VIENNA, January 13

January 13: I think we finally got caught up on sleep and our bodies have adjusted because we slept to 11AM, which is unheard of from me. Went to the Westbahnhof to try to find concert schedules and then to the underground. Got an 8 day travel card (allows a person unlimited travel for each day punched so it is great to use when you do a lot of sightseeing). Also bought a one ride ticket, because we wanted to find a church for Sunday over near Radetzky Platz. Rode the underground to our stop and got out to walk. It was cold—I think it is around 24 F. Stopped in to look at St. Othmar, a church which had been bombed in WWII. It appears that this neighborhood has had a light snow. Found the international Protestant church and decided to walk back to the city center and home. On the way home stopped in a neighborhood Gasthof. We ordered the daily soup (a chicken stock with noodles served very hot); I had surschnitzel (I can’t figure out what the sur means) with erdapfel salat (like a potato salad only runnier); Mary had beef in gravy with a dumpling and a small mixed salad with some erdapfel. The servings were huge and much cheapier than in the downtown area. Walked back to our apartment through the central city—it is getting colder. Saw two very small protests near Stephansplatz: One was opposing the Turkish government and the other was by Palestinians with signs calling the Israelis “robbers.” Checked email and then bought some groceries and went back to our warm apartment.