a perfectly serendipitous visit to Vienna

we arrived in Vienna after a long 23 days of travel, having not even intended to go to there at all. we were physically and emotionally exhausted. had no idea what the city had to offer. made no real plans. and ended up disembarking at the wrong train station, across the city from our hotel instead of within walking distance.

let me back up: a few weeks prior, while we were still in Turkey, the Istanbul airport bombing happened. we changed our itinerary to leave from Vienna after visiting Prague. I still have mixed feelings about this, but instead of going back to Istanbul we ended up with two days in Austria before departing for Taiwan. we settled on Vienna completely at random - only because it was the closest airport our airline used.

our time in Vienna turned out to be a very serendipitous thing.

not knowing anything other than "hey there's some museums in this area" Husband picked us out a nice hotel. really nice. with a breakfast spread that rivaled those we ate in Turkey, a quirky atmosphere, and the most awesome entryway wall mural. ever. Hotel Altstadt, you win. I'm trying not to develop an obsession with boutique hotels because they tend to be expensive, but staying in this place was a bit like sleeping in a modern art museum. which was really awesome. and kindof fit right in with the rest of our Vienna visit.

our stay went mostly like this: wander a random museum for a few hours until we get hungry or tired, stop for a glass of wine and some sausages or sachertorte. rinse and repeat.

we ended up seeing such a weird medley of things - just deciding "hey this looks interesting" and popping into a museum to explore. but I got to nerd out over Egyptian sarcophagi and scarab painted ceilings, snap photos of really cool murals, ogle dinosaur bones, and drink many many glasses of delicious wine. I don't think it's coincidence that in German, Vienna is Wien and wine is wein. by the transitive property: you must drink wein when in Wien.

there was actually a lot of synchronicity to what we saw. in some ways, I think it was fate that we ended up in Vienna. while we were in Turkey we visited Ephesus, where a large portion of excavations and restorations were being managed by the Austrians. it was the day after the bombing and I felt like I didn't really absorb much of what we saw. but in Vienna we saw an entire floor of a museum dedicated to Ephesus, and filled with statues removed from the actual site. it was almost like getting to go back for a second visit.

[sadly, the Turkish government shut down Austria's operations in Ephesus last month. this isn't the first time tensions have run high between these countries - at several points in history the Ottomans laid siege to Vienna. let's hope it doesn't come to that again.]

the connection with our time in the Czech Republic was even more obvious. without going too deep into history - Prague and Vienna have many ties through the Hapsburgs and the Holy Roman Empire. both cities spent time as the imperial seat, and while visiting the Imperial Treasury we saw crowns and royal robes from both periods of time [many boasting the Bohemian lion.] architecturally and decoratively the similarities between these cities were easy to spot. I guess that's what happens when you're all under the same rulers for three or four hundred years.

even though we didn't really plan, these coincidences just kept popping up during our time in Vienna. call it serendipity, synchronicity, or fate - it felt like we were closing the circle on our summer travels.

here's the list of recommendations I have for Vienna, based on our limited experience:
Hotel Altstadt // fun, funky, and walking distance to everything we saw and ate
Kunsthistorisches Museum // Egyptian antiquities [my favorite] plus Greeks, Romans, and paintings
The Neue Burg // Ephesos Museum, musical instruments, arms and armour
Natural History Museum // dinosaur bones! and a very impressive geological specimen collection
The Imperial Treasury // all the gold and sparkly things [along with imperial history]
Spanish Riding School // we stopped in the gift shop for Luke's equestrian-loving sisters
Cafe Bellaria // sachertorte and sausages since 1870
Gasthaus Sapa // seriously delicious Vietnamese. in Vienna. [don't question it]
TIAN Bistro // all vegetarian but you won't miss the meat

certain persons might mock me for missing out on all that Vienna has to offer. we didn't explore the city! you can see museums anywhere! not even once did we take public transit! but we did what we liked and it turned out just fine. I can't say I'm mad or disappointed with how we spent our time. especially because we could have missed THIS magical moment:

yes, those are two dudes wearing horse masks while playing accordions.

I think a lot of us travelers can become obsessed [ahem, myself] with planning out the details of our trip. sometimes "wasting your time" by wandering and stopping where things seem interesting is just the pace you need. while I'm still not thrilled about the reason we ended up in Vienna in the first place, it turned out to be the perfect city to spend a few days at the end of our travels.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

now it's your turn! this month I'm co-hosting the Travel Link Up with Emma and Angie and our topic is "a perfect..." you get to decide. just write a post following the prompt below and link up according to the instructions:

An InLinkz Link-up

this summer's journey

I'm finally home from all my summer travels, and ready to tackle my keyboard again. three months seems like decades in the online world - but it was a much needed break for me. and now, I'm actually excited to blog again and share my travels.

for starters: I've redesigned the blog. I think keeping my last design for 18 months was a record for me. [and maybe an indication of how stale things were feeling.] if you find any issues with links or readability, please let me know so I can fix things to be more friendly.

I've also been writing. so much. I've been writing almost every day. working on my memoir manuscript, starting new fiction projects, wrestling with morning pages and the Artists Way. but it's not enough. I need to put work out into the universe where it can be seen. I want to stay true to myself but I need some kind of interacton, feedback, acknowledgement. I've talked about this before: art cannot exist in a vacuum. I think the hardest trick is to write for yourself where others can read it. and it's time for me to emerge from my little cocoon and make the effort. and so I'm back here.

other happenings include: the arrival of Pokemon Go in Taiwan, our leaky bedroom ceiling finally being fixed, getting sick and going to the doctor like an adult instead of "toughing it out," and making plans for the year to come. the bulk of my summer, however, was spent traveling. I'm not sure where this blog is headed yet, but it's a safe bet there will still be lots of travel stories ahead. for now, we'll start with some favorite iPhone photos from the summer.

Turkey

I have so much to say about our time in Turkey. it was a magical country that went beyond my wildest expectations - the history, the people, the food - I fell head over heels in love. during our week in Istanbul we visited the most stunning mosques and palaces, made friends with every stray cat that tried to steal our doner kebab, and listened in awe as the call to prayer rang out across sunset on the Bosphorus. in Cappadocia we climbed stone castles and monasteries, explored underground cities, and soared with the sunrise in a hot air balloon. and in Şirince we gorged ourselves on a massive Turkish breakfast spread before wandering the ancient streets of Ephesus. it was a dream.

and then the airport bombing happened - a few hours after we had flown through Istanbul on our way to Izmir. I spent a lot of time trying to write about my experience. the shock, sadness, fear that followed the news. the hassle and unexpected expense of changing our plans. the disappointment and guilt that we felt it necessary to do so. but before I could organize my thoughts on the bombing, the attempted coup happened. I have some very strong opinions on the situation - made stronger by the people I met while traveling through Turkey and seeing firsthand what the government has done there. maybe someday I will be able to sort it all out and share. but not yet.

despite all these recent events, I would never discourage someone from visiting Turkey. I still plan to share our experiences in the hope that you will someday visit this incredible country. for now, I think that's the only way I can fight against terror and injustice that has happened - by showing you the wonder and beauty of everything I saw there.

Prague, Czech Republic

our first few days in Prague were spent recovering from our emotional departure from Turkey and catching up with friends. eventually we took a walking tour - which turned out to be the best decision we could have made. we saw everything and learned the layout of the city, and were able to navigate on our own the rest of our stay. Prague is extremely walkable and completely gorgeous from every angle. it's been 12 years since I had been to Europe, so it kindof felt like the first time for me. most of our time was spent wandering its charming streets and squares [and for me, photographing them] but we also took a trip out to see the bone chapel and St Barbara's cathedral in Kutná Hora.

while Prague is famous for beer being cheaper than water [which was true] I found that there were incredible Moravian wines for barely $5 US a bottle. eating in Prague was also surprisingly easy for me. apparently the EU requires restaurants to list what allergens are in each dish. seeing as I have issues with 8 of the 14 listed allergens [plus 4 things not] it made ordering meals a lot safer. I could have happily stayed in Prague for a month.

Vienna, Austria

while this was an unintended destination for us - added when we changed our travel plans after the bombing - we certainly enjoyed it. we took the train to Vienna from Prague and splurged on a nice hotel. there was stunning breakfast, hip street art, Egyptian artifacts, Viennese sausage, and sachentorte for Luke. we didn't venture much past our neighborhood by the museum district. but we did have a lovely and relaxing time.

after spending extended time in most of our other stops, two days in Vienna seemed like nothing. I know that we missed out on much of what the city has to offer, but by the end of our travels we just had to do what worked for us. which was: sleep in, eat, explore a few museums, and drink lots of wine. sometimes you need a little vacation in your travels.

Vietnam

back in February this year, I was sitting in the park with two friends. one of them mentioned that she was thinking of going to Vietnam in the summer. the other said she would be interested in going, and so did I, since it's one of the few nearby Asian countries I have yet to explore. for some people this would have been idle talk. but my friends - they are planners and doers.

that's how, after two weeks of recovering from a solid month of travel, I left for a 10 day girls trip to Vietnam. the first days I spent in a cold medicine haze, but by the time we traveled from Hanoi to Sapa I was ready to soak it all in. we did a two day trek with an overnight homestay, a Vietnamese cooking class, and a 3 day cruise through Ha Long Bay. our weather was mostly rainy or hazy, but we still managed to see and do [and eat] a lot.

overall, it was a great summer of travels. there were many glasses of wine, sunrises and sunsets, cat encounters, selfies, and magical moments. but it feels good to be home in Taiwan again. I've started sorting through everything and hope to share detailed itineraries, packing lists, many photos and stories in the weeks and months to come. if you have any questions or topics you'd like me to address in upcoming posts please let me know! I hope your summer was as fantastic as mine.

xo