Sunday, 5/29 - travel day

We all got up early today. Rebecca made a beautiful breakfast for us, pretty well using up all our food. Last night, I paid for the dinner party in cash, leaving me with the equivalent of about $4.00 in Czech money. So we were pretty efficient in both of those areas.

Blossom and Lauren got in a cab to the airport at 9:00 A.M. And Rebecca and I walked out at 9:30. I took a few pictures of the apartment before I left. 

The train station was packed!

Rebecca sat down to study maps while I scouted the station.

Fast food croissants!

Then, all of a sudden, we were on our way. Here I am, enjoying a coffee in the dining car.

Up in the sky, a plane was pulling a glider.

When we got to Vienna, we took a cab to our apartment, made a shopping list (mostly for breakfast items), and set out to find the market. We found it closed, so instead we found coffee and dessert. I had apfelstrudl, and Rebecca had chocolate and vanilla torte. 

Mmmm, yum. Here's the place.

Here's a dog who likes the place, too.

After that, we had the energy needed to locate, and walk to, a grocery that was open on Sunday. We got our groceries, and managed to walk past the Opera House, and return through the Hofburg Palace Complex. Concerned that Rebecca might have a blister starting, we decided to eat near our apartment. I looked out the front window, and this is what I saw.

That's where we ate, and it was really good! While we were eating, Rebecca decided that the shoes she changed into were friendlier to her feet, and so we took just a little walk after dinner. It's a beautiful neighborhood, but I'll report on it in the days to come - after we, tour, explore, and study.

But for those of you with even a rudimentary knowledge of Yiddish, I suspect you'll be amused by this, as I was.

And, even more amazingly:

For the non-Yiddish speakers, let me explain. In Yiddish, schmuck literally means the male genitalia. But it is used as a strong pejorative to mean obnoxious jerk or idiot. And alter means old. So I was genuinely perplexed. I mean it doesn't make sense to have a fancy gallery and a fancy jewelry store, in a really expensive part of town, called "the Old Prick." Does it?!

Well, as it turns out, yes it does. You see, Yiddish and German are not the same. It turns out that in German, a schmuck is an adornment - especially, but not only, in jewelry. Christmas tree ornaments are called schmucks, for example. Who knew?!