(From Rob) Downtime with Dad: Gänsehäufel

Because Maddie and Will spend so much time off at the Kinderuni, I figure that I need to give them my full attention on the weekend. We all decided to head out to the Gansehaufel, or "Goose Island," a grand old Viennese public park and swimming facility that is on its own island in the Danube River. As you can see in the pic to the left, it was most recently re-designed in the 5o's, with loads of long changing rooms to keep the urban proletariat cool, happy, and ready to boost the economy.
The pools are, however, absolutely state-of-the-art stainless steel wonders. We visited the tiled Wave-pool, two big swimming pools, a waterslide, and a childrens' play area. It was scorching hot, and the perfect day for a plunge.



I only suggest trips to European swimming holes for those of our gentle readers who are not put off by this continent's casual relationship with bathing suits. Sometimes they are all there, as they should be, and sometimes, well...

Our favorite pasttime was jumping off a dock into the (green?) Danube over and over agian, and teaching Will-O to dive. Maddie was worried about hitting the fish that we could see below us.
We had bought ourselves a fantastic meal of fresh fruit and bread from the Naschmarkt, Vienna's glorious open-air market that is about a block away from our building. Maddie and Will love all of the cherries, pears, strawberries, currants and apricots that are in season right now (especially because our own cherries and apricots are rotting on our lawn at home). Here, Will works an old Magyar.

We also visited the Flea Market which you can see outside of my bedroom window. Here, the riches of the ages are for sale: Art-nouveau lamps, old books, antique dolls, etc. The kids are always disappointed that I don't buy them stacks of expensive junk. I usually only buy myself stacks of expensive junk. This time, we got away for very little money and promptly dropped our treasures somewhere in the U-bahn. Oh, well.

Comments

Mary Ann said…
It looks like lots of fun at the pool! I'm so glad you got to go swimming. I'm working on putting Madalicious in swim team during the year. Oh! and we have it on good authority from Tomas (or at least his secretary) that someone from his family has picked some of the fruit (less for you to mow once you return).
4:59 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mohr im Hemd

Image
I finally got up the nerve to try my own Mohr im Hemd. This was the dish that we always ordered if we found it on the menu. It translates as "The Moor and His Shirt" which is so politically incorrect that it isn't easy to find, even though it is a traditional Viennese dish. It is a steamed pudding, like the Christmas dessert I grew up on and it is very moist and very chocolate, though not as sweet as an American dessert. It was successful enough that Rob had me make it twice more in the same weekend. Happily, after learning how to make it, I feel less guilty about eating the stuff. How often does that happen? Here is the recipe I used, as opposed to the top secret family recipe that I don't even have, or the recipe from my Austrian cookbook that asks for 'gratified butter': MA's Mohr im Hemd 3 bread rolls, crusts removed and cubed 1 c milk 3/4 c unsalted butter 1/4 c sugar 8 oz best and darkest chocolate you can find 8 eggs 1/2 c sugar 1/2 c walnuts,
Read more

The Trip Home: A Report Card

Image
Our Itinerary: Stuttgart to Atlanta and Atlanta to Salt Lake. It was a good schedule, flying out at 11:00am and getting in at 9:00pm on the same day (flying back across 8 time zones too, so about 23 hours of travel door to door). German taxi driver: A+. cheerful, knowledgeable, efficient and with candy for the kids Stuttgart airport: C-. inefficient, poorly-designed, and not very helpful; had to show our passports 5 times in 5 different places. took 1 1/2 hours to process us from curb to gate. ugh. Delta: B-. The flight attendants all looked "rid hard & put away wet" and the bare bones service just can't keep up with their [government subsidized] European counterparts with their dewy-skinned attendants, steaming towels, toys for the kids, and gourmet meals instead of astronaut food served in foil pouches. They got us there and did it on time, but it feels more and more like riding on a bus with a lot of rules. German Family With Four Kids Who Sat Next To Us On The
Read more

Blue and Gold Cake Contest

Image
Have we mentioned that Rob is now the Cubmaster? It was something of a shock, but it has been great for getting the boys excited about scouting (and let's face facts: Rob and I are lukewarm at best on a paramilitary, homophobic, psuedo-Hitler Youth organization, so our boys were destined to embrace it wholeheartedly from the start). One of the first arguments that Rob ever won with his parents was over scouting. They had moved into a neighborhood with no other kids his age, and so his eagle project would have been almost entirely solo (with some help from his younger brother). He proposed that instead of getting his eagle, he work towards becoming a Sterling Scholar in foreign languages at OHS. His parents finally agreed, and he did make Sterling Scholar at OHS, and went on to become the statewide foreign language Sterling Scholar. So my husband is one merit badge and an eagle project shy of his eagle, which just so happens (Freudianly?) to be exactly the same as my brother, Mr. T
Read more