Vienna Summer Afternoon and Evenings

I told you I love the summer! And last night was one of those great Vienna summer afternoon and nights. I left work in the afternoon and had some time to kill so I met a friend for a couple of drinks. The best part is that when I texted her about meeting up, I suggested we meet at Frascati's near Mariahilferstrasse. I promptly got this text:

We went to fuck Scotty on Sunday and are going back this Sunday.

Well this Scotty must be awesome, I thought. But are we meeting at Frascati's? Friend quickly blamed autocorrect and I laughed and I laughed and then we decided to try out another place in her district. We ended up at a  restaurant with the loveliest courtyard. We spent a good minute admiring the courtyard.
"This is adorable! Look at the balconies! I would totally live here!"
"I know! What an amazing little courtyard. This would be the best!"
"I know!"
"But, it would be pretty loud with the restaurant..."
"Yeah. Actually, it would suck."
"Yeah, this place would be WORST place to live. THE WORST!"

We ordered drinks and chatted and while it was hot in the WORST COURTYARD TO EVER LIVE IN, it was absolutely perfect for an after work drink. I eventually headed home to relieve the Nanny and promptly checked the Kid for any signs of trauma. As I wrote on Facebook, he took his first field trip with his kindergarten yesterday. The Husband had even called the day before to ask if we should keep the Kid at home. The teacher was like "Of course not! He is part of the group!" and both the Husband and I teared up at that comment. The kindergarten is great and they truly make him feel welcome. I think this is the reason that it is never a struggle to get him to go in the mornings. At the old place, we had to launch him over the babygate and as we walked down the steps, he would scream. It was heart wrenching and I never want to go back to those times. Now, the Husband and I fight over who gets to take him to kindergarten. It's amazing.
I packed his snack pack, I'm taking him this morning!
The field trip seems to have been successful. The Kid wasn't on the news so I consider that a win. I hope they suggest that they can take him a little bit longer than now (currently we are on noon pick up) because the Nanny fees are cutting into my shoe fund which is fine but our bank account screams at us every time I use the ATM. Anyway, I am ridiculously proud of him. I also think they should install a Slip and Slide in the kindergarten because they have this awesome yard and a hill and maybe one night I will jump the fence and have my own damn Slip and Slide party because a Slip and Slide is quite possibly the most incredible thing ever. And I haven't been on one since I was a kid but I imagine that after a couple of cocktails, the fun factor would be tripled. But I could also see it go terribly wrong. Sorry. I went off on a tangent... a bright yellow slippery tangent.

I was invited to a party by a new friend last night. The sun was still up and it was hot but I was looking forward to finally taking advantage of a warm evening. And of course, the chance to drink alcohol during a warm evening. I showed up just past 7 at Sekt Comptoir. I have walked by this place a million times and have never noticed it before which is strange because I usually notice every establishment that carries the reason I am so funny: booze. I pulled up a chair and friend offered me a glass of sekt because he is thoughtful and then the evening began. The table expanded and more people joined and my glass seemed to magically never be empty. Ever. That's not because I have incredible self restraint. I met some lovely people and I love meeting new people because I'm incredibly charming the first time. After that first meeting, I'm not so great. I jest. I am charming ALL.THE.TIME. Except at home. I am a harpy at home. It's a dictatorship and I am Supreme Leader. I make Idi Amin look like that kid from Juno. Anyway, what was in that SEKT? The drinks flowed and the original plan was to move next door to Cafe Anzengruber for some food. Anzengruber is legendary in Vienna. I have been a handful of times and I adore this place. The food and service is great and there is always an eclectic mix of patrons. I am including myself in the eclectic mix because everybody wants to feel included. Human nature. But because the weather was so lovely and our table was blocking most pedestrians from getting past on the sidewalk (listen buddy, you can just cross the street because this woman in too short white lace shorts (I love my shorts so very much) has a chair and a seemingly unlimited supply of sparkling wine so she is not moving), we decided to stay (I totally make it sound like I had any say here. I truly follow the crowd. Thank God I am not a lemming.)

Of course Cafe Anzengruber is awesome so they just brought the food to Sekt Comptoir next door. There was some salad, fried potatoes (quite possibly the best I have ever had) and schnitzel and it was delicious and probably helped to suck up some of the sweet sweet alcohol. The time flew by and it was time to head to the next place because apparently there is a law that some sidewalk cafes can't stay open past a certain hour because people have to sleep. How ridiculous! (exclaimed the lady who once spent 20 minutes hiding on her balcony, throwing pieces of gravel onto a car that was idling below and disturbing her disco nap). We moved on to Heuer which is this lovely bar out at Karlsplatz. I have been there during the day where it is a jazzy kind of place that serves good food. But at night, it turns into a trendy bar with a DJ who plays music very very loudly and suddenly you feel old and decrepit while you scream across the table "Huh? What?!?! Speak into my good ear!!" It was suddenly midnight and that is when I turn into a pumpkin with a day job and so off I went. It was a great evening and a great way to welcome the summer. I am at work today while every other Austrian is frolicking and enjoying the awesome weather. Office twin is a lizard so the air conditioning isn't even on full blast and I am a little bitter that I can look out the window and see people lazing on the grass and, wait... ARE PEOPLE SWIMMING?!? GAH! I HATE YOU ALL! Oh well, at least this evening I will be briefly on the Donaukanal and tomorrow night I am probably going to Summer Stage with a friend. Also, on Saturday, the Cuban center down the street is having a little festival. Last year we missed it because we weren't sure we could go with the Kid but this year, watch out! I am having a friend over on Saturday night and I am going to make pizza and we will drink my new drink invention: Conchita Thirst, and otherwise, I can't wait for an awesome and hot weekend. Happy Thursday! Jerks. (Disclaimer: whatever I have posted in anger today cannot be held against me).


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