April 13, 2019, Saturday.
Today starts our seventh week since leaving. We got up around 8 am. We had told Meredith we would call her later in the morning and try to arrange getting together today. We washed clothes. The washer here does not have a dryer and the washer takes 60 to 90 minutes to run one load. It is small and you cannot wash but so many things. We had breakfast here in the apartment, cereal and milk, bread and jam, orange juice and milk we had bought at the local market.
I caught up on writing some reviews for Trip Advisor. I have not been doing it regularly. Sandy got better organized and looked at things to do today. Meredith contacted us and we agreed to meet at noon at a coffee cafe/bakery near her apartment. We looked up the address and it was just one subway stop from our hotel. The subway stop near us is just a block away, very convenient. We bought a three day pass for the subway and went to the coffee cafe and met Jesse and Meredith. Sandy got a coffee and a pastry, they did also and shared a roast beef baguette. We caught up on each other’s travels, or at least started the conversations.
We took the subway back to our station and then took the Ring Road Tram to the State Opera House. We walked around that area for a while. We stopped at the Sacher Hotel and got a six pack of the famous Sacher tort to have with tea later. Jesse needs a new winter coat and Meredith a sweater. Most of the stores are selling spring wear now. Sandy wanted to go to the NaschMarket which has been a market place area in the city since the late 1500’s. We split up around 2:30 pm and they went shopping and we went to the market area.
It was a short walk to the market from the State Opera House. The market area was very long. They had all sorts of food with a feature of Turkish food, many types of olives and Turkish desserts. There were stalls with typical Austrian food, strudel, wiener schnitzel, etc, Stalls sold all sorts of other foods, cheap gifts, etc. Sandy and I walked the entire length. We got some fresh apple strudel for tea later. We took the subway back to our apartment arriving around 5 pm. We were to meet Jesse and Meredith at 6 pm in our apartment for tea.
Sandy prepared fresh strawberries, kiwis, two types of cheese, the strudel and the torts to have with tea. They arrived on time and we enjoyed a nice long tea time. We FaceTimed Blaire, Seth and Jackson. They were driving to Wilmington to see Jenny. They caught up with Meredith and Jesse’s travels.
We chatted for a long time about our various experiences on our trip to date, the good and the bad, the food, the cultures. We had a very relaxed time discussing our adventures to date. We video called Rita and Andy and talked to them a while. Jesse and Meredith left around 10:30 pm. Tomorrow is Meredith’s birthday and they have not decided on what they want to do yet.
Sandy made us a light supper and then to bed.