A Day To Remember In Vienna, Austria, St. Stephens & Figlmullers

2 / 8 / 17

The next morning, dad woke up up with coffee from McDonalds. I usually stick my nose up at coffee from Mc’Ds, but this was fabulous! He hurried us along as we got ready to explore Vienna. Good walking shoes? Check. Water? Check. Snacks? We were prepared. Across the street from our hotel was a bright green city train. The train went back and forth between the city and airport. It was a double decker train with comfy seats and flat screen TVs with the news and other local information. On our way to Vienna, the countryside looked a lot like the United States. There were a lot of industrial buildings. Nothing extraordinary. We went underground and got off in a mall. It was a strange place for a city train! The mall was vacant since it was a Sunday. What shocked me the most was that the mall had a fresh produce store inside. How strange! Once we walked outside, I was in shock. The beauty of the city surrounded us. Ancient buildings, stunning architecture. Every turn was a photo moment. Dad knew exactly where to take us.

We walked, trying not to run into people from looking up. The stores were delicately placed on a vertical slant and the roads were laid with cobblestone. Small storefronts looked too beautiful to hold a function. Cafes, oh there were so many quaint and cozy cafes! My camera didn’t stop taking photos. Jutka had us enter a cute chocolate shop. She explained there was a famous chocolate cake from Vienna we should try. It was called Sachertorte. This specialty is served in Vienna and a chocolate sponge cake. What impressed me was the beautiful little emblem on top. Even things you eat were beautiful here!

We put it aside and went to Figlmullers, a restaurant that specializes in Vienna cuisine. Dad made reservations for us in this tiny, narrow restaurant.

While we waited to eat, dad and Jutka led us to the center of town. I hadn’t ever seen anything so epic in real life as St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Wikipedia says this: “St. Stephen’s Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP. The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedral, seen today in the Stephansplatz, was largely initiated by Duke Rudolf IV (1339–1365) and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first a parish church consecrated in 1147. The most important religious building in Vienna, St. Stephen’s Cathedral has borne witness to many important events in Habsburg and Austrian history and has, with its multi-coloured tile roof, become one of the city’s most recognizable symbols.”

Other special places we saw included the Column of Pest (Column of The Trinity), which is a late 17th-century sculpted Holy Trinity column, built to commemorate victims of the plague. Dad also had us walk and observe a Catholic Mass at another smaller beautiful church. At this point, we also tasted the Sachertorte, or chocolate cake. It was so so rich! I took a quick picture of it and only took a bite. It was almost too rich for me (if that’s possible). It really liked it, but with all the other food we were trying, only enjoyed a bit.

Once our table was ready, we sat down in Figlmullers. This little restaurant is world famous for their schnitzel. Schnitzel is meat flattened out and then deep fried in a breading. The traditional Vienna Schnitzel is made with veal. The dish doesn’t even fit on a plate! We also ordered fries to share. I didn’t get the veal and instead opted for the Chicken Cordon Bleu which had chicken, ham, and swiss cheese. It was absolutely amazing. In fact, Dustin and I tried to go back a week later but they were full.

After eating our full, we took a double decker bus around the city for a break on our feet. We sat on the top and just took in the sites. There were headphones and you could hear Mozart and other famous musicians from Vienna playing music. I learned so much just from that tour.

Love & Laughter,

Getting to Hungary, Our First Overnight Flight Together

1 / 17 / 17

Montgomery’s Take On Europe (Not Before Age 25, But Before 27)

After the craziness of the holidays, on January 28th of 2016 we drove to Detroit. On our way, we stopped at Chili’s and enjoyed a nice dinner. The drive was relaxing, even though there was a little bit of traffic. We laughed and listened to music and prepped to explore Europe! We stayed at the Hampton Inn near the airport because it came with free breakfast and a shuttle to the airport.

January 29th: After sleeping in and relaxing, we grabbed waffles at breakfast. We spent as much time as possible at the hotel because our flight didn’t leave until the evening. After a bit, we took the shuttle to Detroit Airport. After getting through customs, I went shopping at the duty-free store. I had forgotten all of my eyeshadows! Eek! I bought a few things from MAC. We also decided to indulge in PF Changs in the airport. I, of course, excitedly told our waiter we were headed to Europe for the first time! Filled with excitement, we finally got aboard the plane. Soon after takeoff we were given our first meal…pasta! I made sure to wear leggings and a slouchy sweater. Dustin wore comfy jeans, a T, and a new zip-up hoodie. The food was good, and the movies were even better. Our eyes got BIG when we saw all of the new movies we could watch. We quickly decided NOT to watch movies together and instead indulged separately. There’s this picture of Dust holding the free eye mask and earplugs that cracks me up. Free things are so fun! I watched Brave, a Disney movie, and Dustin watched Jurassic World.

Love & Laughter,

Tiffany

We Made It To Europe! Our Hungary & Austria Trip

4 / 8 / 16

For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to travel and see the world. Perhaps it was my parents influence. Even though we lived in little Willard, Ohio, they always made it a point to take my sister and I to new and exciting places. Whether it was just a hotel stay in Sandusky thirty minutes away or the numerous trips we took to Florida as a family, the travel bug caught me. One of my earliest memories traveling as a family is when my grandparents and parents took us on an RV tour. We got to see Gettysburg and Chincoteague Island (wild horses live here and even hang out on the beach). It was cramped and sometimes hard being cooped up, but I remember staying on an old battlefield that was turned into a campground. All of us huddled together in the small RV and watched a VCR tape of Misty of Chincoteague, the movie based off the children’s books.

While in college, I had made a list of 200 things to do before I died. Of course, time seemed infinite at 18 and I put some hefty goals on there. When I met my husband, I told him boldly I wanted to see the 7 wonders of the world before I turned 25. Well, real life happened after we got married and travel seemed…expensive. We’ve done as much as we can and have gotten to see some really cool budget friendly places (Mexican Riviera, Niagara Falls, Las Vegas) BUT we hadn’t yet made it to Europe…until this year!

My dad is in international business and fell in love with a woman from Hungary. To be honest, at the time we were working on renovating our cozy cottage here in Mansfield, Ohio and trying to launch our own business. International travel wasn’t really on the radar for a long time (or so we thought). Dad and his bride became engaged and quickly and wanted to have a wedding in Hungary. So, my dad offered to use his frequent flier miles and own funds for us to come and visit. It was one of the most magnificent things I’ve ever done. Now, we just scheme how to get back over there again and see more interesting places.

Just like I did with A Southern Roadtrip, I’m going to break down our trip into sections which makes reading the posts easier! While you’re waiting patiently, here are some of our favorite pictures form the trip: