Thankful Thursday

So. Apparently it's September. I haven't posted in a bit. Here's a quick list of things to catch up on...that I'm also thankful for...(and two of them didn't even happen in September, lol)...

1. 14ers. Back at the end of August (the 29th, to be exact), Nathan, Noah and Micah joined Nathan's trainer at Valor Elite (the gym we belong to) and a few others to summit Mt Bierstadt. It was their first 14er (my guys, not all of the others). (For those who don't know, Colorado has 50-some mountains that exceed 14,000 feet in elevation, known as 14ers. It's a thing to summit them.) They stayed the night at a hotel nearer the trail and got a very early start.

Thankful they had this experience together...that I didn't need to go with them (lol)...and that everyone got home uninjured. :) 

2. Micah's work. The day before that, Micah had invited Nathan, Noah and me to his company friends & family picnic at a park near their office. We drove down and enjoyed the time with him, the food and getting to meet some of his coworkers. Also, they had yummy cookies...

Thankful that Micah's found a place he's happy at and where he's comfortable being himself. His coworkers seem to appreciate him, too!

3. Fall weather. After a very warm summer, I'm delighted that we may finally be seeing some fall weather (knock on wood). Yay!!

4. Asher's health. Thankful, too, that Asher's surviving his initiation to elementary education...and all the germs that go with that, lol. It's a month since students started school and so far he's survived a couple colds, getting poked in the eye, having a kid bleed on him, and pinkeye. Fun times. ;P

5. Quiet. Other than all that, it's been pretty quiet around here since we got back from Vienna. After the very busy previous six months or so, it's been welcome. I'm sure I'll find things to keep me busier soon; but, for now, I'm truly just appreciating the quiet.

And that's my list for today. I may or may not have more before October...

Vienna: Wrap-up

So. That was our trip. :) To wrap up, here are some random thoughts and things I'm thankful for that didn't get captured in the day by day recording...

Hotels. We had two. Normally when we travel, we opt for AirBNBs since we prefer the privacy and flexibility. This time, Nathan's work covered the first hotel. It was fabulous! We had a corner room just a block away from the Vienna Opera House. It was spacious and air conditioned and lovely. It was definitely nicer than anything we usually get for ourselves and we appreciated it.

The first four pictures above are from that hotel. The bottom three are from the second hotel that we booked ourselves for our extra time in Vienna. For that stint, we again opted for a hotel rather than our typical AirBNB for convenience, two things in particular. First, given our schedule, we knew we'd be checking out of the first hotel in the morning and then taking a train to Bratislava. Generally, there's a gap between standard check out times and check in times. With that gap, we'd need somewhere to store our luggage since we didn't want to lug it around Slovakia with us. Hotels will let you store your luggage before you check in. Not all AirBNBs can accommodate that. Second, the location of our second hotel was important. We were only using it as a home base and needed something near the train station to make that easier. I honestly don't know that we could have done much better for location. We literally walked across the street and through the door to the train platforms. That saved so much valuable time!

(Note, our second hotel did have its issues, though. Unfortunately, the AC in our room was not working. But, given the timing of our outings, we didn't discover that until too late the first night. We had them look at it the second day while we were out but weren't able to confirm that it still wasn't working until late that night so ended up just getting permission to open the window fully (instead of just at the top) and made due. In the end, we made it work. It was a bit frustrating given that AC was something we'd specifically made sure of ahead of time but you really couldn't beat the location.

Further note, air conditioning is wonderful! We take it for granted some here in the US but it was really something to be appreciated in Europe as it's not as common. Also, it reminded me that I don't like humidity, so there.)

Public transportation. LOVE! Aside from the Uber when we first arrived because we were just tired after such a long travel day, we relied solely on public transportation. (Well, okay, Nathan used Uber to get to the office site...but only because he and his coworkers were traveling together and that was their plan.) Public transportation in and from Vienna was so easy and inexpensive. Thanks to phone apps, too, I was able to just take care of everything from my phone and in English and using Apple Pay...sweet. I used one app for Vienna public transportation (buses, trams and metro)...one app for trains out of Vienna's central station...and one app for public transportation in Budapest (we just used the metro at the start and end of the day to get from/to the train station, which wasn't near the main areas). Awesome!

Relatedly, the trains, themselves, are wonderful...so much better than trains in the US. They were generally on time and straight-forward and so, so convenient. We've experienced this before in Italy and other parts of Europe...could easily see ourselves traveling throughout Europe on the train systems. 

(waiting for a train in Vienna--you can see our hotel in the background...inside the train station in Budapest...the outside of the train station in Budapest...us on our way back to the airport (via train))

Other random things I'm thankful for:

• people who don't wear too much fragrance on planes and public transit
• people who actually stop and move to the side of walkways rather than blocking the middle (this also goes for groups with enough awareness to not walk completely side by side and fill an entire walkway)
• people who speak English (always so very impressed by people who speak more than one language and so thankful for people who can speak English since I don't speak any other languages)
• credit cards (so much easier than local currency, especially given that Czechia and Hungary don't use the Euro)
• pockets (pockets are a requirement for all my travel attire...I need pockets to stow my phone and keep loose coins...zippered pockets are even better!)
• farmers carry exercises and other training at home that makes me strong enough to carry all my own luggage up and down stairs (I think if you can't carry your own luggage you've packed too much, lol...saw numerous people unable to manage their own bags onto and off of trains. Also, being able to just pick up your carry on and take the stairs is almost always faster than standing on the escalator.)
• being fit enough to walk and climb and carry as much as we do on vacation (I get that it's something to appreciate)
• the walkability of all of our destinations (we walked most everywhere...in excess of 20,000 steps every day...which makes the multiple desserts okay, lol)

Nathan's work. And let's not forget the thing that made this all possible...Nathan's job. Very thankful for this new company and this opportunity!

(with partners after work on Tuesday night near the office site...almost the whole company working at the office site)

And, with that, I'm going to officially wrap up these many posts about our trip to Vienna. :) I know there's stuff I missed or glossed over. If you have any questions, please just let me know. I'd love to chat with you!

Vienna: Monday

On Monday, August 24 we flew home. It was a very long travel day. :P We got up and showered and somehow managed to pack everything back into our carry ons, walked across the street and took a train to the airport. We got through security and found our gate area then had a nice lunch at an Italian restaurant, bought a couple snacks and a book and filled our water bottles. We eventually boarded our short flight to Munich where we then made our way through the new EES (Entry/Exit System being used by the EU) and finally made it to our gate with enough time for a small snack/drink before boarding our 10 hour flight to Denver. During the flight, we passed over Greenland during clear weather, which made Nathan's window very popular. Nathan watched four movies. (One of the movies we watched together/simultaneously on our little seat back screens.) I watched two movies, read an entire book and managed a short nap. (The seat next to me was empty so I was able to lay down a little bit.) Arriving in Denver, we had to circle for a bit before landing due to weather but luckily did get to land before the evening storm. Noah picked us up and I managed to keep Nathan awake until a reasonable (but early for us) bedtime to try to get back on the right schedule. (Technically when we landed in Denver it felt like 3am given the time difference.) Whew.

(Drinks at the airport in Vienna...tiramisu for dessert at lunch...boarding our plane to Munich...saying goodbye to Vienna...overlooking Greenland)

And that was our trip to Vienna. I'll be back with one more wrap-up post...

Vienna: Sunday

Sunday, August 23: On Sunday, we boarded a train for Budapest, Hungary, arriving about 11:30 after a 2.5 hour train ride. We found the metro and, having downloaded the app and purchased tickets ahead of time, took that west to the Buda side of the Danube. (Did you know that historically Budapest is a combination of two cities...the hilly Buda on the west and the flat Pest on the east?) We walked out of the metro station to a stunning view of Parliament just across the river then found a lovely restaurant just a block away for a traditional Hungarian meal. After lunch, we walked back to take pictures of Parliament and also took a moment other check in for our flights (hooray for smartphones and apps!).

We then walked to Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church (both of which were simply amazing--we didn't get pictures that do them any sort of justice). At this point, we got a bit derailed from our "plan" for the day because we discovered a huge vendor fair on the grounds and surrounding area and succumbed to browsing and shopping for a good bit, lol. 

(The rather grand train station in Budapest...our lunch of traditional goulash with Parliament in the background...us standing on the west side of the Danube looking across at Parliament...at the base of Fisherman's Bastion...in the courtyard by Matthias Church, enjoying the vendor fair...a number of booths had these ceramic flowers which were so beautiful! (unfortunately, I didn't think I'd be able to pack them well/safely so didn't get any)...looking across the Danube from Fisherman's Bastion...more vendors along the wall outside the Matthias Church area)

We eventually (and reluctantly) left there to continue south to Buda Castle before crossing Chain Bridge to the Pest side of the river. We wandered through Liberty Square and had a yummy Greek dinner and then went to the Shoes on the Danube memorial and Parliament before making our way back to the train station. 

(a giant fountain at the castle...an arch into a courtyard of the castle...a roaring lion statue under that arch...the east side of the castle grounds...looking across the Danube and Chain Bridge...a statue of Ronald Reagan in Liberty Square with Parliament in the background...Parliament...the Shoes on the Danube Bank memorial to the 20,000 some Jews who were shot into the Danube during WWII after having been instructed to remove their shoes (as shoes were valuable and could be resold after the massacre)...Nathan photographing the memorial along the Danube)

Along the way, on the Pest side, we stopped at this unique Pop & Roll art toilet, where you paid to go inside and got to then select from 18 different toilet stalls (well, really just 9 depending on whether you went into the men's or the women's side). (The cost was maybe double what a normal toilet in Europe had been costing and these were really clean and, obviously, intriguing.) I don't know what the stalls in the men's side were like because Nathan opted not to use the facilities.

(Scenes from the strange Pop & Roll art toilets)

Also throughout the day, we sought out the miniature bronze statues by Mihaly Kolodko. The artist began creating the miniatures in 2010 and continues to add more. Each little sculpture has its own back story and it was fun to find those that we did. (Of course now I want to go back and find the rest!)

(These were the eight miniatures we found based on Instagram posts and Google maps. Afterward, we learned that there were a number more that we were very near and could have also gotten to. Drat. These were the Rabbit with the Checkered Ears (he's looking out toward the river with a telescope)...Dirty Fred, the Captain...Balloon Dog...Lunar Roving Vehicle...Money Blower...The Axe...Kermit the Frog...and Ushanka Returns (a Soviet winter hat with frog legs))

We made it back to Vienna around 11:20pm. It was another long day and we definitely felt we'd only scratched the surface of Budapest.

Vienna: Saturday

Saturday, August 22: We decided to head into Czechia for the day. Though Prague remains on our list, we opted to go to Brno instead on this trip. Brno is the second largest city in Czechia and was only a 2.5 hour train ride, instead of the 4.5 hour ride to Prague. 

So, again, we walked across the street to catch the train and were off the train in Brno around 11. We walked to the Old Town Hall and saw the "dragon." (Stories are mixed but legend has it that a dragon once threatened the people of Brno. It was eventually vanquished through trickery and the body was preserved and hung in the town hall. Obviously, a crocodile is not a dragon but it seems possible that a simpler culture may have believed it to be. Other theories say that the crocodile was a gift from a visiting dignitary. Who knows?) 

We also climbed the Old Town Hall tower then found a recommended local restaurant for a traditional Czech lunch. 

(The Old Town Hall (it's said that the crooked middle spire is because the creator didn't get paid what he was promised so deliberately did that)...the "dragon"...at the top of the tower (with the castle on the hill in the background)...the tower, itself...inside a random church we happened upon on our way to lunch...Nathan's beer at lunch...our yummy dessert at lunch) 

After lunch, we tried to go to the Ossuary. (It's the second largest ossuary/catacombs in Europe, with more than 50,000 bodies.) Unfortunately, they were already sold out for the day. Sad. So, we went next door to St James Cathedral and tried to get tickets to see the exhibits and climb the tower...except the machine wouldn't take our US credit cards for some reason. Lucky for us, a kind guy named Zdenek who worked there saw our predicament and let us go for free. (He'd lived in the US for a time in the 1990s and wanted us to know he loved Americans. He was so kind!) We loved the experience! We climbed the tower and got to be in the rafters above the cathedral vaulted ceiling, where we watched a show in English about the cathedral's history before continuing the climb on the double helix staircase...seeing bells and the clock on the way up. 

(The exterior of St James (fairly plain compared to most churches we've been to in Europe)...amid the rafters where we watched a movie about the cathedral--you could see the vaulted ceilings from within the cathedral underfoot...a window during the climb...Nathan looking at a giant bell...a cool illustration of the double helix staircase within the tower, making it possible for people climbing up and people climbing down to have their own stairwell rather than having to squeeze past each other...an illustration showing how far up the tower we were able to climb...the stairwell...one of the views out from the top of the tower (a photographer had actually captured photos out each of the windows (one in each direction) centuries ago so it was very cool to compare his photographs to the current skylines))

When we made it back down, we thanked Zdenek and wandered the cathedral's interior before heading out...

(Us on the organ mezzanine looking out into the cathedral's interior...the view from behind the altar looking back toward the pews and organ (most churches we've been in haven't had this area behind the altar, or at least it hasn't been accessible...so that was kinda cool)...me with Zdenek...inside the church...the organ pipes)

We found the strange tall horse statue and a small vendor fair supporting Ukraine...stopped for coffee and gelato...climbed the hill to Spilberk Castle (where we walked around the grounds and appreciated the unique wire sculpture exhibits)...found our way back down the hill to the astronomical clock...and enjoyed a larger vendor fair with food and crafts. We split up for a bit because I wanted to do some shopping, but I didn't have very much luck...most of the places were food places, not shopping. (Apparently, Brno is known as a bit of a foodie city.)

(The famous 8 meter tall bronze horse statue...Spilberk Castle, which began in the early 13th century and eventually became a renown prison...views from the castle walls...the odd astronomical clock (unveiled in 2010 and made of black stone...every day at 11am it releases a glass marble that spectators can catch and take as a souvenir apparently)...arm wrestling in the main square...a unique door...a blacksmith at one of the vendor booths...the vendor fair in the main square...cosplayers--it seemed to be some sort of event, as we saw numerous people in costumes at the train station and around town that day...just cool stonework along the way)

(At Spilberk Castle, there were numerous wire sculptures around the grounds...here are just a few of them)

After all that, we treated ourselves to dinner at a Michelin guide restaurant Nathan found called Element. It was fabulous!

(Our fancy cocktails...delicious duck dinner...and sour cherry donut dessert...I really should have taken a picture of the menu so I could remember more details)

We made our way back to the train, grabbed a few groceries and then traveled back to Vienna.