Georgia > Turkey > Austria

I survived the semester! 

I turned in all my final papers! 

...and then I hopped on a plane to join Josie in visiting Patrick and Hadis in Austria! 

I flew on Turkish airlines, which boasts ample legroom, but which did not feel ample (perhaps because the man I sat next to was rather large and kept blowing his nose...on his blanket...and perhaps because the seat in front of me was broken and stuck in a recline). It wasn't an unpleasant flight, though! I finished a book (Looking for Palestine) and watched a movie (Nuremberg) and slept. 

After landing in Istanbul, I had time for a quick jog through the airport, hopping in line to board my flight to Vienna just in time. So here is my one picture from Turkey: 

Going through customs was a breeze! I actually stopped to use the WC instead of rushing through customs because I figure that I'm usually happier to stand in a line when I'm comfortable than when I'm uncomfortable. But then by the time I got to customs almost everyone had already gone through and the workers minding the kiosks were more than happy to give me step-by-step instructions to get through the system. And the border patrol agent had very few questions for me.

Wandering down the hall towards the luggage carousels I found a sweet little girl, crying her head off, and limping down the hall with one of her shoes half off. 

I wasn't quite sure what to do about that, so I jogged up around the corner and encountered a woman with a baby strapped to her chest, carrying a couple of bags, who was barking in Russian, "Hurry up!"

"A little girl?" I asked. "Her shoe..."

"I know!" the woman said, the little girl just limping into view. "But what can I do? My arms are full!"

"Can I help her?" I asked. "Maybe she'll be faster..."

"If you want!" the woman snapped. 

So I ran back to the little girl and told her I was going to help her. 

"Push, push," I coaxed (in English this time because apparently I don't know the word for push in Russian—it's Толкать! apparently) and her foot slipped into her shoe. I redid the velcro while she sniffed and told her "Хорошо. Молодец."

And...I just think it's rather nice to not have to travel with my arms overflowing with kids and stuff. 

That said, I did travel with a rather large suitcase that was like 70% full of treats for Uncle Patrick. 

The kids (jealously?) called it the "Suitcase of Candy," knowing it was sitting in my room full of treats for a few weeks before I left...

Patrick and Josie both met me at the airport, which was very nice of them because I was very tired and I don't think I could have navigated the various buses and trains we had to take to get to Patrick's apartment on my own. Plus they could help me lug around the Suitcase of Candy.

I found this particular sign on the bus rather amusing:

"Please don't journey out of your skin," meaning, roughly, "Don't fly off the handle!" or, simply, "Don't lose your temper." 

We didn't do much in the evening. Patrick made some dinner for us. And we watched a show. And then we went to bed. In the morning I got to enjoy the famous view from Patrick's living room window and we got ready to head to Klosterneuburg.

Patrick has done a significant amount of research at the library in the Abbey at Klosterneuburg, so he gave us a little tour there. 

He pulled out some fun books to look at, like this choral book:

This lovely illuminated volume:

Here I am holding a rather large volume of parchment:

Patrick showed us where some repairs had been done to the parchment. The pages will often have holes in them from the preparation process—if the animal skin gets nicked anywhere it will leave a hole, which can then just be stitched up (if you want) or you can just leave the hole and write around it. Below you see both methods were used in the book, with the text beautifully flowing around the imperfections:

His friend at the desk recommended he pull this book with illuminated wooden covers, the back panel featuring what she described as "ugly Jesus":

It was such a beautiful library (and so fun to get a backstage tour of the library with such a knowledgable expert...even if my jet-lagged, end-of-the-semester brain wasn't fully absorbing everything he said):

It was such a joy to be surrounded by such beautiful books:

Imagine getting to work at a desk like this:

With a view like this:

Even the books in the slightly-less-opulent rooms were impressive!

I loved seeing this little book snake holding the place of some book conservator away from their desk:

And here's a display of book latches that was on the wall:

Patrick also took us over to the chapel:

Which was, of course, also beautiful:

And he showed us the original foundations of Austria's oldest Gothic structure, which the sign tells us was "erected as the palace chapel of Duke Leopold VI of Austria, probably by Burgundian laborers before 1222 on top of a chapel from the era of Leopold III. Famed for its splendid furnishings, including white and red marble, it was profaned in 1786 and demolished in 1799."

And here are the wooden cobblestones we came across:

Patrick wanted to take us to the monastery's winery...or whatever it's called...to get some fresh juice.  We passed a maypole (because it's May).

And this very old fountain:

It was a fun little outing (perfect for a jet-laggy day).

Here's a view of the Spittelau incinerator from the train station, which is certainly whimsical:

We came home to rest and found Hadis making some delicious Iranian food for us. We played "Phase 10" and snacked. And now...I'm blogging...we did some laundry (Josie has been here a few more days than I have)...and we're getting ready for a late dinner so we can get to bed.

Here's a sweet sign Phoebe wrote for me. It says, "I miss mom luve Phoebe."

Andrew helped her spell "miss" but she did the rest on her own. She's a sweet little thing!