We were helping out at the church for our annual Spring cleaning day,when a man and woman walked up the street toward me and said, “Hello Karen!” At which point I reverted back to my usual habit when surprised – I stared… trying to figure out if I knew these people.Noticing my deer in the headlights look, the woman said, “I am your mom’s cousin! Belinda.” Random. Belinda said I reminded her of my mom, so she knew it was me. To make a long story short, my mom’s cousin Belinda, and her husband Jim come to Vienna every year with students from SUU on a study abroad trip. My mom had forgotten to email me and tell me they were coming, and we all just happened to meet on the street one day. Wow. What a coincidence. 
So we went out to lunch at a traditional Viennese restaurant called the Hopferl off the Graben. Elora was really happy to meet her “new cousins”. If you want to be friends with Elora right away, just tell her you are her cousin, and you are in! She has been talking about Belinda and Jim ever since. 
And who doesn’t want to see more pics of awesome Austrian food? Chris got the grill teller (teller is a plate in German) so it is a plate of grilled meat. Usually three different types of meat. On a bed of fried potatoes and green beans sauteed in onions, garlic, and ham! Yum.
Pork with noodles and mushroom cream sauce. I love the mushroom cream sauces here. Soooo gooood. (and fungus-y). Elora enjoyed her noodles with fungus also.P.S. We thought the whole situation was a little weird when Belinda
asked for our bank account number and to see our passports, but we
figured that they were family so we could trust them.
