Happy 2015! The end of the year, with all its holiday festivities and busy activities always seems a bit like a funnel, which then spits you out sometime in mid-January not quite sure where the time has gone. I think especially being surrounded mostly by students further exaggerates this feeling, with everyone scattering across the globe at various points in December and then reconvening after the start of the new year.
The chandeliers on the Graben, which are some of my very favorite Christmas decorations in Vienna, and have only recently been dismantled and packed away for the next 11 months or so until they're hung up again.
We did manage a fairly proper belated Thanksgiving/early Christmas dinner with some friends here. An added bonus to not hosting the dinner on Thanksgiving meant that we could have the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade playing while we cooked thanks to the entire telecast somehow being on youtube. It's amazing to me how much easier this meal is to prepare than it was even just 2 years ago with the selection of American ingredients now more readily available at international grocery stores here.
The apparently universal position for watching football (aka soccer in this case) following a large holiday meal.
Karlskirche
Cozy Sunday afternoons in coffee houses
There are a few things about living here that I just simply don't do often enough, one of which being taking the train to Salzburg even just for the day. So one day in December a friend and I took advantage and headed out there to get even just a small dose of these gorgeous Alps.
The twinkling lights and glowing Christmas markets are an added bonus
And then I too went home for the holidays. This year was a shorter trip than last year, I was only in the States for about 2 weeks and just stayed in the NYC/CT area. Always nice to come home to this tree and relax at my Granny's for a while.
Time spent just soaking up these majestic city views as well.
The contrast between New York City and Vienna is still a bit jarring at times. New York can be crowded, loud, pushy, and completely exhausting for sure, and living in Vienna gets me out of practice of dealing with these things but it does still provide a unique rush and thrill just by being there.
Grand Central
St. Patricks
Several trips in and out of the city took me from CT to Brooklyn which gives these awesome views of Manhattan off the Whitestone Bridge. Just far enough away to get a slightly different perspective.
Away from the bustle of the big city and enjoying strolls around the town where I grew up in CT. I still love going in all these shops and places which also play a part in my earliest memories of being truly "independent" with friends by my side and allowance money in hand.
Just as I was leaving to head back to Austria, we finally got a bit of snow, which provided a perfect segue for the bit of snow on the ground when I returned to Vienna.
The rosebushes in Volksgarten protected from the elements
Although then pretty much just as quickly as the snow arrived, it was gone, and we've had fairly mild and windy weather for most of January.
And some gorgeous winter sunsets
One of the things I hadn't done the entire time I've been here is actually go inside the Kunsthistorisches Museum, so this past Saturday there was free entry for anyone with a yearly pass on the public transport (check). I'm really glad I took advantage of that, and amazingly it wasn't super crowded, even on a pretty grey Saturday.
I know I've said before how much life in Vienna seems to travel in these perfect circles each year, with seasons and months marked by special events which follow each other in a way that means there is always something exciting to look forward to. So now we're back around to the giant ice rink in front of the Rathaus opening again tomorrow and balls are again appearing on the calendar as are people in tuxes and gowns wandering around town on their way to these events. And I'm currently working to finish up my research project, still applying for permanent positions all over the world, and trying to check off more things on my Vienna to-do list while I'm still here!
