Virtuo-Euro Trip 2020 - Day 10 - Vienna

Of all of our transfer days, the ride to Vienna is the shortest.  This trip includes all of what is sometimes known as the Three Jewels of Europe...Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.  The beauty of these cities should not be compared against each other, instead, they should be taken as a whole.  Vienna is a much more industrialized and modern nation than the Czech Republic and Hungary.  Even with that, there are elements of Vienna that surpass those of some of Europe's most famed cities.  We arrived in time to have lunch and an authentic brewery.  There was no beer served to our weary travelers, but we had an amazing wiener schnitzel.  After lunch, we went on a brief tour of the city, knowing that we had a much more complete adventure tomorrow.

One of the highlights for us was visiting the Hofburg.  It is the former Imperial palace for the Austrian Empire.  The building is beautiful and it is huge.  Many of our travelers have been to Washington DC, but nothing could have prepared them for the size of the Hofburg.  As we walked through the halls and admired the artwork, I was pleased to see so many of kids stopping and really examining specific pieces.  You cannot take photos inside, but I was tempted to break the rules to show how much appreciation our kids seemingly had for the time and effort of the artists.

After the museum concluded, we returned to Karl and he introduced us to tomorrow's guide, Gina.  She is a native Viennese woman and you could see that she absolutely loved her city (she met us a day early, lol).  She gave us a quick orientation and told us some things to look forward too.

Around dinner time, Gina took us to a marketplace surrounded by cafes.  It allowed the kids to grab something to their liking...lunch was included as part of our tour today instead of dinner.  One of the most important desserts in Austria is Chocolate cake.  Our arms were twisted!

Others tried more unique fair, like sausages and kebabs.  I am also fairly confident a few pizzas were also consumed.  It was strange, however, walking the streets of this city knowing that within 48 hours we would be on our way home.  I've asked the kids, a few times, what they miss the most about home.  Most mention their families and friends of course, but I redirected them to answer about Saugus.  Over chocolate cake and coffee, one of the kids said that they missed the familiarity of Route 1...the idea that you are home when you are on that road.  The irony of their answer became apparent as we turned the corner towards our hotel.  Standing there, across the street, was a restaurant that needed no introduction.  It was a reminder that home is an idea.  

Mr. Lavoie, wishing that the idea of home was not being isolated in his home and writing about Europe...but things will turn for the better soon.