TGIF (or VDIF, Vielen Dank, ist's Freitag, if that works....)

This afternoon my German class (and three other classes) went to a Kaffeehaus on the Naschmarkt to practice our German. It was pretty fun......IES paid for each of us to get coffee of our choice and Apfelstrudel. I got a cappuccino, which was pretty good. Mike got a Grosse Schwarzen, thinking that it would be larger, but actually it was just a straight-up double shot....it was intense. The apple strudel was nothing short of amazing....we each got this huge piece....I think it was around 5 and a half inches square. After we left the Kaffeehaus I went home, since I was so close anyway. I walked through Naschmarkt, but nothing struck my fancy at the time.....so I went to Hofer to pick some more Brie and other provisions. (I ate almost a whole wedge of Brie by myself yesterday.....it was relatively small, but still.....so today I decided that the 16% fat might be better than the 60% fat.) I found this really cute asian market on the street by the Naschmarkt; it's run by this very nice Japanese man. I've decided that I need to mentally review my Japanese and try to talk to him sometime....just for something to do.

Tonight I'm going to the opera with a bunch of people.....we're going to see Tales of Hoffmann. I'm meeting them at the Kettenbrückengasse terminal at 5:00 and we're going to stand in line for Stehplatz tickets. I'm really excited.....Hoffmann is one of my favorite operas. Since I know it so well, I think it'll be easier for me to stand through it.....part of the trouble I had standing through some of the operas I saw at the Met was that if I wasn't familiar with the plot or music I had no way to gauge how much time was left. For example, Nabucco seemed freakin' endless because I had no idea what was going to happen or indeed what was happening at any moment. However, Don Giovanni didn't seem that long, since I was basically familiar with the plot and music. Well, we'll see how it goes tonight....I hope that we get tickets together...>I'm not sure if they just stick you in a random place or if they put groups together.....

I took some pics of the Naschmarkt today.....by the next time I hit up the MQ I should have some shots of the Institute and the neighborhood surrounding my apartment. Every time I put up a new batch of photos I'll post a blog announcing that fact, so you don't need to compulsively check the picture site. (I know that you all are holding your breath) I'll write more after the opera tonight!