For the past few hours I’ve been listening to someone in the building playing cello. I admire not only the perseverance but also the unconditional love you must have for your instrument and music to practice for so many hours.

It is of course not so uncommon in Vienna and Austria, the land of Mozart, Schubert and Strauss to name just a few of the biggest composers.

There is still some light through the window. I can hear the song of a few birds and children playing outside.

One day more of reclusion and I can be free again! You see we have a family ritual that I’m unable to fulfil at the moment. When we are on vacation we do a lot as a family but then there are specific days with just one of the parents. The so called “Mommy Daughter day” or the “Daddy Daughter day”.

We have a lot of fun and with me she usually chooses to go to a museum or two and then to a movie with popcorn later. One of the museums we always go to is the “Kunsthistorisches Museum”, the largest Art museum in the world  housed in a beautiful palatial building.

There are corridors and corridors of exhibits.

And people usually end up like this but it is worth it.

But her favourite is without a doubt the Natural History Museum in Vienna. It is a great museum, a must as well if you are visiting the city.

As I can’t make it right now, my husband thought he would take her. She was very upset because this is our thing. What made my day was when she called me and said not to worry.

She told me she would just look at the ceiling or the floor and would not see anything. Then when I’m better we will go and see it together! My husband said that is exactly what she did and that she refused to see anything properly except for one exhibition.

This is what unconditional love feels like and I’m so lucky and grateful I have it.

When I was her age my favourite thing to do with my mother was to go every year to the Lisbon Book Fair. We would go through the fair and she would buy me a book or two. Afterwards either we went to the movies or to have tea at a nice Cafe. We did it until I left home to get married. I truly miss those times but I’m thrilled I can do it with my daughter now.