On Thursday, we had a long-planned visit by relatives. On situations like this, you never know what is going to happen, since the kids go wild (especially in the company of grandpa) and then everything ends up differently than originally planned. Today some aunties are supposed to come with their dog, so at least we’ll go for a walk somewhere (if they dog is up to it… he’s no spring chicken anymore). In the end, we managed to squeeze quite a bit into the whole day. We visited the Egon Schiele Art Centrum, where we were most interested by Schiele’s life story and how it relates to the present day. It’s an interesting comparison, especially if you consider his death at age 27.

The kids monopolized grandpa and convinced him to go and explore the mirror maze. From their reactions and commentary, it was clear that they all had a good time. We also checked out the newly cleaned fountain next door. It’s again being used as a trash can, so we quickly fixed that, and the real garbage can was again overflowing. A true weak spot in this beautiful city.

Considering the heat, we kept our tour of town to a minimum, briefly visited the artisans’ market at the regional museum, and then headed home, followed by pizza. The dog was so tired from the walk that he was willing to be pushed around in a stroller, which caught the interest of a few people (not just the Chinese tourists). But nobody took any photographs, perhaps because I was walking faster than usual? The stroller is great for plowing through large groups of people. You don’t even have to zig-zag much – it’s nearly impossible anyway on the cobblestones. But otherwise I don’t really have any problem with the tourists. I do doubt, however, that the stroller will last much longer. I’ve heard that one kid can easily wear down three of them.

In the afternoon, we attended an outdoor 9th birthday party for one of the neighbors’ kids. I was curious about how the spot next to the shoe store would work out, since the usual place by the stone bench was out of reach of the extension cord and was already occupied by the stalls for the weekend’s festivities of the five-petalled rose. I must say that the new place did now work out. The kids didn’t care one way or the other, but I felt that it was lacking. At one point, I felt more like a homeless person than a local resident. A far better place would’ve been down by the river, or in the brewery garden nearby – which is where we eventually ended up anyway. I must say that the local café (“The Happy Mother”) is a pleasant oasis that truly lives up to its name.

Well, and that was pretty much it for today. My attempt to fall asleep has failed again, so I’ll be carrying some of my tiredness over into the next day – when the festival is set to start. We’ll see how that works out.