The wheels on the bus go round and round
Our third full day in Austria began with a happily sleeping baby:
I got myself ready for the day, then took Jakob, still in his sleeper, down to breakfast in the Weinbergrestaurant, where he attracted the attention of a little girl and her mother as well as the waitresses.
Once we were both ready, we walked down towards the university and caught a bus downtown. It was Jakob's first time on a bus, and therefore my first time trying to get a stroller on a bus. As it happens, the busses in Krems don't kneel very low, but the middle doors are dedicated to wheelchairs and strollers and there's even a special spot on the bus. So I managed to get him on and into position, and then I held onto both stroller and bus for dear life as the bus wended its way downhill and to the train station.
Because I couldn't let go of the stroller, I wasn't able to pay until we got to the train station. I somehow managed to (I think and I hope) apologise that I hadn't immediately paid, that I was just visiting and didn't speak much German, and that I was trying to get to the Bühl centre and could he please tell me which bus I needed to take. I paid and he told me to take bus #5. The driver of the #5 was very helpful, too, and even gave me notice when we approached the stop at the Bühl centre.
I did make a few linguistic errors, though. I accidentally switched from the Sie (polite/formal) form to the du (familial) form while talking to the #5 driver. And more than once I gave myself a grammatical gender reassignment, referring to myself as an Auslander (male foreigner) rather than an Auslanderin (female foreigner). But, we got to where I wanted us to go, so all in all I'd say I was successful.
So, the reason I wanted to go to the Bühl centre is to find the local H&M store. Last summer, in Toronto, I bought myself a maternity dress at H&M, and got lots of use out of it. Johannes and Katja had sent over some great baby clothes, all from H&M. So when I found out that there was an H&M and Krems, I was eager to go. And oh did I get baby clothes! The prices were good, and the selection was excellent. Too excellent, maybe. I got quite a lot of spring/summer clothing for Jakob, as well as some basics like t-shirts and socks. He slept through the first bit of shopping, but then woke up cranky. Again, "Wo kann ich mein Kind bruststillen?" I asked as I paid, and was told I could use one of the kabinen, and, over Jakob's hungry wails, the clerk even offered to bring my shopping to me. Happily, the dressing room even had an actual change table, so once I'd fed Jakob I was even able to sort out his diaper. I was glad to realise that I wasn't the first mother to have to feed her baby there, even if it was a first for me.
We stayed at the mall for a while. I bought some chocolates at Hussel to nibble on for my 'lunch'. Since it was a mild and sunny day, I decided to walk back to the hotel, since the distance wasn't as great as the hotel clerk had implied.
We went through the shopping district, and I stopped again at Spar to pick up a few things. Just as I was paying, Jakob again woke up cranky. He screamed. I couldn't calm him, and of course there was nowhere I could nurse him either. Other women came up to me, smiling and speaking in German. Of course I have no idea what they said (even if they'd been speaking English, I probably wouldn't have understood, since all I could really hear were Jakob's cries), but since they smiled I guess they were sympathising with me. Eventually, I realised I couldn't do anything anyway, and just started walking back towards the hotel. The motion worked miracles, and Jakob went back to sleep.
We met up with Werner and we all walked back to the hotel together. Once again, we went for Kaffee und Kuchen in the Cuvée-Club, and supper at the Weinstube restaurant. And, once again, Jakob got fussy during supper. He'd started off well, but the restaurant was exceptionally busy and the service took a very long time and he just ran out of patience. Although the hotel did not have room service, the waiter did offer to bring our dessert to our room. Anything, I guess, to get the unhappy infant out of the restaurant. We scurried back to our room and I fed Jakob. Dessert was delivered, and we enjoyed it on the bed, wearing our pyjamas.
After a little playtime with Papa, Jakob was ready for sleep, and so were we.
I got myself ready for the day, then took Jakob, still in his sleeper, down to breakfast in the Weinbergrestaurant, where he attracted the attention of a little girl and her mother as well as the waitresses.
Once we were both ready, we walked down towards the university and caught a bus downtown. It was Jakob's first time on a bus, and therefore my first time trying to get a stroller on a bus. As it happens, the busses in Krems don't kneel very low, but the middle doors are dedicated to wheelchairs and strollers and there's even a special spot on the bus. So I managed to get him on and into position, and then I held onto both stroller and bus for dear life as the bus wended its way downhill and to the train station.
Because I couldn't let go of the stroller, I wasn't able to pay until we got to the train station. I somehow managed to (I think and I hope) apologise that I hadn't immediately paid, that I was just visiting and didn't speak much German, and that I was trying to get to the Bühl centre and could he please tell me which bus I needed to take. I paid and he told me to take bus #5. The driver of the #5 was very helpful, too, and even gave me notice when we approached the stop at the Bühl centre.
I did make a few linguistic errors, though. I accidentally switched from the Sie (polite/formal) form to the du (familial) form while talking to the #5 driver. And more than once I gave myself a grammatical gender reassignment, referring to myself as an Auslander (male foreigner) rather than an Auslanderin (female foreigner). But, we got to where I wanted us to go, so all in all I'd say I was successful.
So, the reason I wanted to go to the Bühl centre is to find the local H&M store. Last summer, in Toronto, I bought myself a maternity dress at H&M, and got lots of use out of it. Johannes and Katja had sent over some great baby clothes, all from H&M. So when I found out that there was an H&M and Krems, I was eager to go. And oh did I get baby clothes! The prices were good, and the selection was excellent. Too excellent, maybe. I got quite a lot of spring/summer clothing for Jakob, as well as some basics like t-shirts and socks. He slept through the first bit of shopping, but then woke up cranky. Again, "Wo kann ich mein Kind bruststillen?" I asked as I paid, and was told I could use one of the kabinen, and, over Jakob's hungry wails, the clerk even offered to bring my shopping to me. Happily, the dressing room even had an actual change table, so once I'd fed Jakob I was even able to sort out his diaper. I was glad to realise that I wasn't the first mother to have to feed her baby there, even if it was a first for me.
We stayed at the mall for a while. I bought some chocolates at Hussel to nibble on for my 'lunch'. Since it was a mild and sunny day, I decided to walk back to the hotel, since the distance wasn't as great as the hotel clerk had implied.
We went through the shopping district, and I stopped again at Spar to pick up a few things. Just as I was paying, Jakob again woke up cranky. He screamed. I couldn't calm him, and of course there was nowhere I could nurse him either. Other women came up to me, smiling and speaking in German. Of course I have no idea what they said (even if they'd been speaking English, I probably wouldn't have understood, since all I could really hear were Jakob's cries), but since they smiled I guess they were sympathising with me. Eventually, I realised I couldn't do anything anyway, and just started walking back towards the hotel. The motion worked miracles, and Jakob went back to sleep.
We met up with Werner and we all walked back to the hotel together. Once again, we went for Kaffee und Kuchen in the Cuvée-Club, and supper at the Weinstube restaurant. And, once again, Jakob got fussy during supper. He'd started off well, but the restaurant was exceptionally busy and the service took a very long time and he just ran out of patience. Although the hotel did not have room service, the waiter did offer to bring our dessert to our room. Anything, I guess, to get the unhappy infant out of the restaurant. We scurried back to our room and I fed Jakob. Dessert was delivered, and we enjoyed it on the bed, wearing our pyjamas.
After a little playtime with Papa, Jakob was ready for sleep, and so were we.
posted by Melanie A at 11:36 a.m.
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