Central Europe trip, Post 10: Vienna

From Friday, January 3rd, to Monday, January 6th, we spent 3 nights in Vienna, the capital of Austria. Despite having been to Austria on a couple of previous trips, as well as earlier in this trip, this was our first time ever in Vienna!

The first night, we walked from our hotel to a well-reviewed restaurant a few blocks away. I'm sure the food was nice, but all I can remember about it now is that Finley was overtired, and the smoking of our fellow restaurant patrons (even though we were in a non-smoking room) was very off-putting! It's hard to believe this was the norm everywhere not so long ago... how times have changed!

Our hotel was a short tram ride from the city centre. On Saturday, we took the tram downtown and set out on foot to see some of the sights along the Ringstrasse (Ring Road). There were certainly some impressive buildings... but it was a chilly day, so a long stop in a café was soon in order!

Tram window sticker beside an accessible seat

The only building we seem to have taken photos of!

In order to escape from the cold - and do more than just look at big buildings - in the afternoon we decided to visit the Kunsthistorisches Museum. We spent the last couple of hours before closing time exploring two excellent and very extensive collections: the Collection of Arms and Armour, and the Collection of Historic Musical Instruments.

We had audio commentary via headphones - including recordings of some of the instruments playing - and learnt a lot about old instruments and suits of armour... although I've forgotten most of it already!

On our walk back to the tram, Ben took some gorgeous shots of a misty winter's evening in Vienna...

The museum

The next day, Sunday, we went to the local meeting, and afterwards were invited to lunch back at the home of one of the couples there, Ann and Andi. Unfortunately we didn't take any photos, but we had a really nice time getting to know them. We actually had quite a few friends in common, as they have spent a lot of time in North America!

The only other thing of note that we did in Vienna was a quick drive-by of a famous building I'd read about: the Hundertwasserhaus, a unique apartment building designed by artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. We didn't take any photos... but trust me, you really need to click on this link and check it out!

On Monday, it was time to drive back to Prague for the final 2 nights of our trip. It was nice to have finally visited Vienna, but it's another place we couldn't come close to doing justice to in a single day of sightseeing... a return trip will be needed someday!

To be continued...

Salmon Arm long weekend, Post 2

Continuing on from Post 1...

On Sunday morning, we took the opportunity to take a few nice photos before heading to the meeting just down the road.

After the meeting, we were invited to join one of the families for lunch (we already knew them from when they lived in Vancouver). They were planning to have a buffet brunch at a hotel on the lake... a place Nathan had found out about and thus we were already planning to go there for lunch! So that worked out rather nicely. :)

The lunch crew

Jack

The view from our table

Here are some gorgeous shots of Finley and Aunty Roxy after lunch...

And back in our hotel room...

In the late afternoon we went for another swim, and then had dinner at the inn's restaurant, Table 24. I enjoyed this meal even more than the previous night at Hedi's Bistro. Highly recommend this restaurant... and being able to walk back to our room afterwards was very nice!

The next morning, Monday (i.e. Canada Day, July 1st), Roxy and Nathan needed to leave early to drive back to Calgary. Ben, Finley and I hung out in our room for a while longer before checking out and driving to a lakeside park in Salmon Arm. We had wanted to get pies again for lunch, but the shop was closed due to it being a public holiday, so Ben hunted down some Indian takeout instead. It was an extremely hot day, but our lunch spot beneath a big tree in the park was very scenic.

Naptime

After lunch we set off on the journey home. It ended up taking us 8 hours again, but this was mostly because our car decided to suddenly turn itself off while driving over 100km/hr, so we ended up stuck on the side of the highway for 1.25 hours! It wasn't particularly pleasant to sit a black car in 37 degree heat, with trucks zipping past inches away, no shade, minimal breeze, and a hot sweaty baby (who was quite happy throughout this experience, actually)! However, we all survived, and once the tow truck arrived our car decided to start up again, so we paid his call-out fee and continued on our merry way! Seems our little RX8 had just been complaining about driving up a long hill with the air-con on full blast and the pedal to the floor in such heat. :)

And that was our lovely long weekend in Salmon Arm!

Winter wonderland in Whistler

The weekend before Christmas, we headed up to Whistler to spend two nights with Ashley and Amanda and their five kids in the beautiful townhouse they had rented for their 9 nights in Whistler. Another Aussie family, Jason and Rachel and their two daughters, who currently live on Vancouver Island, were also visiting Ash and Amanda for a few days. With six adults and seven kids there that weekend, it was a busy household!

We arrived on Friday night, and on Saturday Ben went snowboarding with Ashley, Kyle, Jacob and Jason. It was "dress like Santa and ski for free" day at Whistler, so here are a few photos Ben took on the slopes...

The Santas getting ready for a group photo

My day on Saturday was much more relaxing. I didn't leave the house at all! (Although I did spend a couple of hours babysitting five of the kids while the other ladies ducked into the village.) Here are some of the views I enjoyed from the windows and balcony...

On Sunday we drove to Pemberton for the meeting and were invited to stay for lunch. The last time we had been there was almost exactly one year before, when we spent Christmas in Pemberton with Roxy, Delle and Heidi! Here are some photos from the drive to and from Pemberton. We stopped a few times for Amanda to take photos, so we made the most of it too!

Unfortunately we didn't take any photos of people... just of snow! But we had a great weekend with both families. :) Thanks for letting us join you!