08 Mar
Europe 2010: Part IV
On Wednesday the 6th we woke up and said goodbye to Grunty for a little one-on-one time in Vienna.
We took the trains! Trains are so novel for girls who grew up in the Northwest.
I think the trip was around 6 hours. Or it might have been 8. It was long.
TH passed the time playing his computer game. I read Clean and took pictures.
This one makes me laugh. That Husband is obviously very concerned about the next move in his game.
Once we arrived we navigated the streets and the subway to our hotel room. It was a darling little place with lots of natural light (my favorite kind).
Oh and it had free wi-fi. A must for us.
We hit the streets to do some exploring, and I practiced using the tilt-shift lens I rented. I plan on renting it for our next Europe trip as well, I really want to feel like I have a better understanding of how it works before I use it with clients.
I bought a bath bomb at Lush! It’s one of my favorite stores.
We found a stranger that knew how to use a camera, and he took both a portrait AND a landscape photo for us. AND they were both in focus. This never happens. 
That night we ate one of the best meals of my life. I plan on doing a little “Guide to Vienna” with less pictures and more links, so I’ll talk about it more in-depth then but this meal absolutely had to be immortalized with my camera.
Some sort of starter.
I have an awful memory, but this was some sort of mango reduction goat cheese filled wrap. And I think there were some avocado slices in there too.
If I had to pick any entree for my last meal on earth, it would be this dish. It was lamb, and I barely had to chew it. Perfectly cooked and just divine.
I think TH had beef with brussel sprouts and potatoes. Good, but not as good as mine.
We laughed at the size of the water glasses, and I used my iphone to try to help you understand how tiny they were. We also made the mistake of paying for water, because in Poland you can’t ever get water for free. Turns out that isn’t the case in Vienna, and the water we drank out of the pitcher they brought around was really good (nothing like the gross city water in Chicago).
We visited this gorgeous atrium for drinks and dessert.
Fancy non-alcoholic drinks! Mormons love these.
Genius way to store chairs at the end of the night.
Other than the step I took off of a sidewalk that caused me to twist my ankle and limp from site to site, it was a really easy, laid-back evening in Vienna that focused on food and spending time with my husband. I liked it so much, that I’m making sure to replicate that focus for our trip to Italy this year!
I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
I noticed the shower setup was the same as the apartment we stayed at in Paris 2 years ago.
To Europeans:
How do you shower with no curtain??? I just cant wrap my head around it. I struggled with that shower in Paris for 3 days!
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Jenna Reply:
March 8th, 2011 at 10:02 am
Maybe yours was missing something? Ours had folding glass doors that you pulled out. Otherwise the floor would have been soaking wet!
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Marissa C Reply:
March 8th, 2011 at 10:16 am
I don’t know-there was no sign of any sort of divider. The floor was carpet too…*shivers*
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I loved Vienna! I also think it is great how your hotel room is designed around the Gustav Klimt print hanging above the bed. So fresh and efficient. The food looks delicious.
Enjoy Italy, it is one of my most favourite countries to visit.
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2Thanks for sharing these gorgeous photos. You’re making me especially anxious for our honeymoon!
Have you been to the Lush in Lincoln Park yet? I bought all the women in our family bath bombs for Christmas this year. They had such cute little holiday gift sets!
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3I wish I was in Europe right now! When we went, we missed our train from Vienna to Italy, so we had to spend a night in the Vienna train station. Not fun.
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4I love the dessert and drink portion! My husband and I put almost no money towards entertainment when we travel. We love finding free things to do. We put all of our money into food or buying really unique things we can’t find at home (much like your bath bomb), it’s totally worth it.
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Jenna Reply:
March 8th, 2011 at 10:00 am
We are the same! We didn’t take the guided tour of Schon Brunn (sp?) because we knew we would rather wander the grounds for free and then eat a delicious meal that cost a bit more later!
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great photoes! I pinned that picture with the chairs on the roof
Also - i love bath bombs! my friend gave them away as a favor at her wedding and I’ve been addicted ever since.
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Jenna Reply:
March 8th, 2011 at 11:11 am
Wow, best wedding favor EVER. Did she give them to every single guest?
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This makes me look forward to going to Europe more often with my husband. I look forward to the time when we can visit around Europe instead of just catching up with family. I want to take him to Barcelona, we would also love to go to Scotland, Ireland and Eastern Europe. I better start saving money.
The food looks amazing.
My grandma always had the tiniest glasses too, they were often former mustard glass/jars.
By the way it’s crazy to see the difference in your weight, your face was a lot rounder then than it is now. You’re going to look amazing on your next trip and you’ll probably be able to go shopping with your sweet sister in law.
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7I’m always nervous to ask people to take a picture for me… handing over my camera. Eek!
In Germany if you ask for water you get expensive bottled water, unless you ask for tap water, then it is free. Did your drinks come with ice in them though? I know in Germany they don’t put ice in their drinks - something to get used to. They don’t even have a word for “ice” - you literally asked for “frozen water”.
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Jenna Reply:
March 8th, 2011 at 11:14 am
Yes, no ice. TH actually doesn’t like ice in his drinks. But you do have to specify if you want sparkling or still!
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Sophia Reply:
March 8th, 2011 at 2:10 pm
That’s how it was in Peru/Ecuador- you had to specify “con gas” or “sin gas”, since it was assumed that you would be getting bottled water anyway because the tap water isn’t safe to drink.
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Gorgeous photos! You look really lovely, and happy, in all the pictures… But comparing these photos to your more recent ones, there is a big difference! You can really see the weight loss!
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9I had to chuckly out-loud a little bit at “Fancy non-alcoholic drinks! Mormons love these.” My boss is LDS and that is TOTALLY something I noticed about him. Every time we have traveled together for work, he always orders the fanciest drink on the menu.
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Sophia Reply:
March 8th, 2011 at 2:14 pm
I’m not LDS, but I don’t drink at all and I *love* those fancy drinks too! It’s nice to be able to get in on fun sometimes when so many places don’t have them
Our favorite bar in town is a martini bar with so many different crazy drinks and the bartender always mixes me up something for free on the house. I’m still dreaming about the lime orange creamsicle drink… mmmm….
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AMAZING! I love your little hotel room — sooo charming! And decently sized for Europe, haha. Especially the bathroom. You just put Vienna on my “go to” list.
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11Love the picture w/ the runner! And I like Lush bath bombs too - they’re the only bath bomb that seems to linger on my skin hours later. Yum.
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12Isn’t this part III not part IV?
Loved all the photos!
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Jenna Reply:
March 8th, 2011 at 1:30 pm
I had to go back and double check, but here is part three: https://thatwifeblog.com/2011/02/europe-2010-pt-iii/
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Katherine (a.k.a. Sparkles) Reply:
March 8th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
Thanks! I thought I missed something! I love seeing travel photos and I almost felt cheated. ;o) J/K.
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Mmmm, good food! The best parts of traveling for me are the pictures and the FOOD!!
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14All of that food looks fabulous, that’s my favorite part about traveling. And trains are the best! I took the Amtrak from L.A. all the way to Seattle- 36 hours, and totally worth every one. I met so many random cool people on that train.
As a bonus, they’re the most energy efficient and eco-friendly way to travel- they beat cars, planes, and ships
I second what a few others have said- you can tell a big difference between these pics and your current ones, congrats!
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15Dear Jenna,
I live in Hamburg, Germany and work right next to a Lush store. If you ever need something I’d be happy to send it to you!
Greetings,
Yvonne
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Jenna Reply:
March 8th, 2011 at 3:05 pm
Yvonne that’s so kind! They actually have many, many stores throughout the United States. I love that their products have stickers with the name of the employee who assembled it, and often expiration dates too. It’s just an awesome store all around!
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My grandmother was from Vienna, so I’m dying to go there. Your hotel looks awesome. I’d definitely like to see your guide to Vienna.
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17I love travel posts!! Great pictures!
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18The Mormon drinks looks SO GOOD.
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19Loved the photos! I can’t wait to read about your future adventures.
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20I don’t know if I would do so well traveling on a train, it looks so romantic though… Love the pictures!
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