Hi!

Well we have no pictures, but I thought it was time for an update. We had an amazing New Year's. We watched fireworks across the entire city from a roof! It was really beautiful and one of the most amazing sites I've ever seen. The fireworks were launched right in front of us and extended for miles in every direction. Amazing! Since then Erin has left us and is now back in England. This past weekend we rested...Ryan recorded music and I painted. That is the agenda for most weekends. It is pretty cold here, but no big snow fall as of yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a great big snow fall!! On January 25th, the largest ice rink in Vienna will be set up in front of the Rathaus. Since we live right beside the Rathaus maybe I'll become an expert ice skater..ha! For those of you who have seen me ice skate...you know that is a joke! Apparently they have plastic penguins with handle bars for the kids to learn balance with...I wonder if they make those in my size!? I would love to ice skate in Vienna with a plastic penguin...who wouldn't!?

We have been here for almost six months now! Time seems to be flying by. We are starting to crave American food--breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, soft sandwich bread, mayo in a jar...not a tube, Chick-fil-A, free refills at restaurants and so on...Vienna is lovely, but it is true...'there is no place like home.'

First International Christmas

This Christmas was unlike any other, so it was a little strange. I definitely love Christmas with family, but this year we got to spend it with new friends! Here are some pics of our decorations and opening presents!

Candle Pyramid (I owe this purchase to "Christmas Vacation")

Garland I made from some branches!

Me opening presents from mom on Christmas morning

Ryan opening presents

Our Hokie Memorial Wreath, I also made this out of branches!

Our lovely tree, with an European tree topper and fake snow!!

What's a tree without snow!?

Prague in the freezing cold!

The weekend before Christmas, we traveled to Prague via train. It took us about 4 hours to get there and we were accompanied by Erin Murphy. Erin hung out with us for 2 weeks while on her winter break from the University in Norwich, England. Ryan was obsessed with the Charles Bridge, because the opening scene for Mission Impossible was filmed there. The city was really beautiful and extremely cold. There are tons of crystal and glass shops and souvenir shops. We went into a store on every block just to warm up...and of course look at all of the goodies! Needless to say Erin and Ryan were sick of the glass shops...I however, cannot say the same for myself. It was so pretty! The architecture is of the medieval style and the town is really beautiful! Here are some pics from our trip!!

The Vltava River at night

The Powder Tower

My new mittens!

Astronomical Clock on the side of Old Town Hall Tower

On the Charles Bridge with the Castle behind us

Duchess taking a peek at Prague on the Charles Bridge...she really hates that bag!

Erin and I looking at the map

A guard in front of the Castle

The three of us in front of an art museum

Church of Our Lady Before Tyn in Old Town Square

View from bridge at night

It's Christmas Time in Wien!

Right now you will find tons of Christmas markets full of people agressively fighting their way to stop and look at each stall, lots of desserts, and lots of hot drinks. For example, Gluhwein is a heated wine with spices. They have something here called Punsch, and like most European food/drinks, it has alcohol...which makes it well...gross. I think I'll stick to the kid punsch. The streets are decorated with chandeliers, ornate lights and advent calendars. It really is a fantastic place to be at Christmas time. We visited some markets Sunday, so here are a couple of photos of our visit to Schönbrunn and the Rathaus. In the next blog we'll tell you a little about Austrian traditions!

In front of Schönbrunn

Schönbrunn

Rathaus Market at 5pm...it's super dark at 5!

Rathaus Market and decorated Strassenbahn

It's snowing!!!!!

I am a very huge fan of snow, so this morning when I looked out of the window and saw that it was snowing, I couldn't help but jump up down! Yay snow! Here are some pictures I took while Duchess was using the sidewalk as her toilet. It's her new thing since its cold and she thinks she should not have to walk further than our front door to use the bathroom. O, Duchess...

Enjoy the pictures! Because I am definitely enjoying the snow!

The Rathaus

Looking up the street

Rathaus x2

The 232nd Marine Corps Birthday Ball

Tonight we attended the Marine Corps Ball. This event marked the 232nd birthday of the Marine Corps. It was held at the Hilton hotel in the middle of Vienna. This was our first ball here (I'm sure there will be more....Vienna is known for it's galas). Linz looked absolutely beautiful in her gown, and I pimped out my tux (one of my co-workers even said Linz looked stunning.....maybe I should keep an eye on this guy). The evening began with cocktails.......we got a little tipsy off of our Coke. Then, the Marines began their ceremony, which consisted of the showing of the colors, the national anthem, a quick speech from one of our DCM's (Deputy Chief of Mission...aka the deputy ambassador), and the cutting of the cake by the Gunnery Sergeant. Then we ate dinner. I won't go into much detail here.......it was food. The rest of the night was spent mingling and dancing. In fact, we just got home about 30 min. ago. All in all, it was a pretty good night and a good first ball experience. Check out our pics...


I don't mean to brag or nothing....but we look good. Naturally we were the most popular couple at the ball. Everyone was like, "hey Linz and Ryan, come talk to us," or "hey, will you two take a picture with us?" Geez people, come on....give us a break! Just the price you pay I guess.....(and for those who don't know me too well, please realize that I'm being sarcastic. as you can see from the picture, my head is definitely NOT that big.)
This isn't a great pic, but this is the group of friends we went with....or with whom we went if you're a stickler for grammar.


The Marines singing on stage.....they were loud....and tone deaf. Not a good combo.

3 very lovely ladies.......

Here's the dance floor....I really felt like I was back at my senior prom. Complete with drunk people and bad dancing!

Here's a pic of me with my boss, Valerie.

Linz and I with the Brian, the Gunnery Sergeant (aka "gunny"). He's a good guy...we like to play volleyball at the Marine Base with him and the other Marines. He's also scary big...would not want to tick him off.

I just really like this pic....

Pumpkin Carving

Last weekend we went out with a few friends to pick out pumpkins to carve for Halloween. We drove about 30 minutes outside of Vienna and wound up at a little farm. They had over 300 different pumpkins...unbelievable! We ended up eating lunch there....they had a buffet with a pumpkin theme. Everything was made from pumpkins!! It was surprisingly good. After lunch we all picked out our pumpkins and went back to our friends Joan and Nate's place to carve them up. See if you can guess which one is mine from the pics below! I'll give you a hint....I really like VT.