two weeks in vienna

today I've been here for two weeks. it doesn't feel like that at all: on one side it's like I'd just come and on the other side like I'd never been anywhere else.

last week the weather went mad. it rained for days like hell, in some parts of austria it even snowed. I tried to stay indoors as much as possible, outdoors I was wearing three layers of clothes and missing my gloves - early september! before coming here I wasn't sure whether I should take my jacket with me, but now I'm very happy I did it. after all, it not my plan to freeze to death in here. today the weather is much more convenient. thank god.

speaking of the devil, the pope was here, too. the news was all about the pope during the weekend. from our living room windows we were able to watch the helicopters circling in the sky.

on thurday I did some sightseeing. I had bought a week ticket for the public transport and I wanted to use it. so I travelled around the city. first I took the bus to the opera, then I changed to tram and after that I changed whenever I felt like it. I ended up to the other side of the danube where I took the tram back to the city. it was really nice, especially as the weather was horrible. I'll certainly do that again.

the whole weekend was a big celebration - harald turned 28 on saturday. so we ate and drank, drank and ate until we ate some more. marvellous!

now I need to start packing again. on wednesday I'm flying to sofia. I'll have 12 days time to travel around the balkans before flying back to vienna, I can only hope the weather will be favourable. this is the first time in years (or maybe ever?) that I'm not overly excited about a trip, it's just that I haven't been in vienna for long yet and everything is just starting to work out. on the other hand, it's good to have something to do. I've earned this holiday.