Gemötlichkeit

Jeff and I returned Wednesday from a week alone in Vienna. In short, we had a wonderful time. Jeff keeps in touch with some friends from high school via a website and the text below is what he wrote for his high school friends. I'll let his sweet sentimentality paint a picture of romance before I weigh in with my more pragmatic side . . .

Yeah, I guess we did spend a few days in Orlando without the kids a couple years ago -- when we lived within easy driving distance. What can I say? We're fortunate to have Sara's parents, who (a) are retired, (b) live within driving distance of Long Island, (c) have no other grandchildren, and (d) understood how much we needed a break from life, the universe, and everything. We had enough frequent flyer miles to cover the airfare, I found a studio apartment--with a kitchen--in an outlying district of Vienna that we could stay in for 65 Euros a night, and we didn't do much that cost money. We carried a loaf of bread and a chunk of cheese around with us, made pasta for dinner, and only ate out a few times. We spent more time walking through castle gardens than castles. We got $2 standing-room tickets to the opera (only in Vienna!) and got our Mozart fix (Die Zauberfloete -- The Magic Flute). We walked, talked, slept, relaxed, laughed, and fell in love all over again. And we did everything slowly. We spent most of one day just hanging out and playing a board game in the apartment. We took stock of where we are in life and where we want to go. And other than some chocolate and a few small gifts for the kids, we managed to do the whole trip for $1000 -- in spite of the terrible exchange rate right now. Worth every penny.

Don't hate us, and don't be jealous; just figure out how to do it. HIGHLY recommended -- and I say that both personally and professionally! It takes planning and careful management of vacation days, but it can be done. If you don't have family nearby who can take care of the kids, find another couple and trade them a week of watching their kids for a week of watching yours.

If any of you are ever planning to visit the German-speaking world, by the way, I'd be more than happy to help you plan how to do so inexpensively. Oh, and speaking of Schnitzel, I'd be willing to cook an Austrian meal for everybody -- including dessert -- if and when we get together in July.

--Jeff

I echo everything he said. And I'm sure he'd be willing to make Schnitzle for all of you too, right Jeff? We had a wonderful time, and I feel like on a scale of 1 to 100 my stress level has gone from 99 to about 2. Leave it to the math teacher to quantify romance! The title of this post, Gemötlichkeit, is the German word for "laidbackedness" but it doesn't really translate very well. Austrians are known for how laid back they are. It is such an integral part of their culture that shop hours are legislated so that everyone will be guaranteed enough time to relax outside work. The Viennese were so friendly but never insincere, and quite straightforward but never abrupt. Our friend Signe talked about how Austrians love to just sit outside at a cafe for hours after the food is gone, relaxing and enjoying life. We have resolved to incorporate more of this Gemuetlichkeit into our lives and hope that we don't wear ourselves out working so hard at it!

For those of you interested (and the rest of you can skip it) here's what we did:

Rode the tram around the Ringstrasse
Ate Doner Kebaps (Turkish-German street food)
Ate Italian ice cream (If you don't understand the significance of this, then you must go to Europe. I don't care what you say--you cannot get this in the States.)
Explored the gardens at Schönbrunn
Ate Arabic food at Al-Gebra (ha ha . . . get it? We just had to go.)
Strolled through the Naschmarkt
Visited Stephansdom
Ate on the patio overlooking Vienna at a scenic restaurant in Cobenzl with Signe Lassl, a friend from Sara's mission
Ate Italian ice cream (I sense a theme here.)
Jeff went to church and ran into some old friends from his days as a missionary while Sara recovered from a twisted ankle
Played Duel of Ages (Don't ask how the games went.)
Oohed and aahed at the Alpine Garden (and other things on the grounds) at the Botanischer Garten
Ate at Schnitzelwirt, a kind-of-cheesy hole-in-the-wall place to get yummy oversized Schnitzel
Went to the opera to see Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte" (thats the Magic Flute for you unilinguists)
Visited the Melk Abbey and ate a lovely and relaxing lunch in the Austrian springtime sun with Signe in Melk
Ate Italian ice cream with Signe

And if you really want to see pictures, we did post them on Kodak's EasyShare. E-mail us and we'll give you the link.