Viva Vienna!

Fun fact: one of the best ways to explore a new city in a limited amount of time is to grab a Big Bus route map, hop on a bike, and take yourself through the sights. There is a ten point bonus if you do so wearing a pineapple shirt!

Studying the route over breakfast accompanied by Austria's famed coffee.

Everything tasted delicious, even his nose.

Vienna is a haven for cycling. They have a stellar bikeshare program that has been in place for over ten years and seems to be enjoyed by tourists and locals alike. Bikes cost nothing for the first hour, one euro for the second, two euro for the third hour and so on. With hundreds of stations around the city, it was a breeze to rent and return them.

And so 'twas with bellies full, bikes checked out, and the sun blazing in her full glory overhead that we set out to see the best of what Wein had to offer.

Lord Voldemort has risen

Golden boy Johann Strauss

Vienna was the epicenter of classical music through the early 19th century. Rockstar (figuratively speaking) composers to the tune of Mozart, Hadyn, Schubert and Beethoven crafted their crescendos into the height of the First Viennese School. Everywhere we looked there were nods to the great composers: museums, grave sites, cafes, gift shops. There were even men dressed in full Mozart regalia - powdered wig and all - wooing tourists to come to their company's orchestral performance that evening.

While I certainly appreciated Vienna's reverence for their composers whose music I'd played for hours on end back in middle school orchestra, it just was too darn beautiful outside to stay in and browse through old dusty tomes of sheet music. There were sunny skies and grass stains and bruises from bumping into my bike pedals waiting for me.

Sorry, Mr. Herman.

Natural History Museum of Vienna. One of approximately eighty trillion fafillion snoopzillion museums in the city.

Taking a break to examine our progress.

I had a lot of caffeine that day.

Austrian Parliament Building. Way to put D.C.'s government buildings to shame.

Cool-lookin' columns

Rathaus, where the major and city council work. The humor of the building's name is not lost on me.

I forget which one this was, so let's call it Spectacularly intricate and beautiful Viennese building #947913037464 

Votive church slicing through the bright blue sky.

As the photos (hopefully) convey, Vienna was a wealth of incredible architecture. It felt like each new building or structure we saw would surpass those before it in grandeur. The ones pictured here were the standouts, but pretty much every single structure in the entire city was spectacular in its own right. You couldn't have found an eyesore if you tried.

After a long morning of biking, we inhaled some Thai food and downed a cold beer each:

And then immediately hopped back onto our bikes for more adventuring.

Stephansdom, the most prominent and important cathedral in Vienna. Fun fact: Vivaldi's funeral was held here.
And Mozart's kiddos were baptized there.

St. Francis trampling a defeated Turk. Just lovely.

The interiors were decidedly much less...tramply.

I assure you that I looked really stupid while taking this picture.

Atlas bro, do you even lift

I call this 'Town Gossip with Birds on Head'

We ended our bike ride in front of the museums quarter and stretched out for a snooze in the sun. 

For dinner we headed to a well-reviewed Mexican restaurant, eager to kick back with a margarita or two and eat our combined body weight in guacamole.

To our dismay, we were told that the restaurant had been booked up as the next day was a national holiday and the post-work crowd was getting their festivities on. Nooooo. It felt like I had been slapped in the face with a giant tortilla. Without even getting to take a bite.

We contemplated our suddenly tragic lives for a few brief seconds. You know the feeling when you get a craving really bad and nothing else - not even pizza, or ice cream, or mac and cheese - can come close to filling that void in your soul? That was us.

We eventually decided to duck back in and see if they would fulfill a take-out order for us. Lo and behold, the waitress greeted us with a big smile and told us she was so relieved that we'd popped back in, because two seats had opened up seconds ago at a shared table!

I was beaming like I'd won the lottery as we took our seats and ordered our drinks. We immediately struck up conversation with three locals who seemed pleased for a chance to practice their English.

At one point they mentioned they worked as software developers. Oh, that's funny - I told them that the boy and I worked in the tech industry as well. But nobody wanted to dwell on the subject of work, so no elaboration ensued.

Then, maybe twenty later, the boy was explaining our year abroad situation when he mentioned "the company we work for, ThoughtWorks - "

"WAIT! ThoughtWorks? Did you say ThoughtWorks?"

"Yeah, erm, it's a private tech consultancy - "

"We know what ThoughtWorks is. Hey [friends' names], did you hear this? These guys work for ThoughtWorks! Ha! Wait, does this mean you have met Martin Fowler? Jez Humble? I have read all their books. Prove to me that you work there!"

It was surreal. I rarely bump into anyone who has heard of ThoughtWorks, much less some strangers in a foreign country! Of course I'm very proud of being a ThoughtWorker and I think it's a kickass company. But this was kind of a 'Woah! Someone else thinks we're pretty neat!' moment, and my first encounter of such kind.

I quickly assured our dinner companions that although ThoughtWorks was home to many luminaries in the tech space, it was also full of normal folks like yours truly, and that hey, we were looking for talent in Glasgow.

They laughed. "Well, let us know when you open an office here in Vienna."

And really, who could blame them? Vienna had been a slice of heaven on Earth that day.

Next up: our second (and last) day in Vienna, and a detour to Bratislava!