Austrian vineyard & Hoffbrau Haus

Herr Geyhalter was the perfect host and treated us to dinner at a traditional Austrian Hoffbrau Haus. We had a great conversation over dinner and it forced me to speak German, as Herr Geyhalter only speaks a little English.

Herr Geyhalter is a classical violinist and it was great to hear him speak so passionately about music. We shared with him our wishes for Astrid to play the violin, and how we have been looking into children's music classes for Astrid, but they all require the students to be at least 2 years of age. He told us that in order to play professionally, a child must start playing an instrument before the age of 6, and recommended Astrid start taking violin lessons at the age of 4, when she can hold and play the violin.

Afterwards we took a stroll through the vineyard behind the restaurant. A view of the vineyard and the sweet grapes.A picture perfect first day in Vienna. The grapes look like they're ripe and ready to be picked off the vine.
Look who's trying to peek out of the side of her stroller to look at what Mama's doing.
Happy baby, and looks right at home in Austria.Later in the evening Uwe and I went and visited our friend Stefan in the city. (Herr Geyhalter offered to babysit while the baby was sleeping.) Stefan is a graphic designer and we knew that he'd be living in a very cool area of the city, which it turned out he does. We hung out all evening at his apartment and had a little party of our own with his girlfriend and his neighbor who came over to meet us. If it weren't for it being a week night, I'm sure we would have stayed much longer, but we knew they all had to work the next day.

It was one of those days when we really didn't do as much sightseeing as we've grown accustomed to on this trip, but we still had a blast all the same. Sometimes on those days when you do nothing and just hang out, is when you have the most fun with friends.

On a side note, I found out that our friends in Austria eat the same Korean shrimp chip snacks that Uwe and I eat. It was the funniest thing. I saw the bag and was like, "No way! You guys eat Korean snacks over here too?" They go to a small market that carries them and they are a hot commodity. Who knew?!

Stefan's neighbor, Hans is going to show us around tomorrow on his lunch break.

We came home at 11:30 PM and quietly entered the house. We were surprised to see Herr Geyhalter was still up waiting for us. He had stayed up to make sure we got home safe. Uwe and I felt like two teenage kids coming home after a party. We got the update that the baby had been sleeping soundly the entire time, thanked Herr Geyhalter again for his kindness, and then we went upstairs and both quickly fell asleep.