ahhhoooo werewolves of london

current location: islington, london, united kingdom
local standard time: 23:10
buses taken today: more than one, less than 20...

and so my trip is slowly coming full circle! after delays in vienna (the computer system at the airport failed which resulted in being checked in by hand and then an hour sitting on the plane waiting for "the paperwork" to get done) i arrived in london, waited an eternity for my backpack, was sent to the wrong train, but eventually found my way to my cousin maria's house. the detour i took on the trains landed me at kings cross station and like a good harry potter fan i made my way to platform 9 and 3/4 (picture to follow). i had to ask someone working at the station where the platform was (it's been moved) and unlike in the books he was very helpful and pointed me in the right direction with a smile! it was nice to chat with maria and then i settled into bed happy to be one step closer to home.

i set out this morning without much of a plan for my day besides 'buy bus ticket. ride buses.' the weather was a perfect temperature: warm with a wonderful breeze to cool off and i, feeling decidedly bill bryon-esk (i read his 'notes on a small island' about his travels in england in july), was content to see where the wind blew me. my first stop was the info station across from st. paul's cathedral. i picked up a bunch of pamphlets and leafed through them on a bench across from the cathedral stopping at intervals to marvel at the building in front of me. i ended up not going inside because the price of a ticket was very high but i did sit for a little while in a small side chapel which was nice despite the dim roar of people in line to get into the main cathedral. i then headed to the museum of london which i had read had some interesting sounding free exhibits. turns out the whole museum is free and had some great exhibits including roman and medieval london, the great fire of 1666, the anti-apartheid movement, and a few others as well. i didn't go on the free tour but i did loiter near the group for a while and heard some interesting facts about the objects on display (did you know that rich romans basically had radiant floor heating!? yea, neither did i!). having worked in the science museum in boston i find it really interesting to look at what other museums are doing to engage children. the museum of london had a couple of different dress up areas relevant to what was in the section (different fireman helmets in the fire of 1666 exhibit, medieval clothing in medieval exhibit) as well as places to feel what the roman tiled floor felt like etc.

with a growling stomach i made my way back to the marks and spencer i had seen near the cathedral for the much anticipated egg and cress sandwich (i have actually been thinking/talking about how excited i am for one for a few days now). i emerged from the store after jostling my way through (it was packed!) with what is probably going to go down in the annals as one of the best ever supermarket lunches ever. not only did i come away with a 'free range egg & watercress' sandwich but i also found 'thai green curry (rice) crackers' and nectarines... close to perfect :) i made my way across the millennium bridge with my loot and had a lovely little picnic outside the tate modern and then made my way back across the bridge and got onto the first double decker bus to stop at the station i had found.

i spent the rest of the afternoon getting on and off buses when something caught my eye or my feet got tired (took a look at the london tower and bridge from afar) and then slowly made my way back to maria's. she and i had a lovely meal at a delicious vietnamese restaurant where we talked about family and i heard stories/the gossip about all the different cousins and great aunts/uncles.

tomorrow promises to be another full day: i am meeting up with another cousin, caroline (who i saw very briefly in vienna), and we are going to spend the day together doing whatever strikes our fancy.

and then: HOME! i only need to sleep twice more and then i will be homeward bound. yay yay yay yay!!

hope everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer.
peace
agnes

p.s. pictures to follow

epic fail on the update front

current location: vienna, austria
local standard time: 12.10am
return: t minus 6 days and counting

as can obviously been seen, i have not updated since the end of june for which i am really and truly sorry! i meant to update numerous times throughout the last two months (i even have a "blog about this" list) so please know that my lack of action is not due to unwillingness but rather distractions and in some cases scarceness of internet.

and so i will now attempt to fill you in on what i have been up to if at all possible... i realize before i begin that the attempt will be feeble and in no way make up for the void i left, but it's the best i got :) so here goes:

the end of june found me returning to vienna, my beloved city, and my god mothers apartment. i spent my first week back being a bum. i read and watched movies and napped until i began to feel a bit trapped in the apartment and decided i should really move my butt! renate and willie left for four weeks of vacation shortly after i arrived and were kind enough to let me stay during their absence, my only duties being to water the plants and bring up the mail... a wonderful arrangement if you ask me!

one of my first stops outside of vienna was to a little village called paudorf to visit friends friedl, peter, and sarah theresa. friedl was celebrating her birthday and i was lucky enough to be able to attend the party which ended in a camp fire in which delicious chocolate filled bananas were roasted! i then spend the weekend reading and catching up. we also looked at old pictures and i heard stories about my parents in their younger days which i always love! it reminds me that my parents had lives and existed before me... hard to believe but true! :)

i decided that a bike would help with motivating me to get out and see more and was able to find a really good used bike online which i picked up about the second weekend of july and had a wonderful time going for rides with friends thomas and rosi as well as exploring vienna on my own. i was so fortunate to get to spend so much time with thomas and rosi who fed me far too much delicious food, took me swimming and for bike rides, fixed my bikes rear light bulb and generally took wonderful care of me! thomas is another person i have known since i was a tiny pink thing! he baptized me and has always been an uncle in my mind. i feel so lucky that i got to see him and rosi so much!

another train ride landed me in maria anzbach where i spent several days with the amann family (lars, vroni, niko, toby, mathea, and lola) relaxing, sitting in the pool, reading, and enjoying getting to know the two newest members of the family: mathea and the puppy lola. Marillen Knödel (apricot dumplings) were devoured with delight as was harry potter 7 which i reread with a fury... two days is my personal record!

so i returned to vienna with niko who came with me to see the premiere of harry potter and the half blood prince in english. i absolutely loved the movie and was glad to have company as i was missing my little sis. i went to see it again a few days later with the same reaction... i am really not hard to make happy sometimes!
by a stroke of luck i was able to see the world/inferno friendship society (a punk/ska/rock-with-saxophone band and my favorite to boot) play live here in vienna. it was an absolutely amazing show which reminded me why i love their music so much and i can't wait to hear them play live again!

i made my way back to friedl and peter's in paudorf and then drove with them to their summer house in waidhofen. it was a hot couple of days and we spent a lot of time swimming in the ybbs, a very cold river that runs behind friedl's mothers house. we had a good time taking boat rides and going for ice cream to cool off and made it through the hottest day of the summer! On friday the 24th we all piled into the car and headed for linz to the pflasterspektakel, a huge festival showcasing street performances from around the world. we saw musical acts as well as acrobatics, clowning and juggling and many people on stilts. the main street was closed down and we were able to wander freely from act to act... a really neat idea done well and extremely enjoyable!!

i returned to vienna for a night before getting back into a train and heading for maria alm, about a five hour trip. i arrived at the farm of cousins who's main product is milk but who's real love is breeding horses. i spent an amazing week and a half there hanging out with cousins, helping as much as i could, riding when possible (something i have not done in a few years and have sorely missed), attending the weekend "musifest" (music festival... one of my cousins, andreas [picture], was played in the festival which i didn't realize until he walked by us with the marching band!), and even spending the night on their alm where i witnessed the birth of a calf and got to milk a cow! as it happens the calf was born on my pop's birthday... happy birthday dad and baby cow!! i really enjoyed my time in maria alm and the chance to be with family and plan to return soon for a longer stay as everyone begged me not to leave!

i was generously given a ride by another distant cousin, barbara, to my next destination: the attersee. i spent a few lovely sunny, warm days reading, swimming, and enjoying the company of more distant cousins, wolfgang, suzanne, and katy. there is not much to tell as we really spent time relaxing in the sun. i did get stung by a wasp which was mightily unpleasant but i survive and avoided a repeat incident. after a few days of yummy food and browner skin (despite frequent sun screen applications) wolfgang brought me to my final destination:

obertruan. i was thrilled to be back as i have many fond memories from childhood in obertruan including counting snails, and being taken for cart rides. i was visiting the rudolf family: christine, klaus, florian, and lukas. christine is my mums best and oldest friend. she is the daughter of my grandmothers best friend and her two boys are some of my oldest friends. klaus had a great time showing me the area as well as working on his english while christine ('matra substituta' as mummy would say) and i caught up. florian and lukas (three and one year older respectively) convinced me to try out the slackline, a sport they are both really into and good at, and even gave me a slackline kit (designed by florian) to bring home and set up at school! it's a really fun sport that everyone can participate in and i can't wait to share it everyone at home!!


i am currently back in vienna enjoying my last days here, visiting as many people as i can and generally enjoying myslef! i spent yesterday with my birthday twin, lukas, at a water ramp ski place where you ski down and land in the danube. it's used to practice free style ski jumping and although i didn't try it myself it was fun to watch... plus there was a trampoline so i was happy! it was fun to hang out with one of my oldest friends and catch up on life. today was once again great and spent with another person who has known me literally my entire life: my god mother renate. we went to Orth where we enjoyed the exhibit on the nature found along and in the danube (except for the section entitled life and death which, believe it or not, included dead smelling animals... i kid you not). We enjoyed and amazing fish lunch and then went to visit renate's niece, katy who works near the (blanking on the name) lake where we had a nice swim.

although i am looking forward to being home, i also know that i will have a hard time leaving! i am already planning my return which makes leaving easier. to be honest though, i have been missing my family and friends terribly in the last few weeks and going home at this point feels just right :)

thanks for reading!
peace,
a

n.b. i realize nothing is capitalized as it should be but i am feeling rather lazy at this late hour and may correct it later!