Spain: Day 1, time to explore some

 

First full day, so time to explore a bit. Hmmm, I guess the flip side of dinner at 9pm and late nights carousing in the streets is that not even coffee shops open until 10am! There's a wonderful little coffee shop ~50 ft from the apartment, El Perro De Pavlov, which I have been taking advantage of. 

OK, coffee and a pastry then off to explore. I was Sunday, so there were pop up markets basically at every street or open area. So many tents selling beautiful fresh flowers.

We slowly (due to me) made our way to Saint Fernando Market. Wow, a bit overwhelming with the choices and number of people, but we finally found a spot. Sangria? check!

We saw some others order food and asked the waiter what it was. Carne mechada con patata. Hooo boy. I might come to Spain just for that.

My shoes weren't doing my feet any favors as we covered the miles. So a cut over to see Toledo Gate and a hop on the metro to make a stop at the apartment.

The metro is so so nice and so easy to use.

After a short rest and change of shoes, we were back on the streets.

Walked by Real Basilica de San Francisco el Grande.

Then down to Catedral de Santa Maria.

And the Royal Palace of Madrid. We have tickets for a tour of the Royal Palace on Saturday, so more to come on that one.

On to the Templo de Debod...

and the park surrounding it. The park was lovely and the views were terrific. You can see in the background all the prior sites we went by.

And lastly, Plaza de Espana on our way to dinner.

Quite the day exploring. I'm starting to get somewhat of my bearings.

Spain... travel day AUS->LHR->MAD

 The flight over was nice and smooth. Flying so close to the equinox and so far north, the sun never completely set. Even being in the economy (cattle) class was quite enjoyable, as it's just nice to be out traveling again.

The airport in Madrid wasn't busy, so getting through immigration was a breeze. Bought a metro pass, made my way to the metro station and was on my way to find Bailley.

We met at the La Latina metro stop since she had already checked into the AirBnB and I had no idea where it was even :) .  The apartment is really nice and in a wonderful location.

A nice stroll through the old section (El Centro) to James Julian Becerro for dinner and my first jamon bocadillo. The waitress was very helpful... I saw that cheese was extra and thought, hey, I'm going all out so 'yes'. She tried to tell me 'no' and she saw I was confused so she used her phone to translate... her words were "to add cheese onto this ham is a sin." We took her word and were very happy with the order. Man, I thought being from the south I knew about ham... nah, the Spanish *know* about ham. 

We walked around a bit, but then back to the apartment so I could collapse and try to recuperate from the trip.

Vienna: Day 2... last day

  We got out and going pretty early since we'll need to pack up and turn in early tonight.

The girls in front of Karlskirche on our way to grab some coffee and breakfast. A swing and a miss on the first try, but we found an Aida to eat and warm up in.

 The Vienna Opera House... no Tom Cruise hanging from the roof today.

The Domkirche St. Stephan. The Roman Catholic church of the archdiocese in Vienna. I think this spot had the most tourists around it. It was beautiful, but you must get a few bonus points for being a religious point too. Rathaus was architecturally just as impressive.

   We walked all the way to the Danube Canal and followed it to Prater with the Wiener Riesenrad, German for Vienna's giant wheel. Cindy rode it with Abigail and Bailley, while Madison and I waited.

A brutally cold, but scenic walk back to the apartment...

  for a game of home-made pictionary and then a puzzle.

  Everyone is tired and starting to want to be home... so it seems we are ending about on time. It has been a fun trip. I hope everyone enjoyed playing along and seeing the pictures.

Jim

Vienna: Day 1

  We got a late start, as everyone is still recovering from the long train ride. We rolled out close to 10 and decide to stop at a little coffee shop the apartment owner recommended. Little coffee shop?!?

  Check out the china set for my coffee. And I'm not trying to get a shot up Bailley and Abigail's noses, look at the walls and ceiling. The entire ceiling is small, oddly-shaped tiles. I have a new appreciation for apricot preserves after this sitting.

  And we're off... after a picture with Karlskirche way in the background.

   We just start a slow walk around the 'ring' street. It used to be the wall around Vienna, but 150 years ago they tore down the wall and made it a street. Here's the girls in front of Hofburg, which is evidently just a huge event center.

  Madison in front of one of Austria's favorite sons, Mozart.

 

   Hey look, another Christmas market.  Right in the middle between two beautiful and identical buildings. The Vienna Antiquities and Vienna Natural History museums.

  Pretty funny, you get to see the movie stars in the advertisements that they shun in the US. Here is George Clooney in a coffee ad. That's Clooney on the right  :)

  Austria's parliament building.

  Rathaus... a town hall. _That_ is a town hall... just unbelievable.

  Votovkirche, our last stop on our chilly little walk. Everyone is cold and we seem to be most of the way around the ring street, so we decide to cut back straight through the city to head back to the apartment.

  And as usual, turn any corner and it looks like this picture above. St. Michael's right off of aptly named Michaelerplatz.

   Even the libraries are pretty nice... this is the Austrian National Library.

   Back at the apartment for a dinner of reheated schnitzel. Another great day in the book.

Jim

Travel Day

  OK... so now that 6:40am train ride _doesn't_ sound like such a good idea. But, we get packed and out the door before 6:00am. 

The well worn trek to the tram.

 Then on the train. As soon as the sun rose, the scenery was spectacular.

  As expected, around Innsbruck the mountains and snow was just beautiful. In fact, the biggest problem was that it was snowing so hard that you could barely see the mountain peaks. It was their first big snow of the winter... seems like we brought it with us.

   We made it to Vienna, all really tired. The train ride was loooooonnnggg. I guess no matter what it looks like outside or what you can do, when you are tied to a small area, 7 hours is a long time to do anything.

   We get to the apartment with just a little light of the day left. The apartment is nicer than even the VRBO pictures. We also get advice on local places to shop and eat. So one last push before some much needed rest.

  A Thanksgiving dinner of wienerschnitzel and potatoes. Yep, we all have a lot to be thankful for. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Day.

Jim

Zurich: Day 5

  Well, as promised, today was pretty low key... well, sort of. We got up late and eventually head out for a late breakfast/lunch. We went to a place down the street that was always just slam packed with people. Turns out it was all vegan. I followed my southern instinct and abstained. I slipped off during one of the extended souvenir viewing sessions to get a bratwurst and fries at Sternen Grill... quite the little find. Daddy 1, vegans 0.

  One last snap of Abigail and Bailley before I turned them lose on the little holiday shops again... while Cindy was with Madison picking something out.

Abigail took a good daytime picture of Cindy and Bailley with the tree while I scarfed down my lunch. We finally all link back up before the final push to finish things off.

  The day was cold and dreary, but a great last day walk past all the sights one last time getting to the shops.

   Bailley acting like... Bailley. I tried to muffle her, but you can only contain it for so long.

  Me and Cindy with Grossmünster as a background. Zurich is so picturesque and clean, me and the girls actually debated whether Venice or Zurich had more random postcard picture shots. Tough call.

  And last good pic of the girls beside the Limmat river. Before we split up yet again. Evidently this souvenir stuff is like the trickiest thing ever. Madison and I go back to do an exchange and Cindy, Bailley, and Abigail go to the train station shops. But... in a few hours, everyone if finally satisfied and done, or at least too tired to care. We try to hit another fondue place for dinner, but two close places are completely booked. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to try and come back one day. We eat dinner and stroll back to the apartment... after a stop by the Co-op grocery for a dessert of Swiss chocolates of course. So tonight we just clean the apartment a little and pack up for an early train ride to Vienna.

Jim