Vienna: Three Months Post Move Update

Can you believe we've been here for 3 months now? It seems like only yesterday we were packing up our things and driving through Europe. So what have we been up to lately?

Well, The Beard got a job. Pretty much the first job he applied for he got. Because he is awesome. I'm not having much luck on the job front, but thankfully his salary is enough to allow us to live reasonably comfortably. Hopefully I will get a job, I've been applying where I can, but for the time being I am a housewife and erstwhile writer. I will also be resuming my studies in a few months, so I'm starting to think about that as well.

We've been enjoying the beer and wine that the city and country has to offer, possibly too much, but it doesn't seem to be having any negative effects so far! As well as Nova Rock we've had two sets of visitors from the UK, which has been absolutely awesome! And meant nights out at our favourite bar, Barflys.

Swimming has featured quite a bit in our activities - when the weather is good we can often be found lounging by a pool somewhere. I've purchased a Monatskarte for the city pools - for the princely sum of €18.70 a month I can have unlimited usage of any of the indoor or outdoor pools/swimming areas in the city. And there are a fair few! Considering that a days usage is usually around €5 mark, the Monatskarte works out as a really good deal as long as you use the pools at least once a week. So I've resumed my swimming for fitness type activities, and have been working on building up to going 3 times a week, with the aim of swimming at least 40 lengths on each visit. I'm also trying to work on my technique a bit, as it has been quite a few years since I have swum seriously.

I'm getting better and more confident at German - it is a slow process, but I'm steadily getting there. The best thing for me I have discovered is to just get out there and speak. And now The Beard is at work during the day I am having to manage on my own a lot more. I can manage shops and buying food quite easily now, and can keep up with quite a lot of conversations in German, even if I can't join in in anything other than English for now.

We've met some other ex pats as well, and have been meeting up occasionally to socialise, which often involves drinking beer! This last week we have been out with a British couple to see Pavarotti and Friends, which was showing at the Rathaus Film Festival. It is also the Vienna International Film festival at the moment and there is an open air cinema in the Augarten, which is a 20 minute walk or a 5 minute bus ride away. I'm hoping to catch a couple of classic movies there in the next month.

All in all, I don't have a single regret about moving here. It wasn't until we got settled that I had a chance to reflect on everything and realised just how stifled my old life was making me feel. I think I can safely say The Beard felt the same, loads of people have commented on how different he is after a couple of months away. I get to walk to the shops every day to get fresh bread and marvel at the architecture, and how much different the atmosphere here is to the UK. There is always so much going on, and we live near enough the city centre to be able to participate, that I'm sure we'd never get bored!

Coming up over the next week I'll be posting some pictures of our flat, as I'm sure you'd like to see the palace!