Good Enough

Takeaways from our first week in Vienna:

 

1. My girls, now 12, 10 and 9, are such great travelers. Our trip here was so easy with them, and that didn’t used to be the case.  My oldest is already harder to impress these days, so I say, don’t wait too long to travel, grade school is a great time to do some bigger trips.

2. Coffee and cake is a real thing here and I’m here for it! We’ve made it a daily practice, you know, when in Vienna…There will definitely be a future post that dives deep into the wide variety of kaffee drinks and creamy, dreamy layered cakes.

3. We are right in the heart of Vienna, in the first District, so snazzy. This also means our family of five is sharing a two-bedroom, one bath which is creating a lot of, um, family memories.

4. The Natural History Museum is a gorgeous building which houses collections on steroids. So many beetles! Butterflies! Snakes! Minerals! We got a pass so we’ll be going often. 

5. In general, Austrians speak impeccable English. As usual, I am humbled and wish I spoke other languages.  It’s never too late, and we are learning, although, damn them, because their English is so good it isn’t that useful.  Don’t worry, I’ve got my bitte and danke and mit schlag (with cream) down pat.

6. We ice skated at the largest outdoor complex I’ve ever seen.  There were multiple rinks and two levels. Yes, I had to ski down a ramp and no, it wasn’t pretty.

7.  Austrian women are oh-so classy and they dress the part. They seem to sashay down the boulevards in gorgeous winter coats and hats with (let’s hope fake) fur trim.

8. After skating we went to one of the oldest coffee shops in Vienna.  Sigmund Freud was a regular! Traditional Austrian food is very “meat and potatoes” but the goulash was good and you can always end the meal with a delicious pastry.  Here are a few that we tried that day:  

 

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