Europe! We’re back…with an additional human! Channiam’s Travels?

June 17-18, 2024

We have come to realize quickly (and others keep reminding us) that once you have a kid you no longer have vacations, but are simply parenting in a new location. This has become evident very quickly on this trip. So, our site will become a travel diary as well as anecdotes about how ridiculous traveling with a 4 year old is.

After the longest day of travel and no sleep on the flights, we landed exhausted and just tried to make it through the evening to adjust to the time. We dragged ourselves to dinner, at a little spot that overlooking the Donaukanal River.

When planning for this trip, we (Anna) began to research our favorite thing: food and restaurants to try in places we are visiting. Every site and question posted online was quick to point out that people in Vienna, especially in restaurants are not very kind to children and don’t particularly care to have them around. Others mentioned that this is just Austrians in general and they tend to be more to the point, which can come off as rude. So, we went into the first day a bit unsure of how we would be treated. However, so far everyone we have encountered has been lovely to us and Liam, and that’s in spite of Liam not always being the most lovely to be around.

Our first night was pretty tough as Liam had a very tough time sleeping and adjusting to the time. He ended up sleeping in our bed which meant he kept Anna up all night by taking up her whole side and punching her in the face every so often. We ended up sleeping in quite a bit and having a slow start to the day. We started with a small cafe by the apartment we are staying in while Liam enjoyed pointing out all the vehicles he saw and how they were different then the United States. We then hopped on our first tram ride of the day and immediately could tell how efficient and easy they make it to get around here.

We headed to St. Stephen’s Cathedral. As we walked up we were greeted by the noon church bells. The exterior is covered in intricate carvings and beautiful stained glass. There was a mass going on while we entered and I don’t think we’ll ever get used to the idea of having a church service while tons of tourist roam and take pictures. The Cathedral has two towers and the north one has a lift so that is the one we chose to visit. From here, we were able to enjoy a close up view of the unique roof of the church, which is made up of wood shingles in decorative patterns (or as Liam thought “a pretty rug”). We took in the views of Vienna and realized it is a fairly small city, or at least the main tourist sites are all within a small range.

We walked to Stadtpark, which was full of pretty trees, ornate statues, and ponds. We walked along the canal, which seems to be pretty dry at this point and found a great little playground where Liam enjoyed the giant sandbox and climbing everything, while we enjoyed a moment of sit in shade and cool down for a bit. We lured him away with the bribe of ice cream and headed on our next tram around the circle road to find some. With ice cream in hand, we then began to walk the circle road and take in the stunning architecture. Every building is so ornate and more beautiful than the next! This was the small portion we got to experience on our last trip here and we’re excited to take it in with more time. We saw the university and Rathaus. We stumbled upon another playground and this one was even better than the last. Liam found another sand box and water play area and somehow ended up shirtless playing with all the other kids. We have never been excited to find playgrounds on a trip before, but this seems like it will be a theme this time around. After hosing him off and a quick change, we continued on our way. We got a close up look at the Rathaus and walked through Volksgarten, a rose garden, to enjoy the park and try to find the same spot we visited last time to re-create the photo with Liam. We walked through the city to find dinner and continue to be impressed by the statues, fountains, and pretty buildings along the way.

We stopped at a Beisl, or traditional Viennese bistro, we got the usual Wiener schnitzel, and both noticed how good the veal was compared to when we’ve had it back home.

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