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This city is the capital and at the same time one of the nine federal states of Austria, as well as the seat of important international organisations. The city, which has various examples of Baroque architecture and can be indicated as the cradle of the Jugendstil style, is more than half represented by green spaces between parks, gardens and woods, which become places of leisure and social gathering. The city is known for having hosted many of the greatest composers of the 18th and 19th centuries.
"Welcome to Vienna" I hear his voice read, his voice full of amazement like that of a child.
"Wiiii!" She cheers happily, showing a big smile to me and her dad. She continues to move happily in her car seat, kicking with her little legs and laughing, while she uses the background music to keep the beat. These are simply the ten of our songs on a CD, the songs we sang and listened to from the first moment we were together. This is just one of the many sweet gifts for me by Rye.
On the way to the hotel, our eyes cannot help but focus on every little thing we can see. This city is nothing compared to what we have seen from the photos. What we expected is very far from all of this.
The large avenues that we travel with the car seem immense. On the sides there are huge sidewalks filled with tall trees, bushes and flower beds. People walk, run, talk sitting on the benches and they seem to be the life of this incredible place. Impressive buildings line the large and small streets, they are of all colours and colour everything even more. The magnificent parks almost seem like enchanted, magical places and I have no idea what we will really see when we enter and walk in these parks. The monuments are only a small part of what makes up the history of this beautiful city.
"It looks like a postcard" he sighs in amazement, alternating his gaze from the street to the beautiful view that surrounds us.
"It's breathtaking" I turn to Luce, observing her behaviour for a few seconds, only to study her reaction. She's in her car seat with a yellow duck in her hand, one of her favourite toys, she looks out the window completely mesmerised by what she's seeing. Together we have been to a few English cities and nothing compares to Vienna. The last time Rye and I left the UK was when we went to Spain, Luce indirectly took part in that unforgettable trip. Given how much she kicked in those days, we are more than sure she loved that trip.
Stopping at a traffic light I cannot fail to notice a complex that appears to be a monument. It looks like the shape of a parallelepiped, its walls are covered with something that looks like string courses.
"Look" I point my finger at the monument, making him notice it.
"It's a monument"
"I know but I don't know what it represents"
"It is a prismatic work dedicated to the Austrian Jewish victims of the Shoah" he replies, leaving me totally speechless for almost a minute. I am still surprised at the amount of things he knows. Sometimes I ask him questions that I'm sure he doesn't know the answer to, but he surprises me by answering me without even thinking about it for a second.
