Wien

We had ended up ahead of our planned itinerary and had a few days to spare before having to meet my brother Brandon in Istanbul…so in true Peyton Manning fashion, we called yet another audible. After mulling over several options, we finally settled on jetting off to Wien (Vienna), Austria to visit Akman-family friends.

I had heard quite a bit about these family friends from Andy, most prominently featured in the story of Andy’s first attempt at diving. He and his friend Thomas had gone to a lake and received some instruction on diving…in German. Fortunately for Thomas, he grew up speaking German; unfortunately for Andy, he did not. Needless to say, Andy missed out on some of the finer points about diving. The rest of the story involves Andy feeling immense pressure in his mask, not knowing what to do to fix it, hurriedly swimming to the surface, and being confused as to why everyone was horrified when they saw his face. The built-up pressure in his mask had caused many of the blood vessels in his eyes to pop, causing the whites of his eyes to turn red and him essentially looking like he had been punched in the face (for several weeks after). To this day, this story remains a legend in Austria.

Some of the highlights:

Wien. We spent some time walking around the old section of Wien and visited multiple sights and museums in Wien, including: the Imperial Apartments and Sisi Museum; the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Arts); the Belvedere, intended as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy, the Belvedere was located outside the city walls.

Brezel (pretzel). We love them, so we sought them out when it came time for a mid-afternoon snack. Apparently one was not enough, as we pretty much had one everyday in Austria.

Demel. A famous confectionary that, for a short period, was moved into the Palais by order of then Emperor Franz Joseph. Demel is loved by the Akman family and I’m a huge fan of cookies, so it was a no-brainer that we make a stop here to purchase some goodies.

Schönbrunn, the summer palace of the Habsburgs. The tour of Schönbrunn Palace takes you into the west wing of the palace including the apartments of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth (Sisi), the state rooms in the central wing, and the 18th-century rooms from the time of Maria Theresa. The visit to Schönbrunn Palace is worth it just to walk around the immaculate grounds and the view from the top-of-the-hill Gloriette with its Panorama Terrace.

Burgruine Aggstein (Castle ruins of Aggestien). We wanted to get out of the city and out into the country, so we decided to visit Burgruine Aggstein. It was a lovely (?!) 45-minute walk uphill to the castle…but we were rewarded with cool ruins and beautiful views.

Heurigen in Perchtoldsdorf. A Heurigen is a locale that serves new wine, and is restricted by only being able to sell their wine, a limited selection of food, and to be open for a set number of days per year. In many towns, including Perchtoldsdorf, there is generally at least one heurigen open on any given day. We went to the same one twice (our first and last night in Austria) because it had the best Wiener Schnitzel (which Andy loves).

Our stay in Austria was perfect. We had a few days to relax, see parts of a beautiful country, do laundry, have more than one home-cooked meal, and most importantly, visit with old family friends.

kl & aa.