last night, again, attempted to get caught up in my journal, which is now some 2+ weeks behind. nice huh? but per usual, i got interrupted. a group of girls invited me down to some outdoor festival here in vienna that i didn't even know was happening, so naturally, i HAD to go... ended up being just a wonderful outdoor thingy, with food booths from all over the world, all kinds of authentic looking things to eat and drink. and on a huge tv screen, they were playing la belle by tchaikovsky, and it was completely captivating. i just stood and stared for over an hour. and this goes on for the whole month.. tonight is an opera night, verdi's la traviata i think.. i'm quite excited.. the city is BEAUTIFUL at night..
and then today to the giantest FLEA MARKET, which was well, a flea market. lots of crap really, but interesting crap. its from all over the world. and a lovely regular produce (and kebab) market right next to it as well. oh how i do love just meandering through markets.. except this one was a little forward, make eye contact and you may as well get your money out.. makes me wonder what "worse" is, in places like the bazaars in instanbul. crazy..
then off to schloß schönbrunn, the grand summer palace of the hofburgs (of hofburg dynasty fame).. aparently, the only palace in europe to even come close to rivaling verseille. i would tend to agree.. not QUITE as over the top, but pretty darn amazing. at times i liked it better, personally. except for the hot factor. thats gotta go.
and now its still hot, and the internet place has ac, so i'm relaxing.. gonna spend the rest of the day in some cafe, or in some park, because i MUST get some writing done.. next up is budapest, and i KNOW that i won't get anything accomplished there. i'm probably going to stay here an extra day or two, just so i can do just that, relax and get caught up..
and now, some pictures for your enjoyment... sort of the "best" of the past month or so, since i last posted pictures.. again, you'll have to tilt your head or the monitor or something on quite a few of them, as they're sideways.. aaand, most are of people, not places. this round i selected a bunch so that i could post them and email them out to peoples... i'm currently uploading ALL of the rest of them, which have all the pretty scenery and buildings and such... soooooooo....
the newest pictures can be found starting at the bottom of this page:
click here for the latest and greatest pictures... and here's a few of mi favoritas..