Tuesday, May 25, 2010: Too much stimulation!

Summer ads.

What do you think: are dad's legs hairier or are the postbox's legs hairier?

Awww! Too bad we can't have those coins!

Alex: Look, I am a real man now; I have beer! (it's apple juice that has been shook)

More of our favourite street food

This is what we call lunch.

The Lipizzaner Stallions in the Lipizzaner Winter Riding Stable

The humongous chandeliers in the Lipizzaner Winter Riding Stable

the Lipizzaner Winter Riding Stable Entrance

What a Market!

Are these clowns arguing or are they just pretending?

My nose is bigger than yours!

How would you like these ornamental centre pieces on your dining room table?

My face is more messed up than yours! No, mine is! No, mine is!

I'm singing in the rain! I'm singing in the rain! I...

(Alexander). This morning we took the Metro from Hütteldorf to Karlstadt (old city centre) to get to the Lipenser Horse training session. These horses come from Spain. The training is called the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. We then saw white Lipenser stallions (the older horses) and the black and speckled Lipenser stallions (younger horses) training. They did dressage (side step, dancing, alternating their feet) to classical music by Strauss, and one even did the capriole – a cool jump and kick in the air with a rider on. I watched with amazement for almost 2 hours. This was only their training session. Could you imagine the performance? The building had old chandeliers and Roman statues. For lunch we went to the crowded St. Stephen’s square and was surprised to watch two colourful clowns arguing using colourful language over the same space to make money. After lunch I get face-to-face with Pinocchio but his nose kept getting in the way. Next to the Imperial Apartments were we see opulent tabletop centrepieces, cutlery, dishes, and fancy table wear to serve 4,000 people at one time. The centrepieces stood on mirrors that reflected the bronze colour and could fit on tables as long as 30 metres. Although we could not take any pictures in the Imperial Apartments were Fredric or Franz and Queen Elizabeth (Sissy) and their family lived and entertained people like the Czar of Russia, I was amazed to see Sissy’s private room with her gymnastic training equipment (rings, ladders, bars). She kept her waist size to 20-21 inches. She also liked to ride horses. We tried to imitate the crude face of one of the water statues. Then it down poured and we got soak. We heard our very first thunderclap. It sounded like someone had exploded a bomb – very loud. Then we headed back to our place, had a picnic and got ready for bed.