Stopping in Thailand on the Way Home

Last night, the plan was to attend a back gym class with the Mermaid. When I found out that the new class cycle would not begin until next Wednesday, we went to the ice-cream parlour instead. Afterwards, we walked from Schwedenplatz to Burgring and were contemplating which entrance to the U3 "Volkstheater" station to take, when I spotted nicely lit tent-like stalls on Maria-Theresien-Platz and people engaged in some kind of shopping activity or other. Always eager not to miss any shopportunites, we decided to check it out. It turned out there was some kind of Thailand festival going on and the Mermaid was very excited when she saw they were selling Thai groceries. She was on vacation there last year with her boyfriend and got very nostalgic when she saw "their" brand of beer and fresh coconuts. We shared a coconut, my first ever of this type, and I have to say it tasted very nice. This is the Mermaid enjyoing her Thai soft drink:

Afterwards, we perused the rather run-of-the-mill silk scarves and handicraft objects, passing food stalls (a pity we weren't hungry!) and a kick-boxing demonstration and had almost reached the end of the row of Thai attractions when the Mermaid sighed, "I'm so tense, I really wish they gave Thai massages here, too". Hey presto - as soon as she had finished the sentence, a massage stall turned up. "Come on, let me treat you to a massage, too", she said and so we both sat down for a 15-minute neck/head/shoulder massage executed by tiny women with a lot of strength in their fingers. I'd have found the experience even more relaxing if my masseuse hadn't giggled and shouted something to her colleagues all the time, but according to the Mermaid this is very authentic. At the end, they rubbed on some oil that smelled like tiger balm and left a pleasant burning sensation on my back. Colourful Thai (?) orchids in hand, we finally reached the subway station and felt we had just come back from a mini-holiday.