With our mission in Czech complete, we needed to head south to Italy for our next house sit in the Abruzzo Mountains. Fortunately we had a generous time frame to get there, allowing a two day stopover in Vienna and a long weekend in Venice.
Not our first visit to Vienna but this stay was in a city apartment, affording us time to roam around the elegant city at a relaxed pace and take in all its charm.
Our apartment wasn’t right in the city but just a short U-Bahn ride delivered us right into the centre of town.
The first thing that impressed me about Vienna was the train carriages provided a selection of current magazines attached to a cable for commuters to peruse! What impressed me further was that, not only was there no graffiti on the train, but no one has even ripped any pages out of the magazines!!
As we surfaced from the U-Bahn station, we were greeted by the bright sun of a perfect early autumn day and immediately confronted by the amazing gothic architecture of the Domkirche St.Stephan church and the stunning buildings surrounding it. For someone that has lapsed in ‘church going’ over the years, I have more than made up for it with the number of churches we have visited on this European trip!
We walked and walked, jumped on and off trams, had wiener schnitzel and beer for lunch and sipped coffee at sidewalk cafes, and I even managed a snooze under a tree on the green lawn of a city park while Linda continued discovering the Austrian National Library and other hidden gems in the vicinity. A very enjoyable, relaxing day.
Our second day in Vienna was not as exciting, we had to do our laundry before continuing our road trip. Traveling around Europe, or anywhere for that matter, has become so much easier and affordable with the advent of the likes of ‘Airbnb’ and ‘Booking.com’. Rather than staying at crappy overpriced hotels as we used to, these booking sites provide the opportunity to stay in apartments at fantastic locations and we can usually find one with parking and a washing machine! I used to hate wasting time in laundromats, now we can wash and dry our clothes while watching Netflix! We haven’t been disappointed with a property so far. Mind you, Linda puts an enormous amount of time in screening the numerous properties listed with filters set to our minimum requirements and Linda’s self regulated minimum score of eight out of ten points from reviews of previous guests! I often have to remind her that we are not actually buying the place, just staying for a couple of nights, but I guess that’s why we have stayed at some amazing places on a sustainable budget.
Our six hour drive to Venice was broken up with an overnight stay in a town called Villach near the border of Austria and Italy. Linda found a recently restored property which was well fitted out with quality furnishings including leather recliners and a 65” smart television! Perfect for watching the practice sessions of the Singapore Grand Prix – there’s no doubt about her!
On a 2014 trip, we drove right past the Venice turn off on our way to Slovenia and Croatia with no interest in stopping there. We had both been before, albeit separately on our respective youthful European tours. Our memories of the overrun tourist hotspot were not bad but we were not interested in joining the hoards of people onto the island to pay exorbitant prices for average food and drinks. Linda came up with the idea of renting an apartment for two nights right in the thick of it! Her idea became reality in the form of a three bedroom typical Venetian apartment with a massive living area featuring large shuttered windows overlooking the bustling Grand Canal. We won’t discuss how much it cost, along with parking the car at the entrance of the city for three days, but it wasn’t as offensive as you would imagine – and it was worth every Euro! The girl that managed the property met us at the parking garage and walked us to the apartment. It was about a fifteen minute walk and she provided us with a treasure trove of information on how to live like a local in Venice: Restaurants, where to go, bars to go for Sunday lunch and numerous tips on how to avoid the tourist traps and enjoy our time in the iconic location.
She was spot on with her restaurant choices and the bar that was recommended for Sunday lunch was absolutely perfect. A local tapas bar in the back canals opposite a boat builders yard that offered a wide selection of mouth watering delicacies, cold beer and good coffee. It was packed to the rafters with locals who seemed to be regulars and even though it took a while to get to the counter to order, nobody seemed to be fussed.
Lunch was well digested with a marathon of a walk. From St Mark’s Basilica, Rialto Bridge, we did it all. We even found a bar that had SkyTV to watch the race. The waiter, obviously an F1 fan, was quite excited that I had a ‘live timing app’ on my phone and made regular visits to our table for updates of the race progress with in-depth detail.
The tepid evening walk home was very pleasant. From St Mark’s Square where the gondolas are still very much in vogue, cruise ships blasting their horns as they depart to their next destination, past the Bridge of Sighs, across the numerous canals and of course, a gelato to top the day off.
Monday morning had arrived and the sun was still shining. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Venice and decided we should have one more leisurely lunch before collecting our faithful ‘Dustie’ from the garage. We needed to head south along the Adriatic coast to our destination- the tiny village of Arsita, inland and up in the hills from Pescara. Along the way, we were tempted by one more intriguing place to visit ….The Republic of San Marino, but you will have to wait for the next blog to hear about it.
