Vienna - Day 2

Monday - a rare off day for the group. We hit up the town.....sweaters, winter jackets, toques, scarves, and we were rolling. City tour on the tram, our own walking tour, and some shopping. Vienna is famous for their "Sacher Torte" - a recipe made famous by Franz Sacher. He was a stand in chef for the regular chef to the King back in 1832. The regular chef fell ill the day of a major gala being held by the King at the Palace and Franz whipped this together. The torte was a hit and people from all over Europe wanted it. Today they sell over 360,000 cakes annually - Holy Shhhnikkies that's almost 1000 cakes a day!!!

Vienna is a beautiful city even in the midst of all the snow!! Great architecture, beautiful Cathedral, and the food was great!

As is a staple for the Tenors while on tour, they always try to find a Mexican restaurant to hit up.....Georgie, Micky, and I followed it up with a little Nutella dessert from Gelateria Bortolotti our favourite little Cafè!!!!

Vienna

In late March, my cousin from Brisbane Australia (Georgina) called me saying she was in Europe visiting her boyfriend for a few weeks. "Rob, we're soooo close, we have to meet up!!" Micky (Georgie's boyfriend) was on a 4 month European Tour with his music group "The Ten Tenors" (also from Australia). They happened to have a rare off day that following week - so we set it up......Vienna here I come!!!

Oh how I don't miss the cold!!! It was late March and it was flippin' freezing in Vienna!!!!! Minus 5-10 degrees everyday and lots of snow. Yes yes I know you guys are all saying "SUCK IT UP Rob, we've had 4 months of this back home in Canada ;)" And for 3 days in Vienna I did exactly that - reminds me of how much I LOVE the beach and warm sunny skies!!!

As soon as I stepped off the train in Wien (that's Austrian for Vienna) I saw my first snow flakes on my Hakuna Matata Adventure!! It was a sad day.....just kidding!! It was great to see and was a true reminder of Canada - made me feel like I was back home.

My only recommendation(s) is if your ever travelling in a foreign country in Europe where you don't speak the language:
1. Don't travel on a Sunday - EVERYTHING is closed and there's no one to ask about directions
2. Don't travel during "off-peak" hours (or arrive on a Sunday morning....haha) - as there's absolutely no one around to ask for directions :)
3. Don't assume that there's only 1 train station in the city (Vienna happens to have 4).....and what I thought should have been a 2 minute walk to the hotel, turned into a 1.5 hour walk!!! I actually did it over 2.5 hours as my motto is "getting lost in a city is the BEST way to discover it!!" Again no one to ask for directions, and those that were around didn't speak English :)

Along the way, I saw a few interesting things. One of the first things I saw when I left the train station was 2 kids playing football (soccer) in the snow.....Good on Ya!!! Another was a pizzeria....I almost went in for a slice but it was in a sketchy part of town and from the name I thought twice about it ;)

That afternoon I finally got to meet up with the Georgie!!!! It was great to see her again and finally meet the infamous "Micky"!! He had to head out straight away for sound check with the boys at the concert hall, and Georgie and I went off to a little Italian cafe I discovered earlier that day (literally felt like you were in the Ol' Country). It became our favourite spot in Wien with our new favourite dessert - a Nutella infused Gelato.....OMG sooooo gooood :)

Concert night in Vienna with The Ten Tenors.....what a PHENOMENAL show!!!! You guys ROCKED it!!! Micky on piano and stealing the show at the end with a little "Running Man"...haha!

Tanzania Thank You.....

January 10th - "And so it begins......tomorrow will commence a new journey, a new path, a new exciting adventure. Tanzania I look forward to meeting you."

March 7th - And meet her I did. "WOW" There are no words to describe the experiences, the people, or the emotions that happened over my 2 months in Africa. Tanzania is a magical land full of absolutely wonderful, generous, beautiful people and stunning animals.

I never would have imagined that I'd be taking time off work, going to a foreign land to help out those in need, dig trenches for water, teach deaf children, let alone climb a mountain, and much much more. I was able to help out in many different ways, but more importantly was able to learn many different things about people and myself. It was truly a ReWaRDinG and LiFe cHanGiNg experience and one that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Tanzania, I can't say thank you enough!! I will only say goodbye for now and I look forward to seeing you one day SOON!

The journey continues......

P.S. my favourite little street vendor in Arusha tucked away in a side alley......my last day couldn't go without samosas and Tangawizi :)

Smile

A smile can change someone's day :)

May not seem like much....but a small act can be very powerful.

No matter what language you speak smiles are Universal.

P.S. if you don't feel up for a smile that day, just take a peak at the last photo

:)

St. Patrick's Day

St. Paddy's Day alla Italiana......Nutella Crêpe & Guiness :)

Cross it off the Bucket List.....Juventus

One of my all time dreams came true thanks to a surprise from my cousin Edoardo. I was lucky enough to see my favourite sports team "Juventus" play against Edoardo's favourite team "Bologna" at Bologna's home stadium. It was the perfect setting.

Leave the women and children at home though.....the fans are friggin' crazy!!! Everything I heard about Italian Calcio fans was true. I couldn't take my winter coat off to sport my Juventus jersey with fear of being in a fist fight and beaten on by 34,000 screaming Bologna fans!! They are truly insane!!! (Passionate though....I'll give them that). The only fans that I've seen that are as passionate and crazy are at a Montreal Canadians game - and that's like going to a day care in comparison to this ;) And no the suits at the Leafs games have nothing on Habs fans.

Being at the stadium was like having 34,000 referees and coaches at the same time....too funny!

Andrea Pirlo (number 21 in the Black & White Juventus jersey) is considered one of the all time best midfielders in Italian Football history. He is a true magician with the ball.

One photo is of Bologna's Curva with all the hard core fans, the other end has Juventus fans. Hearing the chants go back and forth was awesome. I was in the middle of all Bologna fans. Luckily I made friends with the people beside me and snuck in a quick pic at the end of the game ;)

The whole experience was incredible!!

P.S. Juve won 2-0......Forza Juve!!!