God bless wiener schnitzel

Day two of Vienna began with a delicious breakfast, as all great days do.

We meandered through the cobblestone streets in search of the Kleines cafe. It was a holiday in Austria. The streets were quiet and many restaurants were closed. Luckily for us, Kleines cafe was open and bustling with patrons...too many patrons, we realized as we scanned the seating area. There were no open tables.

Just as we were about to leave, a woman beckoned us to her table. And I was like,

"Come, sit at my table," she waved with a dazzling smile. "I am about to leave soon anyway, and I don't mind sharing."

We gratefully accepted her offer and took our seats. We learned that she was originally from Serbia but was working in Vienna for a year-long client assignment, which sounded similar our situation in Scotland with ThoughtWorks. She was expecting guests to arrive in Vienna and had wanted to pop out for a quick latte and a few moments' peace in the sunshine before going to pick them up.

You know when you meet someone who is just brimming with liveliness that they inspire you to live a fuller, happier life? This woman had this effect on me. We only sat with her for maybe thirty minutes, but she was so energetic, so full of life and so damn kind. At one point, she bemoaned the fact that she had company that day, otherwise she would have taken us around Vienna and given us a local tour. At another, she noticed my camera and offered to take a picture of us, which we gladly accepted. In retrospect, I regret not getting one with her in it.

After breakfast, we rode bikes to the Belvedere Palace and Museum and frolicked in the gardens.

The palace and the boy.

Intricate statues everywhere!

I wish I could have bottled up some of that sunshine and brought it to Glasgow.

A wild (and puzzlingly) Sphinxangelexhibitionist appears.

We stumbled into a Vietnamese restaurant for lunch and slurped down some pho before the next adventure: an afternoon boat trip down the Danube river to Bratislava, Slovakia!

It got windy.

The boat trip took a little over an hour. I was surprised that we weren't asked for our passports when crossing into Slovakia. Later I looked it up and read all about the Schengen Agreement and the Shengen Area. A pretty neat idea, if you ask me.

I'll be honest: Bratislava is not as beautiful as Vienna. But then again, few places are. We spent the afternoon exploring the town square, which was made up of an eclectic mix of buildings both old and new.

This tomb implies that its inhabitant lived from 1600-1845. Impressive!

Hey you, watcha doin?

After having sampled Mexican, Thai and Vietnamese food all over Vienna, I finally tucked in with a plate of Wiener Schnitzel, a speciality of Viennese cuisine and the national dish of Austria. Ironically, I wasn't in Austria when I had it ;)

The verdict? Surprisingly delicious. Similar to a big, flat veal McNugget. And very tasty spritzed with lemon, with a side of mushy veggies, and washed down with a gulp of beer.

I must return and try the Viennese version, though.