Day 1: Seattle/Vienna

While I was blessed with a love for travel, I was definitely not blessed with a long attention span. This does not bode well for cross-oceanic plane rides.

Luckily, over the years, I've learned how to properly prepare for spending 9+ hours strapped to a chair. Here's my detailed plan:

• Step 1: Enjoy the in-flight dinner and maybe one movie because all the lights are on and there's too much commotion to sleep.
• Step 2: Memory foam plane pillow.
• Step 3: Ambien. Lots of Ambien.

After a nine hour flight, we had a three hour layover in London before another two and a half hour flight to Vienna. I enjoyed flying into Heathrow at first because it brought back memories of my month in London as a college student. (Of course, traveling back then included more hostels, more UV vodka, and less of anything else requiring funding.)

One of my favorite photos from my study abroad in London, 2005. I'm on the right (yes, and blonde!)
Playing bocce ball in Hyde Park.

But the sunny trip down memory lane started to fade after the ridiculous process between Plane A and Plane B. We needed to deplane, tram to Terminal 5 aka An Absolute Zoo, go through security and passport control, wait for the gate to be announced, passport check at the gate, and finally bus to the new plane and carry our bags up the stairway à la Air Force One style.

But oh, was it worth it.

As we taxied into central Vienna from the airport, the foreign language billboards, European license plates, and Baroque architecture immediately made me feel a million miles from home and full of excitement for the upcoming days. After spotting the Ferris Wheel featured in The Third Man (which we watched in this post), I officially couldn't wait to explore.

St. Stephen's Cathedral. You can see the red letters of our hotel on the building on the right.

After checking into the Hotel Am Stephansplatz - located just steps from St. Stephen's cathedral, an amazing sight even at night - we braved the cold, rainy, and darkening evening to find somewhere nearby for a quick dinner. After walking in circles for a few minutes, we finally decided on a restaurant that served schnitzel and featured a pianist playing an upright sandwiched between tables and the bar.

After a long day of travel, a hearty meal and music were the perfect welcome to this city known for both.

Note on hotel for travelers: We were very pleased with the hotel, and scored a cathedral-view room even though we only paid for a city-view. (It probably helped that we traveled during shoulder season and I typically behave like a cranky 80-year-old woman when booking rooms. "We're so sensitive to noise and would appreciate a higher floor!") The hotel couldn't have been more centrally located as it was in the same square as St. Stephen's and directly across from the underground. The hotel breakfast was delicious and served in their restaurant overlooking the cathedral, the room was spacious with great layout (especially for European standards), and the beds (European-style with two twins combined) were almost as comfortable as the one at home!

Sorry not many photos from Vienna on our first evening! More coming in future posts, I promise!