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Friday, December 29, 2006
Up, up and away (again)
I can't believe our next vacation has really come up this quickly. We are off to Miami Beach tomorrow already. I am of course excited but can't shake that usual feeling that I am forgetting something, either packing-wise or at work. But then again, what else is new ?
I am packed and should be getting to bed soon because I need to get up at 2:30 am. Our flight leaves at 7:00 out of JFK in NY so we need to drive there, park the car, check-in etc.
We are meeting up with my friends Kirsty & Laraine in Miami, spending New Year's Eve there, then we are heading on to San Antonio/Texas on Jan. 1st. Going to meet up with my parents there (they are on vacation and spending 2 weeks in Texas). We will be back in the evening on Jan. 7th.
PS: Short mail update. Since my last update letters went out to: Caroline/Scotland and Carmen/Malta. Still owe replies to: Michelle/Winnipeg, Nadine/Tenerife, Melanie/OH, Carmen/Germany, Kirsty/UK, Nicole/CH, Barbara/Linz, Jetta/Finland, Pamela/FL, Rebecca/FL, Lena/Germany, Liz/Taiwan, Nina/WA, Charmaine/Malta, Syvill/PA, Kimber/Canada and Charles/TN. I know I am still really behind- Gonna try and catch up while we are away - we will see how that goes.
Posted by Hanna at 08:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Merry Christmas :)
Merry Christmas to everyone ! :)
Had a very nice Christmas. We opened our gifts in the morning . Mike's sister Kristina and her two kids Shannon (16) and Erik (14) came over. Santa was very good to me. :)
Mike got me a really cool gadget. It's a wireless radio that can play any radio station that streams via the internet. So that means right now I am listening to Austria's OE3 station which is kind of funny to me. Yesterday I was listening to England's BBC Radio 1. The options are limitless. You can check out the link here.
Other things I received: Christmas tree ornaments, a decorative pillow, tea (yay), stationery, notecards, candles, chocolate, ...
In the afternoon we went over to Mike's aunt's house and spent the afternoon there. The picture on the left is of their tree - very pretty. Had dinner there and went home around 6:30 pm. Talked to my parents who are in Texas right now and also to my friends out in CA.
Short mail update. No letters written so far unfortunately. Still owe replies to: Michelle/Winnipeg, Nadine/Tenerife, Melanie/OH, Carmen/Germany, Kirsty/UK, Nicole/CH, Barbara/Linz, Jetta/Finland, Pamela/FL, Rebecca/FL, Lena/Germany, Liz/Taiwan, Caroline/Scotland, Nina/WA, Charmaine/Malta, Syvill/PA, Kimber/Canada, Charles/TN and Carmen/Malta. I know I am hopelessly behind - sorry.
Posted by Hanna at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Sunday, December 24, 2006
NYC Christmas Magic
Following our Christmas tradition that we have created over the years we went to see the tree in front of Rockefeller Center yesterday. We usually go every year and even though it's always super crazy (sooo many people) it's fun.
Went to see the tree and then went to eat at Arturo's in the Village (the best pizza in the world). After our pizza we walked back uptown. It's quite a walk but it was such a nice evening I didn't mind. It's been really warm, much warmer then it should be for the season. They had the fountain going behind the ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center and we even saw an ice cream truck. How crazy is that ?
Here's the link to the rest of our NYC pictures. Take a peek.
All the gifts are wrapped and under the tree. Tonight we are doing a Seinfeld marathon and having some yummy food. It's our Christmas Eve tradition to have appetizers/hors d'evrs and watch some shows. We got chips + salsa, veggies + dip and cheese + crackers. Plus a bottle of wine. :)
Short mail update. Over the past 2 days I have written letters to: Steff/Maine, Celia/MA, Kirsty/UK, Lene/UK, Maartje/Holland, Jessica/DE and Becki/MI. Still owe replies to: Michelle/Winnipeg, Nadine/Tenerife, Melanie/OH, Carmen/Germany, Kirsty/UK, Nicole/CH, Barbara/Linz, Jetta/Finland, Pamela/FL, Rebecca/FL, Lena/Germany, Liz/Taiwan, Caroline/Scotland, Nina/WA, Charmaine/Malta, Syvill/PA, Kimber/Canada and Carmen/Malta. I know I am hopelessly behind - sorry.
Posted by Hanna at 07:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Sunday, December 17, 2006
It's beginning to feel a lot like ...
... Christmas: ) I spent most of the day today wrapping all my gifts. I only have to wrap a few more things that are still coming in the mail this week but otherwise I'm all done. Yay. :)
We decorated our tree the weekend before we left so I can happily enjoy our tree with the wrapped gifts underneath it and relax. Well, I still have to catch up on my mail but I'll try and do that during the week I guess.
Short mail update. No mail has gone out. :( Received letters from/owe replies to: Michelle/Winnipeg, Lene/UK, Tizz/Holland, Melanie/OH, Steff/ME, Kirsty/UK, Kimber/CAN, Celia/MA, Becki/MI, Nina/WA and Carmen/Malta. Hope I am not forgetting anyone.
Here's a rundown on everything we did during our Austria trip for anyone that is interested. :)
Wednesday, December 6: Arrived in Vienna via Frankfurt. Didn't do all that much that day. Went downtown and walked around a bit to stay awake.
Thursday, December 7: Had lunch at the "Running Sushi" restaurant in downtown Vienna. I always love going back there. It's so yummy. Then met with my friend Johannes and went to the Christmas Market at Spittelberg. Walked around, had some mulled wine/punch and then had some coffee/tea in a nearby cafe.
Afterwards we met up with my friend Andrea and her husband Markus at the Christmas market in front of Schönbrunn Palace. I think that is still my favorite market. It is not as crowded plus it's really pretty set against the palace.
Had dinner at Crossfield's - a fun Australian restaurant/pub in downtown Vienna.
Friday, December 8: Went back to Schönbrunn Palace to tour the inside of the palace. Then met up with my friend Caroline at the Christmas market in front of the Rathaus (city hall). There were SO many people there due to it being a national holiday. We gave up on the market soon and went to a cafe instead.
Had dinner at Billabong's, another Australian pub.
Saturday, December 9: Went to St. Pölten (about 45 min from Vienna). Got my hair done at my old hairdresser (perm and red color). Mike and Shannon took a ride to Mariazell in the meantime. After I was done we all went to the monastery in Melk with my parents. Had lunch and then took a tour there. Afterwards we met up with my friend Anneliese back in St. Pölten. Went to two Christmas markets there but when the weather turned really drizzily we returned back to her apartment and had some wine and Christmas cookies.
Had dinner at Maredo - a yummy Argentinian restaurant - back in Vienna. And drinks at Sparky's.
Sunday, December 10: Had lunch with my parents at a Heurigen. Afterwards went to the Hundertwasser Haus in Vienna. Then went to the Prater to take a ride on the Ferris Wheel. It definitely is an experience nobody visiting Vienna should miss. The views are great. I am not a big fan of heights so my stomach was in knots the whole time but what can you do ? Afterwards went to the Christmas market in front of the Belvedere Castle. Had dinner at an Italian restaurant downtown.
Monday, December 11: Went to Salzburg for the day. (about 3 hour drive) Walked around downtown, along the Getreidegasse and up to the fortress Hohensalzburg. Explored the Christmas market and had dinner at Maredo.
Tuesday, December 12: Went back to the Hundertwasser Haus to take pictures of it during daylight. Met up with my friend Barbara at the Christmas market in front of the Karlskirche. Walked around there and then walked over to the new market between the museums.
Afterwards went over to the Mariahilferstrasse, a long shopping street, and then back to the Christmas market in front of city hall. Had dinner at Sparky's.
Wednesday, December 13: Took the train to Bratislava/Slovakia for the day (only a 1 hr trip). It was definitely an experience to be in Bratislava. The old town city center has some very pretty old buildings along with a Christmas market. We did some sightseeing, walked around and took pictures. There was definitely a shortage of people that spoke German/English which made things somewhat interesting. At lunch we only had a menu in Slovakian so we had to make the best of it but did ok with guessing what things where. :)
Had dinner at Crossfield's when we got back to Vienna.
Thursday, December 14: And already it was time to get on a plane and fly back to the US. Our trip went by so quickly. :(
Pictures will follow soon. Will try and post them some time during the week.
Posted by Hanna at 08:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Friday, December 15, 2006
I'm back :)
I'm back. :) Sorry I didn't make any posts at all while we are on vacation. I usually try to update while we are gone but we were so busy and always on the go. I just wanted to say I am back and had a really great time. :) I am slowly catching up with everybody's blogs and letters so please be patient with me. If anything exciting happened while I was gone make sure to fill me in. :)
And happy belated birthday to Kirsty of course. Have you tried the tea I sent yet ? I hope you like it. :)
I am going to make a detailed post about everything we did while we were in Austria soon - promise - along with pictures. We took A LOT of pictures so you will get to see them all soon.
Right now I am really tired and jetlagged. We were wide awake and at work at 6:30 am this morning but now it's not even 8 pm in the evening and I am dragging like crazy. Oh well. LOL.
I am excited about the new Sims 2 expansion pack "Seasons" that is coming out in the spring. The Sims will finally be able to have seasons. Rain, snow, leaves blowing around ... I am so excited. :)
Short mail update. Since my last update letters went out to: Lexi/DC, Nadine/Tenerife, Charles/TN, Nova/UT, Tiffany/OK and Alex/Germany. Received letters from/owe replies to: Michelle/Winnipeg, Lene/UK, Tizz/Holland, Melanie/OH, Steff/ME, Kirsty/UK, Kimber/CAN, Celia/MA and Carmen/Malta. Hope I am not forgetting anyone.Posted by Hanna at 08:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Ready to go ?
I thought this Garfield cartoon was very cute and very fitting. This is what ALWAYS happens to me when I am trying to read a book or write letters or anything else like that. It usually only takes Oliver a few minutes to figure out that I am sitting on the couch with a blanket over my lap. Cats ! :)
So we're all packed (as always I am wodnering what I am forgetting). We are going to leave for the airport in a little less than an hour. Gonna try and get there early so we can make sure we have enough time to sit down, have a bite to eat and still get through security stress-free.
Short mail update. Since my last update letters went out to: Syvill/PA, Celia/MA, Jo/UK and Lotte/Denmark. Still owe replies to: Michelle/Winnipeg, Nova/UT, Alex/Germany, Nadine/Tenerife, Lene/UK, Tiffany/OK, Charles/TN, Melanie/OH, Tizz/Holland and Lexi/DC. Hope I am not forgetting anyone.
Posted by Hanna at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack