A weekend in Vienna

I travelled with Unni and Jo to Vienna, Austria, during the week of the 8th of November. Unni is the president of a large international organization called MSF or Doctors Without Borders. He was invited by the President of Austria to meet with other Nobel prize winners to give a lecture at the 5th Annual Nobel Laureates event.

The first day, we were invited to a lunch with the President and the first lady of Austria at the Hofburg Palace. It was very special. President Fischer and his lovely wife had us over for a three course meal with them and four other laureates. MSF got its Nobel prize in 1999. President of East Timor, Dr. El Baradei (from Egypt) and Melissa Fleming of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees were also there. Here I am with Unni and Faru Margit Fischer.

After we had a lunch of buttersquash soup and a nicely browned chicken on a bed of lentils, we were given a tour of the Hofburg Palace. Here I am with Unni and Jo in the Hofburg Palace in a room full of paintings.  The mosaic paintings at the back are handmade.

I was happy to be out of Jo's bag and breathing the royal air.

Here I am being held by Jo in Marie Teresa's room. The room had a lot of flags and a lot of mirrors and lights. The two flags on my either side are the flag of the European Union and the flag of Austria.

I dont think I could have slept in this room. Too much bling! Poor Queen Maria Teresa!

Here Unni is looking happy (finally!) We are in front of the Hofburg Palace. The Hofburg palace was built in and has had many kings and emporers live in it.

I am cold here but luckily we drove quickly away in a sleek black chauffer driven limousine!

Uh oh! Here I am with Unni and Jo and I am meeting President Ramos-Horta. He is the president of East Timor and was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1996. He looks Indian and he's wearing a Nehru jacket. But he is from East Timor which is an island nation between Indonesia and Australia. East Timor got its independence from Indonesia in 2002.

We are now in the Red room of the Vienna city hall here.


I am scared here.  No one is paying attention, I might get dropped and Unni is crumpling my shirt!



This was all very exciting! Unni had just delivered his lecture and both Unni and Jo are very happy here! I am happy too! It is good to be with happy people in a beautiful, grand Viennese ballroom. The chandeliers hung down to half way down the ceiling. The room looked regal and majestic. The chairs were covered with red velvet. There were tv cameras all around and two large screens.

I would have liked to have been on the podium with Unni but Jo did not let me go there! :(  So, I danced with the chandeliers in the main festival hall at the City Hall!

The next day we went for a Sting concert at the Staadhalle!!! I was so excited I am sure the Staadhalle crowds heard me screaming! Sting is very cool!

Sting goes to different countries with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He travels to four different cities every week. I want to look and sing like him when I grow up. I want to wear the white t-shirt and khakhi pants that he does. And the black string around his neck is very cool. 










He also told Jo and me that he had been to Upper Mustang  - a kingdom on the borders of Nepal and China.

I want to go there too!

On Saturday I went to spend the day with Unni, Jo and Jo's friend who works in Vienna. We walked around Stephansplatz in Vienna. This is a neighborhood in the city, which has cobbled roads and lots of very rich shops. Very beautiful people and women who wore expensive clothes walked around and swarmed around street performers.








While walking around Vienna city, we walked in the Naschmarkt area of Vienna. This is a small island in the Wien river with lots of restaurants and different cuisines. The sun was shining and people were seated outside eating delicious Viennese cakes. It made me hungry.

While we were walking we bumped into Sandra Pires. Sandra Pires is a pop star in Vienna. She belongs to many countries: East Timor, Austria and Australia and Portugal.





Then Unni, Jo and I went to Burggarten and a nice cafe inside. I would have liked to have had the chocolate cake that Unni had there.