Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh, Vienna. The trips to visit Esther and Kristian over the past year have truly felt like "holidays" (vs. the eye-on-the-clock quality of all visits in Bergamo). Last week, I ran away from work and met Filippo in our favourite getaway city for 4 perfect, beautiful days. Here, Esther and I are taking a break in Schönbrunn, a palace surrounded with about 1 square km of manicured gardens, leafy trails and a hedge maze!!! Beat that!!! At the far end of the main garden, directly across from the Palace, is the "Gloriette", where you can stop for a view of the whole city and drink a super-thick hot chocolate...(it's like pudding: your spoon stands up in your mug!)
Ok, I totally stole this photo from the website, but had to give you a sense of what I'm talking about. The little duck sitting next to the reflection pool below, however, is an Esther Original. We loved how her closed eyelid makes a beige polka dot. 
Though Kristian tries to point out the annoying (read: ultra socialist) aspects of his city, I am sooooo in love with its efficiency and cleanliness...ok, maybe these characteristics wouldn't be the main selling points in a tourist leaflet, but you don't understand how important they are until you've gone without for a long period of time. (no comment)Esther's best friend (Enrica) flew in from Sicily for the weekend to see her boyfriend (Andy), which made us a group of three inter-cultural couples. Kristian (Austrian), Andy (Hungarian/Swedish) and I started drafting a guide called "Survive and Thrive in Your Relationship With an Italian". Among other hints, it advocates the use of helpful phrases as "Mmm, I remember," instead the potentially volatile/incriminating "Yes, it* was great,"...
*the problem word is "it" in this case, because your Italian might've been referring to a person or to a place you have never actually been. Very sneaky.
So, on that note, I'll close with a selection of group photos taken on our field trip in Wachau, a rich grape-growing region along the Danube, whose castles and tiny foot traffic only hamlets kind of remind me of the Rhine/Mosel Valley. We had lots of time to enjoy the local wine while waiting for almost 2 hours to be served lunch --"efficiency" doesn't apply when the restaurant is in a family home. That, of course, is understood...and perfectly fine by me.
The Extended Group: Myra (Mexico) and Kristof (Austria) are one step ahead of the rest of us, having produced piccola Annelie!
These look like gingerbread houses to me.
Rosy cheeks waiting for another hot chocolate.