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!

Illustrious Istanbul

With the big Western Europe cities (Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam) out of the way, I set my eyes on my next destination in Europe's easternmost facade, in the epicenter of religion, culture and history itself: Istanbul.

We spent four devastatingly short days in the city. Here are a few highlights of the trip.

First things first: the food. Oh sweet baby Jesus. Nobody had told me about the food in Turkey. So I, level 99 ignorant American, had pretty much no expectations...maybe just some hummus here and there, or er, a giant turkey leg, like the ones sold in Disney World?

My feeble mind was quickly blown away. Everything was so simple yet tasted incredible. My first meal there was basically just a plate of some soupy beans. But by god, I swear they were the tastiest soupy beans in this planet. And it was all uphill from there.

Turkish style tacos with meat (lamb and chicken), fresh salsa, veggies and wraps.

Ayran, a cold yogurt drink, was often served along with our meals. It reminds me a lot of suan nai in China,
but here it was eaten with salt and cumin! Fun fact: it's even served in McDonalds in Turkey.

The fellas showing off the fresh fish they caught bought for lunch.

A bit of Turkish coffee to savor after lunch

Colorful candy being rolled up by a street vendor

Gooey!

I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of the ubiquitous Turkish tea that was served in a tulip-shaped glass at almost every meal. Perhaps it was because I was too busy burning my fingers on the glass. Burnt fingers notwithstanding, the tea was lovely and I began to look forward to it every day.

Photo from www.istanbulfoodbazaar.com

We were also fortunate enough to see some of our fellow ThoughtWorkers cross the finish line in the Istanbul half marathon!

Then we began a whirlwind few days of sightseeing - starting with the breathtaking Hagia Sophia, of course.

#photosruinedbytourists

So much history reflected on the walls

ThoughtWorkers in the Haghia Sophia!

And just a hop and a skip away, the stunning Blue Mosque:

The boy's scandalously uncovered arms rock the nation

Surreal, isn't it?

Afterwards, we ducked out of the sunlight and into the nearby Basilica Cistern. It was incredible to learn that they had been constructed by the Romans all the way back in the 6th century. Also, having read Dan Brown's Inferno (I know, I know...) I was really excited to see what they were like in person. They didn't disappoint.

Robert Langdon was here.

Next stop on the Tourist Express was the Topkapi Palace. This was by far the most touristy of all the sites. Although the palace itself was lovely, the crowds became a bit overbearing and we didn't linger too long here.

The sultan's harem

Palace mugshot

A Nimbus 2000 appears

And of course, no trip to Istanbul would be complete without a peek (ok, more like 2 hours) in the Grand Bazaar, where smoky spices beckoned to my wallet and colorful scarves tugged at my heartstrings as I walked slowly through the stalls, head swaying from side to side, trying to take in all the goods on display.

He did not purchase this hat, though looking back I sort of wish he had.

In the end I didn't purchase much - just a ceramic pointed shoe that I thought would make a nice vase (one day, when I have a permanent home), but my travel companion made away with a huge gorgeous blue lamp that got wrapped in what seemed like eighty million layers of cardboard and then assaulted with a bazillion yards of packing tape. How she will manage to unpackage that lamp is a mystery that the world may never see unraveled.

One distinctly touristy thing we didn't do was take a Turkish bath, or a hammam. The idea certainly was appealing but we simply never found the time...ah well, it'll have to happen in another visit.

Along our adventures, I noticed many stray animals roaming the streets as well. Most were just snoozin' along...

But a few furballs were definitely out and about, doing their thing.

You kids get off my lawn right meow!

Thirsty thirsty dog bear fluffball.

This may or may not have been a real bear.

And in the evening, we'd retreat back to our friend's apartment, which was literally in one of the two adjoining Trump Towers of Istanbul and had some pretty incredible views as a result:

One thing that I found slightly puzzling was the public transit system. Istanbul had incredibly sophisticated network of bus routes along with a sprawling subway system, yet none of it was available on Google Maps. Even going to the subway or bus stop didn't prove to be very useful, as physical maps were scarce to come by and there could be long lines at the help desk.

With the help of some locals we were able to orient ourselves after the first day or so but it was definitely a bit intimidating to navigate the huge city. I definitely think this is an opportunity for technologists to take advantage of open data to build some cool navigation and map tools.

And another observation I made was how friendly the locals were. I was constantly taken aback by the sheer kindness that others showed us. So many times, strangers would go out of their way to make sure we boarded the right bus or got to the right station. One time a man on the bus even paid for our bus fare when our tickets didn't scan. He waved off our attempts at paying him back.

Like all vacations, our last day came all too soon and I was kicking myself for not booking a longer stay. I would love to return to Turkey and see the hot air balloons in Cappadocia or visit the country's famous beachside. Heck, I would come back if there any weren't stunning sights, just as long as they were still serving that delicious Turkish food!