Naschmarkt! and other explorations

Yesterday was a lovely, busy day. I had German class in the morning-- I was slightly late because the U-Bahn train I was on broke down mid-commute and they kicked us off and I had to wait (like 5 minutes) for the next one, which was a very mild inconvenience. I need to keep in mind that such things are possible and not cut my travel times so close. Language-wise, I'm getting better for sure, but still trip all over myself when I have to speak in class, and my pronunciation is all over the place. It's definitely getting easier, so I think it's just a matter of getting accustomed to a new phonology.

After class I got coffee with a classmate, which was nice and relaxing (and REALLY good coffee), then headed off to try to sort out a problem with my cell phone. Travis had bought me a monthly SIM, the same one he and Dennis and Janice all have, but mine had stopped letting me access the internet and sent me three texts (in German) every five minutes about needing to recharge. As it turns out, apparently MMS messages were not included in the SMS/Call/Data plan, so I had to pay their "minimum" of €10 to offset the negative 60 cents I'd accumulated. But at least now I have a functional phone again, and if I get lost in the city can use Google Maps or this cool transit app called Qando Wien to find my way back where I want to be.

From there I rode the U-Bahn out to the 14th district to check out the neighborhood surrounding our permanent-apartment-to-be. It was easy to find, right across the street from the U-Bahn stop, and it seems like a nice, quiet neighborhood. There wasn't a grocery store *right* nearby, unfortunately, but there were some produce stands, a store with some basic food stuff, a pharmacy, and (inexplicably) several florists. And since it's so close to the U-Bahn it won't be hard to get to a "real" grocery store within a few minutes, certainly no further than the average commute to the grocery in a car. I need to get one of those rolling grocery carts so I can commute with my groceries like an old lady.

After stopping back at home to regroup, drop some unnecessary things off, etc, I headed out (in the rain) across the street to the Naschmarkt, with vague plans of buying lunch for myself and dinner supplies. It was much less crowded than when we'd walked through on Saturday, but it was also pouring rain and freezing. There are about 20 identical falafel/hummus/grape leaf/stuffed pepper/etc stands that try to entice you with free samples, and the first one I went to completely won me over by giving me a still-warm bit of falafel dipped in an eggplant hummus. The falafel was really interesting, almost sweet, and vaguely reminiscent of carrot cake in flavor. And it was 8 pieces for €1, so I got some, along with a scoop of the hummus, some stuffed grape leaves, and a hot pepper filled with a mild cheese. I wandered the rest of the length of the market comparing spice stands, trying to decide on things, and ended up with a little roll of goat cheese wrapped in prosciutto. By then, I was damp and cold (I'd underestimated how cold it was, and so had gone out without my raincoat) and bought a cup of Glühwein (mulled wine) from a stand, which was perfect for the circumstances and warmed me up considerably.

The goat cheese with prosciutto turned out to be inedibly gross, but the falafel and hummus and grape leaves and pepper and Glühwein get firm thumbs up.