We bought Max and Zoe smart phones in June. This was a huge deal for us. We were going to wait until Max was in high school. We relented. An obvious bribe. Compensation for the chaos of what followed. Of course the phones are super useful — especially for translating and text messages. Maps are key too. I can see when they are at school, at home, or on a tram.

There are three supermarkets within a five minute bike ride of our flat. Two are in the local shopping center — Merkur Markt, and Hofer. The third is Billa — next to Rudolphstraße station. Merkur Markt has the most variety. You can find veggie dogs, sushi rolls, and lots of fresh produce. There are also giant home-made gummy bears. Big fan. The Billa isn’t as nice as Merkur, but it works.

We visited the Urfahraner market on Saturday. A market it isn’t. More like a county fair. We were joined by new friends. Thank God Alison is good at making them. Without her we’d be very bored. And thank goodness these befriended friends are fun. Incriminating evidence to follow. The befriended friends come with kid-friends too. Fun to be had by the lot of us. Grown-up bunny-ear fun, and kid fun on the Autodrom (bumper cars).