening up in the vineyards with some live music and bonfires at the season closing party at one of our favorite Heurigen.

More gorgeous fall colors in Vienna

And then, as the days start to get shorter and the leaves fall, we moved on to the Christmas season around here.  It always feels a bit rushed that Christmas markets open mid-November, but I'll gladly take the full 6 weeks or so before Christmas.

A friend and I were standing here at this new Christmas market in Michaelerplatz, and had one of those moments where you look around and realize you're standing at the gate of a palace, drinking hot wine, while horses and carriages trot past and someone is playing gorgeous classical music on a cello nearby.  It's still a bit surreal sometimes.

Stephansplatz

Schönbrunn

A quick trip to Linz for some hockey, Christmas Markets, and general good times.  I'm not sure it's very visible in this picture, but there is a cruise ship sailing down the Danube, just like the one my family and I took 5 and a half years ago on this exact route.  I looked again at pictures from that trip and I have one which is almost exactly this picture, standing in Linz on the banks of the river at night trying to capture the buildings all lit up.  I could never have imagined then that I would call Austria home and have reason to visit Linz often.   

Christmas market in Linz's Hauptplatz 

And now back in Vienna for the next 3 weeks until I fly back to NYC for Christmas and New Years.  The project I've been working on with the Chamber of Commerce and my thesis supervisor has been extended again until mid-February, so while I wasn't sure for a while what the new year would bring, I will in fact be using the return ticket I purchased.  I think most of my friends knew there was no way I would let a return ticket go unused, but there was a time a few weeks ago that I thought I might have to.  So I continue to apply for jobs all over, meeting with people and trying to line something more permanent up.  I suppose I have no idea where the next year will take me or the next season for that matter, I guess we hardly ever do for sure, but I'm excited to see what's in store.