How Not To Freeze Your Ass In Vienna

As soon as I found out that Brad was not joining me on my annual Christmas trip to see my parents, I realized I needed to spice up my time there. Thankfully, my girlfriend Eva was in a similar situation (traveling from California to EU alone), so we joined the forces and planned our little side trip to Vienna. Traveling during the winter requires that you spend a lot of time indoors. Here is what you can do:

Visit Kunsthaus Wien

Unfortunately, we arrived in Vienna on Dec 27 -- a day after the Christmas market closed. However, we still found few interesting spots to visit. We saw a Henri Cartier-Bresson's photo exhibition at the Kunsthaus Wien. You can also check out the Hundertwasserhaus that is only a few blocks away.

Drink Alcohol

When visiting Vienna in the winter, you have to:

1. eat lots of hot roasted chestnuts (sold on streets)
2. drink lots of glühwein (this mulled wine is also sold on streets)
3. warm up in the Peterskirche

We lucked out and visited the Peterskirche (St. Peter's Church) during a choir practice. Yeah! Free concert!

Stay Warm In Belvedere

We spent one entire day at the baroque Belvedere. The Upper Belvedere was being transformed for the upcoming New Year's party that was going to be broadcasted to millions people all over the world. The national TV was busy preparing the place and artificially lighting the palace through the windows.

This is the view of the Lower Belvedere, showing an exhibit on Josef Hoffman's interior design while the Upper Belvedere was displaying Gustav Klimt's paintings.

This is us, the three ass freezing museum-goers.

Upper Belvedere has some amazing chandelliers.

Stay Close To The Ubahn

Our hotel was located only two blocks from the Vienna City Hall, in a Josefstadt district. The Ubahn station was only couple of minutes away. Such details start making a difference if it gets below freezing.

The usual hotel ceiling self portrait.

I had to take a photo of this Funkhaus for Brad. Only German speaking people can put "funk" and "haus" into one word!

The winter decoration in Viennese homes reminded me of my years at the elementary school.

Visit The Opera

We ended the trip at a Viennese Opera and watched The Marriage of Figaro. We arrived at the Opera ten minutes before the opera started, rushed to the cloakroom and bathroom, and arrived to our seats at 6:59pm. As one can only expect, the timely Austrians started the show at 7:00pm to the point.

Our party of two quickly grew to a party of four. Viennese Opera is one efficient operation! You go in, the show starts on time, you go out, you take a photo, and then they start sweeping people towards the exit doors. The Opera was empty fifteen minutes after the show.

I'm saying goodbye with a postcard I saw at the Kunsthaus Wien. Happy New Year everyone!

Mulled Wine -- A Recipe To Winter Happiness

If you are stuck in a house with certain family members you are not particularly fond of, here comes your rescue!

What you need 

• one bottle of red wine
• 2-3 cups of water
• 1 cup of rum
• 10 cloves
• 10 pieces of allspice
• one cinnamon stick
• one orange (or other citrus), halved
• honey to taste

Put all ingredients (except for honey) in a saucepan and heat for 20 minutes. Make sure it never boils. Before serving, sweeten to taste with honey and garnish with a stick of cinnamon or a slice of orange. I also like to squeeze in what's left of the orange. Enjoy!

Thanks to my dear friend Dana for the recipe! :)

Hello From The Crosses

Don't get fooled by our badass angry elf looks. We are really quite sweet, innocent, and bublibicious. And we want to share some holiday love with you! May you be surrounded by those who love you, may you be healthy, and may the year 2012 bring you great challenges and rewards!

Special thanks to Gimp, Adobe LightRoom, and Picasa! 

Holiday Chillax Activity: Twirly Paper Ornaments

In this "how to" installment, I'll teach you how to make twirly paper ornaments -- the bublibicious ones that everyone will love. They look great suspended in front of your bathroom mirror, on a glass sliding door (to save people from walking through the glass). They look great alone, or (if you are in a incarcerated or stuck in a never ending blizzard) you can make many of these and shower the whole Christmas tree with them.

What you need

• one sheet of thick paper
• a bowl filled with water
• scissors
• paper glue (or a double-sided tape) 

Steps

1. Cut about 4-5mm thick stripes along the long edge of the paper (the longer the better). Cut about six of them at first. You can always cut more once you decide you need more.

2. Take a stripe and dip it in the water. Don't let it soak. Take it out as soon as you put it in. I usually run the stripe between my fingers to remove any excess water.

3. Roll the wet stripe into a spiral.

4. Put the wet spiral on a flat surface to dry.

5. Repeat steps 2 to 4 for each stripe.

6. Drink a cup of hot spiced wine while you wait for your spirals to dry. If you are under 18, get some hot cider.

7. Once the spirals are dry (in about 10 minutes), they will keep their shape. Arrange them in any way you like. If you are happy with the look, start gluing the parts that touch each other.

8. Voila! Your ornament is done! Hang it on a thin string (I use a thin thread) at an eye level for people to admire. Hang it high enough to keep it away from evil destructive little hands of small children. The ornament is quite delicate and needs to be handled gently and later stored in a sturdy box. I would love to see your creations in the comments!

Three Delicious Days In Vancouver

As of this writing, I have been up for 24 hours. I left Vancouver yesterday morning, and arrived in Vienna just few hours ago. I am desperately trying to keep my eyes open and go to bed when locals go to bed. If this blog makes no sense, blame it on the jet-lag. But I have to do something to keep me awake.

Now, back to Vancouver. How awesome is this view from the 34th floor or my friend's appartment!

The view is just as breathtaking at night. It makes an amazing backdrop in the living room.

This hipster coffee shop reminds me of San Francisco Mission District. The hipsters even wear the same clothes and ride the same bikes.

Dana and Phil kept talking about this burger bar called "Stack House". I was expecting something more fast foodey, but was pleasantly surprised by my three little crab sliders. Heaven. (the photo on the right is from a different joint, I just loved the creepy look on the hot dog and had to include it in this post)

Vancouver is a very puppy friendly place. This huge furry poodle mix made Dana's day. She wanted to come back to this store to pet the dog again, but I pulled her away. We could have spent the whole day there.

Since I firmly believe that fish and visitors do smell after three days, I promptly rolled out after three days and left these two love birds alone. But I'll be coming back (and bring my man with me next time)!