On Saturday, we woke up early (thanks to our friendly alarm clock, Kate), and Kate and I headed out in search of early morning coffee - and "warmy" milk. Jay and I took turns working out, and then we had a terrific breakfast in the hotel before heading out for the day.
Our destination for the day was Schoenbrunn Palace. It was an easy ride on the U-bahn, and we were all really awestruck by the beauty (and size) of the palace. It was a pretty cold, rainy day, so we headed to the children's museum as our first stop. Good thing we did - we had such a good time in there that we didn't emerge for three hours! It was one of the best children museums I've ever seen - we saw a puppet show, and then toured the royal children's rooms, where our kids got a chance to see how real royalty lived. Every exhibit was extremely hands-on, so they had a blast living like the prince and princess.
Their favorite room was the dress-up room, where the kids could try on all sorts of royal garments (complete with wigs and crowns). After almost an hour, Kate still didn't want to leave - she was convinced she had found her "home."
But they were quickly swept away by their other favorite room - the dining room, where they could set the royal table with real china, crystal and silver. How no dishes broke while we were there is beyond me... but they were so careful, and had a blast setting (then clearing and resetting) the table again and again. It was a great morning - and a perfect rainy day activity.
Afterwards, we toured the gardens, but were disappointed to find out that the maze was closed for the season. We were planning on visiting the zoo next, but Jack was dragging by this time. This was our first trip that we did not bring any type of stroller apparatus for him, and although he was doing really well, we had to slow down a bit... and my husband was delighted to see that I listened to Jack's need for rest (more than I do for Jay's similar requests sometimes!)
So.. we headed back to the hotel and enjoyed an afternoon in the pool, and Jay and I got 25-minute massages that were included with our room. It sounded like a great plan, and I sent Jay off for his massage first. I followed immediately afterward, and from there, the massage all went downhill... first, the masseuse talked the entire time. But that was manageable - it was the comments that were tough to bear... here's a snapshot of how the conversaion went. "Oh, so you have two children? Wow! But you're young... How old are you?" Me, feeling very youthful, responded, "35." "Oh," said the masseuse, "but then your husband must be much younger than you." "No," I replied, "He is also 35." "Really?" she said, "but he looks so much younger!"
OK, gone was the positive aura I had from her first comment... And only a few minutes later, "You know, your husband speaks such good German. How has he learned it so quickly?" (translation - what's wrong with you?) After a few mutters from me, she then proceeded to ask me if I had scoliosis because my back was so out of whack. "No," I responded, "its just from carrying my children and pushing the stroller." Hoping for sympathy, I waited.. and then she went right to the mushy part of my lower back, and said, "Well, if you could tone up this area right around here, it would really help your back." What can I say? Thank goodness the massage was only 25 minutes long! Jay and I had a good laugh back at the room, but that is the LAST time I ever let him get a massage right before me... he's just far too charming for his own good. :)
Since it was raining quite hard by now, we opted for a cozy dinner inside our hotel at Champion's (yes, we had also eaten there the previous night). We comforted ourselves by telling us that American food was far more exotic for us than Austrian food, since we can find it all the time. But really, we just wanted the burgers and nachos...
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