Vienna: The overdue visit with the brother

It has been about 3 years since I had seen my brother and his family.  They even managed to have a new baby in that time that Shea and I had never met.  So off we went to Vienna to see everyone!  

Vienna is the second most livable city in the world right now.  It has been one of the best cities to live in for quite some time actually.  Right off the plane, you could see why! The train system was very easy to figure out and the transportation links were very accessible.  The city is also very pretty. It was definitely created to show the wealth of the Austrian aristocracy.  

The Stephansdom. A very beautiful church with a tiled roof. 

The city at night.  They light up most of the buildings. 

One of the many beautiful parks throughout Vienna.

Schonbrunn Palace.  The summer home of the Royals when there were royals in Vienna.

Inside the Museum of Military History.

A statue of Mozart.  For a guy who never really lived in Vienna, they sure to love him!

Unfortunately, Arthur was still getting over pneumonia and was not able to join us much during the days.  But we had some great tours thanks to Vera.  She was very knowledgeable of the city and knew all the great places to eat! Plus we had constant entertainment thanks to the kids! These two kept us laughing!

Shea and Little David hiding!

Vera and David waiting for cake! 

Jessie decided she did not want her picture taken.

But then she changed her mind! All smiles.

Vera and the kids exploring the gardens at Schonbrunn Palace.  The ducks were a huge hit for Jessica.

The kids loved looking through the stone rails and waving to the ducks.

Of course, we had to take a selfie!

And another one with Beautiful Vienna behind us.

David took this one!

The three of us enjoying the view!

There are lots of great German signs to make you giggle!

Because Arthur could not join us much, this is basically the only picture I got of him.  Isn't Jessie silly?!

We had a wonderful time visiting Vienna!  I don't think it's that livable though because no shops are open on Sundays and all the stores shut down at 5pm. London may not have as many parks, but at least we can buy groceries and alcohol whenever we want!

We can't wait to see these guys soon!

Home Sweet Home

So after enjoying a great time in Canada, it had to end and it was time to go back to London.  That also meant it was FINALLY time to move out of tiny, crap flat to new, clean condo!  The best part: it was time to say goodbye to the slugs that always found their way into our place and never drowned in the beer I left out for them. The move went great (considering all we had to move was a bed, TV, coffee table and one dresser) and the place was home even without furniture. That also meant we were moving to a place where we had no furniture.

Basically, we regressed back to a college lifestyle while we waited (and continue to wait) for furniture to arrive.

We are waiting for blinds to be installed.  Because we have a west facing view, it gets kind of hot when the sun is up.  To help keep it a bit cool, we decided to go with a cardboard box/blanket theme that screams white trash.

This was our couch for a bit.  Yoga mats, blankets and pillows do not make hardwood floors any softer. 

Our coffee table had to be used as a TV stand. At least the cats had their precious scratching post!  They were pretty comfy without furniture. 

We did get our kitchen table and two chairs in the first week!  We also had to install some temporary screens on the doors to keep our cats inside. That way, we could get a breeze through the place to cool things down.  

This is Evea looking down from the second floor.  She has great views of where the London Olympics took place from up there.

We did eventually get a couch after a week and a bit.  Samson loves couch!

We have slowly decorated the place but it still looks pretty trashy seeing as we have suitcases everywhere.  Blinds and screens have also not arrived along with the shoe cupboard, TV wall unit.. Currently, I am waiting for the area rug to arrive.

But it feels like home and we are all pretty comfy and happy here so far!

Our sunset view of The City.

My First Football Match

Apparently, football (soccer) season has just started here or something. Not really my sport but Shea jumped at the chance when a colleague at work had extra tickets for sale.  So we went and watched Arsenal play Crystal Palace. I figured I would go and get my drink and eat on while watching the crowd more than the actual game.  Turns out they do sports a bit differently here!

The outside of the stadium.

The first noticeable difference is how much merchandise was sold. These fans were already showing up decked out in Arsenal crap.  And yet, they were still buying more stuff.  It would be like going the a Flames game wearing the jersey, hat, scarf and foam finger and still needing to go drop money on more paraphernalia!  

The second difference were the special doors for Away fans (in this case, the Crystal Palace people).  They cannot enter the stadium with the Arsenal people!  That is how crazy these fans are (more on that later). 

Once we actually got into the stadium, it was very nice and designed in a way where they could basically hose down the halls at the end of the match.  As we walked around looking for popcorn (because at a Flames game, I would have eaten some popcorn), it became apparent that snack food was scarce.  You could get a small bag of various flavors of chips (like 3 choices), a hot dog, a burger, three choices of pop or a beer.  No popcorn for me!

Another difference we noticed while hunting for popcorn is that we have finally seen a place you CANNOT drink at in London: the actual stadium.  You cannot drink a beer there.  You must drink it in the concourse part.  So you start to think or reasons why this rule would exist and you remember back to those crazy dressed fans.  You two and two together and voila; these guys are so crazy that they cannot be trusted to behave themselves drunk while watching soccer.  I guess they have actually just re-allowed alcohol to be served in the stadium again because people were getting so drunk and getting into fights.  CRAZY fans, these people are.

The field.

So we go and take our seats and wait for the game to start.  As the players enter the stadium we notice all these riot police surrounding this one area of seats.  That's when you notice these people are not dressed like fools in Arsenal colours (red and white) but are decked out in another jersey colour.  Bingo, found where the Away fans have to sit!  They are segregated into their own area and separated from the Arsenal fans by a lot of riot police. These people cannot be trusted to behave like human beings to others who cheer for an opposing team!  Again, soccer fans are crazy!

The stadium full of fans.

As the game progresses, I did my people watching.  Arsenal fans are kind of boring.  They just sit there and every once in awhile they chant "Arsenal" three or four times and then they return to their silent watching.  The Crystal Palace fans were way more fun!  They had 20 different songs and chants that they shouted throughout the match.  They also stood the whole game.  They are still crazy soccer fans but at least they are having fun! 

This is a shot of the Crystal Palace fans.  All the guys wearing yellow and red jackets are riot police. They surround the three sections on the main floor of the stadium. 

Because the Crystal Palace fans were having so much fun, I had kind of wished their team would have won (Arsenal won 2-1).  But they were still cheering right to the end and beyond.  They gave their team a standing ovation (because they never sat) until they left the field.  Arsenal fans packed up and left as soon as the game was over. 

One highlight from the day was I got to watch my first fan fight!  They were both Arsenal fans and yet they still started punching each other.  One guy was knocked out, hit the ground, cut his head open and had to get treated by police and medical staff.  

Back to Canada!

Summer is always the best time of year in Canada.  Well, at least it is where I live.  It gets all nice and warm. The sun stays out till past 10pm. Things are green and growing. And there is a little lake I like to visit.  How could I not come home for a visit?

I was lucky to spend a month back home with my wonderful friends and family (and one little cat).  It was during the time of year where the grass is still green and has not yet turned brown from the heat and lack of rain.  The weather was fabulous (although I was secretly hoping for a thunderstorm).

So excited to be back at the lake!!!! Also, had to re-learn how to use my GoPro...

How could I not come home for this view?!

DouShea transformed back to Canada Shea!

We created a new way of surfing this year!

On your stomach, it's kind of bouncy.

Some were a little more enthusiastic about it than others!

KCCO!

Some family members attempted to surf.  Unfortunately, Uncle D's surf career ended about the same as his water-skiing career.

Others had a perfect starting position (when not behind a boat and with no rope).

We did get one newbie up this year! Even with his broken finger.

 

I'm now surfing without a rope!  

Got a little bonding in with my wonderful niece. It was such a treat to spend so much time with her and see the awesome person she has become. 

We did do some work this year.  I helped hang a birdhouse.  Actually, I just watched my Uncle do it. I did hand him a tool though...

I didn't spend my WHOLE time at the lake.  I also saw a baby penguin at the zoo!