A-M

Beers, Schnitzel, and More in Vienna

written by Travis

The train ride from Budapest to Vienna was a breeze and only took 2.5 hours. With Katie and Erin chatting it up in their row, I made a new friend with my seatmate. She was a nice younger woman from Paris who was originally from Morocco. It was fun because I could speak to both places having spent time there in the last year. In my book, random conversations with strangers is always a good way to pass the time.

Once in Vienna we made our way out to our Airbnb. The location was awesome because it was right off a main transit line and a 20-minute walk from the city center/tourist area. This gave us easy access to the massive Vienna Park as well as the subway so we could easily traverse the city exploring. The apartment itself was spacious and clean with two bedrooms and a full kitchen, so it provided us nice space and the ability to relax after long days exploring.

Each morning for me kicked off with a nice long run in the park. The park was perfect for running with beautiful, tree-lined trails that just stretched on for miles. It was also great to have Erin join me on a few runs to change things up a bit. We got lucky and there was a concert in the park for May Day, so we made our way over for some sweet live music, fair-style food and beers. Never would I have expected to hear an Austrian version of ‘Thriller’ live in the park. Not sure why that wasn’t on my bucket list!

Erin and Katie researched some killer food and drink venues for us to try. Nothing outlandishly expensive but more well-rated places and/or establishments which have been around for decades. These included… Café Central (beautiful architecture inside and great for coffee or brunch), 1516 Brewery (big outdoor terrace), Café Hawelka (historic old café – come for coffee and their pastry specialty covered in powder sugar), Siebensternbräu (perfect for a beer and pretzel stop) and Schnitzelwirt (no frills with cheap, delicious schnitzel as big as your head).

The city itself is beautiful and extremely easy to get around. Since it is so flat, you can walk for hours with ease taking it all in or hop on the breezy metro to bounce you from place to place. Each day we walked an average of 4-5 miles exploring. This was probably good as we needed to work off all the schnitzel and breaded foods we were devouring.

Sadly, after a couple of days we had to make our way to the train station and said our goodbyes to Erin as she headed for the airport and home. Then we headed by train to Poland, the last country on this journey. With only one left, it’s getting real!

May 9, 2017 0 comment

A-M Europe Hungary

Buddies in Budapest

written by Travis

Travel is amazing, but what makes it even better is seeing foreign places with friends and family. We were so lucky that two of our closest friends, Kate Gallacher and Erin James, flew from the states to join us on this crazy journey. We all arrived into Budapest on the same night and reached our Airbnb within two hours of each other. Cue big hugs and us attacking the city for a couple of days as a newly formed travel foursome.

Four is the perfect travel group. You’re nimble enough to change plans quickly, we all fit in the same cab and lodging, it keeps it so there aren’t a million opinions on what to do, and everyone can stay in the same conversation. For Katie and I, this was such a perfect break from just the two of us and we needed a catch up on all things Seattle.

The first day we walked more than eight miles exploring the city. We covered a huge amount of ground and landmarks on our must-see list. While we were exhausted at the end, it took the pressure off the following days as we checked off so many things. We also made sure to find some good eats and drinks along the way. Katie and I laugh as rarely drink when it’s just the two of us but when friends come we always end up doing it because we get to be in vacation mode with them. Nobody like to drink on vacation alone.

During our days in the city we saw the Buda Castle, Chain Bridge, St. Peter’s Basilica, Hero’s Square, City Park, Shoes on the Danube, The Opera House, Parliament and more. Sadly, Kate left us after three days to visit another friend in London, so it turned into a sweet tripod. Obviously we didn’t slow our roll and continued to eat our way through the city. We also made it out to the Széchenyi Spa where we spent hours bouncing around the various saunas, pools, etc. In Budapest, bath houses are a huge deal. There were probably a thousand people spread out over the massive facility. It felt like a tamer and more cultured Vegas pool scene with people drinking, having a great time and enjoying just ogling at each other. There are more than 18 pools there all varying in look, size and water temperature.

Some of our favorite restaurants from the city were Cirkusz café, Tuning Bar&Burger, KönyvBár and Restaurant, Doblo Wine Bar and Bors GasztroBár. We also got a chance to see what “ruin pubs” were all about. In Budapest, these bars are all the rage and unlike anything we have seen on our travels. They are basically pop-up style bars made in the ruins of abandoned buildings or lots. In Budapest they can be found in the old Jewish quarter and many were just a few blocks from our Airbnb (best neighborhood to stay in BTW). While some ruin pubs have become permanent establishments, they were originally created to be an underground bar scene. Outside there are no big signs, lines or anything flashy, but once you walk in you see a huge courtyard, music and drinks. Historically the bars would stay around until they got caught by neighbors and would then shift to another location. Hence the allure of being in the know of something secret and cool. The bars are also decorated in a crazy way. It feels like a giant yard sale where everything is mismatched, artists have painted or decorated walls, ceilings, floors and more. At night this eclectic form of décor is lit up in a crazy way so you feel like you’re on some form of drug looking at it all. By day it just seems like you stumbled upon a crazy person’s home in Ballard. All in all, a must when visiting Budapest.

May 8, 2017 0 comment

A-M Austria Europe

A Breath of Fresh Air in Austria

written by Travis

Hallstatt

When beginning this crazy journey, we planned to circle the globe roughly from west to east, then end the year somewhere in Asia and fly home from there. This just made sense on the map. But like our mentality has been over this year, everything is breezy and changeable. So with that spirit, we decided to head back to Eastern Europe to see some places we didn’t have a chance to last summer/fall while in that area of the world. Cue us flying from Beijing back to eastern Europe for a victory lap to end our world tour.

From Beijing, we flew to Vienna with a layover in Moscow. I can’t even begin to describe how amazing it was to be back in a clean, westernized country like Austria. Without a doubt the best part was the fresh, crisp air. For weeks we had been breathing in the terrible smog in China, so the air here felt like heaven. Also, it was crazy to have clean streets, cars obeying road rules and not honking, and sidewalks not covered in phlegm (don’t get Katie started on this one).

The next morning, we skipped our way to the train in elation of being back in comfortable Europe and boarded the 4-hour train to Hallstatt. The ride was the beautiful. The Austrian countryside is gorgeous and looks out of a storybook. As we approached Lake Hallstatt, everyone in the train was glued to the windows taking as many pictures as they could.

We decided to stay in Obertraun, a tiny town across the lake from Hallstatt town. This was due simply to price as the only budget lodging left was on that side of the water (Easter week). But in the end we realized how lucky we got as it is 10x better to stay over there. There are very few tourists and the pace of life is as slow as it comes. It feels like you are staying in a farm village with only a few places to eat, a bakery and a small store. Whenever we wanted to go to Hallstatt we could walk the 2.5 miles or take a ferry across the water. We spent four nights here in a little guesthouse and were on cloud nine the entire time. We enjoyed breakfast each morning at the bakery and got to know the manager and hear about life in the small town, had picnics along the lake, I went for long runs and overall we just slowed down. We were just happy to no longer be in the massive crowds of China and be photographed like zoo animals everywhere we went.

The town of Hallstatt itself is so quaint. It’s nestled between the lake and mountainside and is beyond stunning. It almost seems like a movie set because it’s too perfect. The one thing that surprised us though is 90% of the tourists in the city were from China. Apparently a developer built a complete, real-life replica town of it in China as a tourist destination. While this is just wrong and creepy, it has led a bunch of Chinese tourists to the real one. So Katie and made sure to explore the city at off hours when the tour buses weren’t there.

All in all, we had an amazing time there relaxing and taking a bit of a vacation from the trip as we had no pressure to see anything and the ability to take a literal breather.

Salzburg

From Hallstatt, we hopped on another train to Salzburg and enjoyed yet another viewing of the beautiful Austrian countryside. Oh and don’t worry, we made sure to watch The Sound of Music before arriving so we wouldn’t be kicked out of the city. Can you believe we both hadn’t seen it?! We’re the worst. Little did Katie realize I would be singing the songs back to her over the next few weeks. I believe I was made to be on Broadway, except for the fact I can’t remember most lyrics and I don’t have a singing voice. She’s SO lucky to have me.

For me, Salzburg was a special city to see as I know my Grandma loved coming here and her favorite movie of all time was filmed here. It was cool to see the history in all the buildings in the downtown and Katie and I blitzed the city each day, walking countless miles exploring. The castle sitting above the city is well worth the views and an easy walk from downtown. While a bit touristy, you can get some great pictures of everything from above. We found a great beer hall on the way down to grab a beer (or two) and take in the views.