Sudoku und Winnie Puuh

Okay so now I’m getting out of order as this is NOT one of my backlogged posts…oh well. I was too excited to wait.
Today at the music store in Salzburg I found a little stack of Sudoku books. I’m a fan of Sudoku, so I picked it up…and was blown away.

Instead of numbers, it’s played with solfege.

What more, the gray boxes, after you’ve completed each puzzle, reveal the theme of a popular song…
…or famous classical composition.
And this is a book I picked up my last day in Vienna. Two friends and I found a bookstore and were drawn to the clearance bins outside. We proceeded to go through the bin of kinderbücher, or children’s books. One of my friends, who is taking German I with me, bought a counting book and two animal books. In the shop we talked to the shopkeeper, a really nice girl who let us practice our German on her, helped teach us our colors, and talked to us in English about languages, Skype, and life.
Anyway, I left with a Winnie-the-Pooh book. In German he’s known as “Winnie Puuh.”

Sadly my Winnie Puuh goodnight story is somewhat above my German reading comprehension. So far I’ve made it through three pages.

Hungry? Food post from Salzburg

I’ve been snapping photos nonstop since I got here (my official count is 866 photos so far, eek!) and one of the things I’m documenting without fail is, of course, the food I’m eating.
Here are a few looks at some of my meals so far. I’m attempting to be a Real Blogger and color-correcting my food photos now!

Tortellini with ham in cheese sauce.

Salami and pickles on a roll at Cafe Tomaselli, the cafe Mozart used to frequent.
Pasta and cheese (and the sauce too, I think) from Italy, made by my host mom.
Fish and potatoes.

Fish and vegetables cooked in ginger, made by my host mom.

A dessert platter at a cafe.
A slice of cake from Cafe Tomaselli.
Turkey sausage and potatoes with curry ketchup (!!!!!!!) made by my host mom. Side note, she includes a salad with every meal. The lettuce-lover in me is so happy. Also, curry ketchup is so much better than regular ketchup. Apparently it’s a German thing.
Apple strudel!
I’ve got a lot more food photos but cropping and color-correcting can definitely slow a girl down. This should be enough to leave you hungry for now.

Why painting my nails is an exercise in futility

Before practicing piano, my nails were flawlessly painted (with “Skinny Jeans” by Sephora by OPI, if anyone was curious) and topped with a resilient top coat.
This is what they looked like after a good dose of Prokofiev.
Sigh! I love putting different pretty colors on my nails but there’s really no point painting them because they get such a pounding. They just look horrid after I practice and I end up picking little flakes of nail polish out of the keys.