Oh Vienna!: Reverse homesickness from the first district and beyond.

Vienna: my second home.  The reverse homesickness hit the minute I saw the ‘Niederösterreich’ sign.  Well, to be truthful it had hit almost a year before, when I was assigned the Vienna tours to work on in the office, but not long after crossing the Slovakian-Austrian border, on seeing that sign, the excitement kicked in big time, and a feeling of almost homecoming settled over me.  The über-efficient public transport system, the Aida cafes on every corner, the friendly locals: everything reminded me with more than a touch of nostalgia of my language degree year abroad spent in the Austrian capital.   More on all of this later; and yes, an Austrian or German blog is the only place where the use of the word ‘über’ in English is acceptable!  I was home, if only for a few days.

Experiencing the new....

I always think I know Vienna really well - and I suppose, in most ways, I do.  It therefore surprises me, although perhaps it shouldn’t, that there is always something new to see, or something I haven’t seen previously, when going back to visit.  The spectacular ‘Le Loft’ cocktail bar and restaurant at the top of the Sofitel Stephansplatz was one such place on this occasion – offering wonderful views across the whole of the city centre, it was the perfect place to meet with friends I hadn’t seen since my last visit to the city almost 5 years prior.  Another visit I’d never made before was to the interior of the Upper Belvedere Palace, which is currently exhibiting ‘150 years of Gustav Klimt’, a collection of dazzling works by one of Vienna’s most famous artists, and I was also lucky enough to take in a fantastic Mozart and Strauss concert and enjoy a glass of champagne at the beautiful Kursalon concert house in the Stadtpark.  

The Upper Belvedere Palace

But perhaps the most surprising excursion of the three days spent in Vienna on this occasion was the day spent on the Danube.  With a first stop at Melk Abbey, whose beautiful Baroque Church is the highlight of the Benedictine Abbey tour, the day got off to a good start.  We then continued by car along the winding course of the River Danube, amongst the beautiful scenery of the lower Austrian wine growing region, the Wachau Valley (if you ever get a chance to try out the lovely Grüner Veltliner wine, please do, as it is exceptionally drinkable).  We made our way towards Krems, one of the biggest towns in Lower Austria, where we were going to stop for lunch (and where we also managed to get embroiled in the crowds visiting a market staged to celebrate Leopoldi-Tag – St. Leopold’s day, the patron saint of Lower Austria), but firstly, en route, we stopped at a little gem of a town: Dürnstein.  I was bowled over by how beautiful it was; perched high on a cliff face above the river bank is Dürnstein Abbey, painted a brilliant shade of blue to match, fortunately, the sky on the day of our visit.  The jewel coloured spire towered high into the sunlight and crisp autumnal sky, and was reflected in the river below; Dürnstein truly is Austria at its very best.

Dürnstein

 ....Reliving the old

As well as experiencing everything new, or as yet unvisited, which Vienna had to offer me, my recent work trip also offered me an opportunity to revisit my old haunts and generally experience the Viennese way of life as I remembered it.   Everything about every-day life in Vienna gives me a profound sense of reverse homesickness, from the dulcet tones of the U-Bahn announcer through to Kaffee und gluten-free Kuchen in the bright pink Aida coffee shops which adorn most street corners (the ones at Oper and Stephansplatz are, and always have been, my favourites).  There is something so unbelievably calming about the city, even though I have been known to exclaim ‘Geh bitte!’ with the best of the Austrians when the ‘D’ tram is running late (this is slightly ridiculous for two very good reasons: (1) Viennese public transport is very, very rarely late – I can remember only one occasion of it being late in the whole year I lived there; and (2) I have to deal with Transport for London on my daily commute and therefore should be used to delays!!).   

 Gluten free Kuchen at the Aida Cafe at Oper

Vienna is one of the most friendly cities you’ll ever visit – whilst enjoying a glass of the aforementioned Grüner Veltliner in one of my favourite cafes, the Cafe Theo on Franz-Josefs-Kai, I struck up a conversation with a couple about their lovely St. Bernard dog, who was also enjoying the atmosphere in the traditional Austrian Gaststube.  They assured me that the St. Bernard “wasn’t lovely but was very friendly”.  As friendly as the Austrians themselves, indeed.  I’m ashamed to admit that my German is now decidedly rusty and has more than a twinge of Essex accent to it, but I still love talking to the locals and using the wonderful Austrian dialect, including ‘Erdapfel’ (potato – think French ‘pomme de terre’), ‘Palatschinken’ (pancake – nothing to do with ham at all!) and ‘Marille’ (apricot, the flavour of choice for all Austrian jams). 

It feels like coming home

It’s actually quite difficult for me to sum up in words just how Vienna makes me feel.  Walking the cobbled streets of the first district, where I was once lucky enough to live, there’s a sense that nothing has changed; time cannot alter the regal, imperial feel of this beautiful city, no matter which shops and brands come and go.  Stephansdom presides over it all, with Kaiserin Sisi keeping a watchful eye on the city and Mozart being present everywhere, even if only in the costumed concert-ticket-sellers around Stephansplatz.   The sight of the Fiakers and traditional coffee houses and the general atmosphere of this wonderful place is able to soothe my soul in a way that nowhere else can.  It’s like stepping back in time to a much simpler way of life – or so it seems, at least, with my possibly rose-tinted glasses on.  All I know is that at the end of day two I’m sending my husband a text which reads: “Can we move to Vienna please?!!!”.

Fireworks in Fall: a surprising Autumnal break in Weymouth

A British seaside resort might not be everyone’s choice for an Autumnal break.  After all, our fair island isn’t exactly blessed with the Mediterranean sunshine of the Canaries or Greek Islands, nor is it as colourful as New England in the fall.  But my husband and I have taken a few weekend breaks away in this country, or mini-moons as we have taken to calling every short break we’ve had since we got married, and we were pleasantly surprised when we visited Weymouth for the weekend last Autumn.  Of course, we were lucky enough to have been blessed with fine weather for the days we spent in Dorset, but it certainly showed us that you shouldn’t rule out a British seaside town off-season.

Little luxuries

After a treacherous drive down to Weymouth from London, through thick fog, on the Friday evening, it was with some relief that we came to our chosen guest house.  My husband had booked the trip as a birthday treat, and he chose well: The Alendale Guest house was a welcome sight after such a frightful fog-filled journey; our room, housed in this converted grade II listed Georgian building, was cosy and welcoming, with an alluring little window seat and the added treat of tea and coffee making facilities as well as biscuits (as we get older, the appeal of a hotel with tea and coffee making facilities becomes strangely stronger!).  We awoke the next morning to find that we even had a side seaview, and went down to meet our hosts, Lesley and Clive, for a hearty combined English and Scottish breakfast.  The friendly owners of the B&B offer a flexible approach, and are happy to ‘mix and match’ the ‘English’ and ‘Scottish’ items on the cooked breakfast menu.  There were also cereals and yoghurts available for those that wanted something slightly lighter, all of which set us up for the day ahead.

Our lovely room at the Alendale Guest House

Exploring the British seaside on foot

Our excellent breakfast was exactly the start we needed to our day.  We often spend hours on foot when on our holidays, getting to know the local area and soaking up the atmosphere of a place by walking.  One of the things I love about British seaside resorts are the quirky little shops often found there, selling souvenirs and beach inspired home-wares, and our first morning in Weymouth was spent exploring the harbour area and mooching around its individual boutiques and craft shops.  We also took a stroll up to the Nothe Fort on the harbour peninsula, and would have gone in, but unfortunately it was shut for winter closing – this is one of the (few) downsides of visiting such a place out of season, so do check the opening hours of any places of interest before you visit.

Weymouth Harbour

As the weather brightened up that afternoon, we decided to visit a classic holiday spot within Dorset: Lulworth Cove.  I’d remembered the pretty circular bay from a school visit as a child, and wanted to take my husband to see the beautiful landscape of the area, so off we set.  We also tackled the 1 ¼ uphill walk to Durdle Door, the famous natural limestone arch just off of the Jurassic Coast – it was hard going, but one of the joys of autumn walking is the lack of oppressing heat which can hinder summer strolls.   The awe-inspiring views and the sight of Durdle Door were well worth the climb, and the refreshing cuppa in the cafe in the car park on our return was well deserved!

The spectacular view of Durdle Door

Autumnal treats

Although my husband hadn’t realised the significance of the date when he booked, we were actually visiting Weymouth over bonfire weekend.  What’s more, Weymouth stages an annual free fireworks display.  And so, wrapped up warm, we gathered with the thousands of other people waiting to see the display on Weymouth’s beach; the bonfire was burning, children had sparklers and then the bang of the fireworks started.  I have always loved fireworks being projected from the water, from those I have seen in Cala Llonga bay, Ibiza, through to the fireworks staged on the lake at Walt Disney World’s Epcot, and these were no exception; our only criticism was that we could have enjoyed them for longer!  The atmosphere within the town was incredibly friendly, there was no pushing and shoving as the crowds dispersed, and after the fireworks we enjoyed a warming meal in the nearby Ship Inn on Weymouth Harbour.  We finished off the night with a few rounds of the two pence machines in the traditional seaside arcades – when in Weymouth, and all that!

MONKEYS!!!

My husband’s whole reasoning for coming to Weymouth for the weekend was to do with the fact that I love monkeys.  This may seem like a strange reason until I tell you that Weymouth is close to nearby Monkey World, the ape rescue centre which assists governments around the world in rescuing primates from illegal smuggling, abuse or neglect.  The centre is a well run, educational visit for anyone with a love of animals.  You could easily see the level of care devoted to each of the primates living there.  One of the great things about visiting out of season was the fact that we were able to take in the keeper talks on both the chimps and orang-utans without having to struggle to hear over maddening crowds, and so we learnt a lot, not only about the species as a whole, but also heard lovely, heart warming stories about the animals as individuals.    Anyone visiting Dorset should most certainly put Monkey World on their list of visits, as it’s an excellent day out in this beautiful part of the country.

A gorgeous Orang-Utan at Monkey World

And so this was how we ended a weekend of Autumnal seaside success.  Yes, we were lucky with the weather, and yes, the fact that it was Guy Fawkes’ Night probably helped too, but we also had smaller crowds to deal with and those crisp autumn days in which to walk.  So I would definitely recommend a trip to the seaside this autumn.  Do your research, know what’s open and what’s happening, in case you don’t get as lucky as us, and just enjoy: our country has some lovely places for us to explore, if only we learn to take pleasure in the simple things.



Mexico: Spring Break vs. Honeymoon.....and Honeymoon won!

Mexico is a beautiful country, and an even more beautiful honeymoon destination, but, as with most things in life, timing is everything.  This was certainly true when it came to our honeymoon, which was taken during the British Easter holidays.  Unfortunately, this timing also meant that in Mexico, there would be many holiday makers celebrating ‘Spring Break’. This was particularly unfortunate as the Mexican section of our holiday was to be the second, more relaxing part of our honeymoon, having spent four hectic nights in New York.  I was guilty of not heeding my now-husband’s warnings.  We were going to a five-star adults-only hotel – surely students seeking fun and freedom wouldn’t choose a honeymooner’s hotel to stay in, right?  Wrong.  But this didn’t mean to say that our honeymoon was ruined; we were lucky enough to just catch the tail end of the Spring Break vacationers, who mainly left the day after we arrived, and we also sought out the more serene aspects of this beautiful honeymoon destination.  So if you want to escape the parties and excess of Mexico, here are some ideas for a more tranquil time:

Beautiful beaches

We chose to stay at the lovely Golden Parnassus Hotel in Cancun, which is an adults-only all inclusive hotel on the quieter side of the Cancun coast, away from the city centre (if it’s a family-moon you’re after, the Golden’s sister hotel, the Grand Parnassus, is located on the same strip, and welcomes families with children of all ages).  One of the best things about the hotel was its fantastic location on a beautiful white-sand beach.  Each morning we took the option of the hotel's beach sun loungers, shaded by raffia umbrellas blowing in the breeze, and with their own private bar (complete with swing seats to enable you to while away an hour or two sipping a cocktail, looking out upon the blue ocean!).  This way, we were close enough to the pool, our room and the restaurants when we needed them, but had the calmness of the beach surrounding us, rather than the slightly rowdier pool side.

The view of the wonderful beach from the hotel's poolside

Fantastic facilities

Once the Spring Break crowd left, there were some great activities on offer at the hotel.  These included cocktail making on the beach, weaving friendship bracelets in the shade of a gazebo overlooking the ocean, and even free massages by the pool.  One of the most enjoyable aspects of our Mexican honeymoon was indulging in the gorgeous food at the à la carte restaurant.  With everything from exquisitely presented guinea fowl and sumptuous steaks, to gorgeous crème brûlée and chocolate mousse for dessert, all washed down with a celebratory glass or two of champagne, we were spoilt for choice – and all served in calm, relaxing surroundings with a formal air and  even a pianist to hand!

Champagne in the a la carte restaurant!

Excellent excursions

What's more, being located away from the hubbub that is Cancun Town doesn’t mean that you have to stay in your hotel 24/7.  The excellent bus service which runs past the hotels on this strip at a frequency of once every three minutes means that you can easily get into the main town of Cancun, or if you don’t want to go that far, to the interesting flea market, just down the road (and if you’re a Christmas decoration collector like we are, you will be in heaven!  I didn’t expect to find the wide variety of beautiful and unusual decorations available that we did!).  Similarly, your hotel will offer a great range of excursions; without a doubt, the highlight of our Mexican adventure was our trip to Dolphin Discovery on the nearby island of Isla Mujeres.  After an hour’s boat trip, we arrived at this island which has a dedicated sea life experience centre.  Having already swum with dolphins the previous year, we jumped at the chance to swim with manatees on this occasion.  These graceful, naturally curious creatures have a calming influence by nature; not only did we get to learn about these amazing animals, but also feed them and swim with them as well.  Topping off the day with a wonderful snorkelling experience too, this really was the sort of thing that honeymoon memories are made of.

Swimming with the manatees

If you’re a party animal, Mexico will offer you everything you’ll ever desire.  But similarly, if you’re a honeymooner, don’t let this put you off; seek out the relaxing parts, the stunning beaches and scenery, the honeymoon hotels.  It’s the sort of place that you’ll have once in a lifetime experiences – and isn’t that what a honeymoon is all about, after all?

An Olympic Day Out in London

With the eyes of the world on London, I thought it was about time that I jumped on the Olympic bandwagon with my own Mrs Lighty Olympic blog.   A slight departure from my normal travel warblings, but I couldn’t miss out on the brilliant two weeks our fair capital city has had! Usually, our view of London (as London commuters) is tarred by the day-in-day-out trudge of crowded trains, pushy people, the hustle and bustle.  But all of a sudden, the streets of London seemed to be paved with gold – quite literally, if our medal count was anything to go by – as the buzz of the games came to town.  If you were lucky enough to experience it, you’ll know what I’m talking about.  If you weren’t, read on for my take on the best Olympic Games the world has ever seen: London 2012!

Audience Participation

Our first experience of the games (other than the torch relay, which we were also lucky enough to have witnessed) was the women’s marathon.  Not having tickets at this point, we decided to brave the weather and line the route.  We’re British, after all, so how much could a little drop of rain hurt?  Quite a bit, actually, as we got soaked to the skin!  But it didn’t dampen our spirits: we waved our Union Jacks at Team GB, and I even had mine wrapped round me like a rain shield; flag is the new black, after all!  We stood in a picturesque spot by St. Paul’s Cathedral and saw the athletes pass us three times (the sun had come out by the third lap too, hurrah!) – and all for free!  For the millions of people that missed out on tickets, the many free-to-watch sports were a fantastic alternative!

Lining the route of the Olympic Marathon, millions of people were able to watch for free

Flag is the new black!

London calling!

One of the things that London has shown us during the games is just how well it does ‘new’.  There’s been a plethora of free exhibitions taking place, and coupled with other aspects of the games such as the Wenlock and Mandeville trails (plotted routes which take in the various statues of the London 2012 mascots), you can really make a day of it in London, which is exactly what we decided to do after the marathon.  We wandered down to the Tower (which is where Beefeater Wenlock is located!), passed under Tower Bridge and through to St. Katherine’s Dock.  Here we took in the Imagination Denmark exhibition, which included a Lego Olympic Park!  After a bite to eat in the Dickens Inn, we continued our journey on the DLR from Tower Hill to the newly constructed Emirates Air-Line cable car at Royal Victoria Dock.  What a fantastic addition to our city!  The views are spectacular across the City and Docklands, and at £3.20pp on an Oyster Card, it doesn’t break the bank either!

On the Wenlock trail!

Tickets at last!

After the fun of the Marathon, and two weeks spent hammering the London 2012 website, we were then lucky enough to get tickets (“for the wrestling”, she adds, in a quieter voice!).  Yes, I’ll admit, it wasn’t my first choice of sport, but actually, it turned out to be great fun!  Held at the ExCel Centre, we had a scenic walk through the Docklands from the DLR station Silvertown, passing under the cable car again, and to this arena which is usually used for conferencing.  It’s absolutely huge, and the organisation was incredible – we collected our tickets in less than five minutes, security was quick and efficient, and there were plenty of Games Makers (or ‘Purple People’ as I had nicknamed them before I knew their official title!) on hand to help with any queries.  It was a great day out, I wore my flag with pride (again) despite the fact that there weren’t any Team GB members in the Men’s wrestling, and it’s something that I’m proud to say I was a part of: London 2012 is the making of stories we’ll tell our grandchildren about.

The fantastic Emirates Air-Line Cable Car

 ExCel London

The Pride of Britain

I have to say, as many have already said before me, that we were all proud to be British during the games.  Despite the lack of tickets, despite the warnings of travel chaos, it couldn’t have been better organised and many of those unlucky enough not to get tickets enjoyed the games on the many big screens around the city.  Overall it appears to have been a massive success.  The fantastic electric atmosphere and extra buzz created by the Olympics coming to town couldn’t be manufactured, and that is testament to the success of the games.  I’m hopeful that, if maintained nicely, the various new venues and the cable car will add an additional layer of architectural legacy to the city, as well as the much publicised sporting legacy.  Now that it's over, all that remains to be said is: you did us proud London, you did us proud!

Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas!

Stepping off the plane and into Las Vegas for the first time is quite an experience.  Even before you get to baggage reclaim, just after stepping out of the aircraft tunnel, you will come across slot machines.  Yes, welcome to Las Vegas, home of fun and frivolity in excess!  For the first-time visitor Vegas can certainly be a little daunting.  But it’s also a place to relish and enjoy; a bucket-list destination that should be on everyone’s list.  Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas!

Surviving the perils of the local taxi drivers

Although it’s illegal for taxi drivers in the state of Nevada to take you on a longer trip than necessary, we discovered to our peril that that doesn’t mean that they’ll always take you on the shortest route.  On arrival in Vegas, we took a taxi to our hotel on the Strip, the Monte Carlo.  Upon pulling up at the hotel forecourt, our driver told us that the fare was $27.00, despite the meter showing $22.00.  We paid up the $27.00, and added a tip, rounding the fare up to $30.00. 

It wasn’t until we were in the queue at reception, waiting to check in, that we heard some American guests in front of us talking about how they had been “ripped off” having been charged a $16.00 fare – clearly we had been stung, with our taxi driver not only taking us on a longer route, but also adding his own tip on before we then added a tip on top of this!  Our hotel concierge later advised us that on our return journey we needed to ask the driver to take the shortest route, avoiding the freeway.  Indeed, our return journey to the airport cost us only $12.00 plus tip – and we discovered that you can see the strip from the terminal at the airport, it’s that close!

View of the Strip from the airport - yes it's that close!!

All-important first impressions

After the initial shock of slot machines in the airport terminal and getting royally ripped-off by our taxi driver, it was time to start exploring.  Vegas is an assault on the senses – our room was a haven of peace and quiet away from the plinkety-plonkety noises of the slot machines, the strangely up-tempo, funky elevator music and general hubbub that is Vegas.  After checking in, we headed out, and it was this noise and just the general bizarreness of Vegas that hit us immediately.  Firstly, it took us about 15 minutes to work out how to get out of our hotel – we ended up walking from the Monte Carlo through to the Aria before we worked out how to get out! – and headed to New York, New York for lunch.  I think it was after lunch, as we walked from the bright light of day into the dimly-lit light of yet another casino, that I declared to my husband, “Vegas is mental!”!  It’s the only way I could describe it at that point – the rows upon rows of slot machines, the over the top themes of the hotels, the bars offering margaritas and foot-long beers at any time of day. And this was just the day time – I’m sure if you arrived on your first trip at night time, you wouldn’t know what had hit you!  But the first-time visitor will soon get swept up in the fun of Las Vegas, and I think the sounds of the place are what will really stick with me as a memory from our trip.

A giant slot machine - one of my favourite things about Vegas! 

Get your walking shoes on!

One thing you’ll quickly discover about Las Vegas is that it is vast.  To walk from one end of the strip to the other can easily take hours, not least because you’ll probably stop often to look at various things.  As much as you really get to experience Vegas by exploring it on foot, there are times when you just need to get somewhere quickly.  And there are ways to do this: some of the hotels are connected by monorails – our hotel was one of these, and it’s always worth asking if they are free for hotel residents or just free generally; unusually, we felt, for a hotel, we didn’t have an information pack in our room on the hotel services, and therefore found out on our last day that we could use the tram between the Monte Carlo and the Bellagio for free. 

A good tip that we did pick up from our hotel concierge was regarding the bus travel in Vegas.  For $7.00, you can get a 24hr bus pass – we therefore were able to use this to go to the Freemont Street Experience in Downtown Vegas one evening, and then use the same pass again the next morning to go to the outlet shopping centre at the south end of the strip at no extra cost.

Hit the highlights

While we’re on the subject of the Freemont Street Experience, when visiting Vegas for the first time, there are certain things you’ll soon discover are must-sees and must-dos.  For us, along with the usual delights such as the fountains at the Bellagio and the Sirens of TI show at Treasure Island, our must-do was the Freemont Street Experience in Downtown Vegas.  Although the bus ride there is a bit hair-raising (your guide book will tell you not to step away from the bright lights of Freemont Street as it’s surrounded by high crime areas), once you’re there, you feel like you’re in the ‘authentic’ Las Vegas.  Home of Vegas Vic, the hitchhiking neon cowboy, this ‘mini-strip’ is where the gambling traditions of Las Vegas originated.  It’s not so in your face, it’s not so slick, but here you’ll find great street performances (we were lucky enough to be visiting during the ‘Rock of Vegas’ series) and the brilliant light displays every hour, on the hour, on the roof that covers the central boulevard.

Top: The light show at the Freemont Street Experience

Bottom: Vegas Vic!

Other highlights of our stay included the Sigfried and Roy Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage, home to not only gorgeous dolphins, but also beautiful white tigers and lions.  We also took in a show at Caesar’s Palace – no, not Celine Dion, who is one of the regulars there; we saw the extremely talented ventriloquist and comedian, Jeff Dunham – one of my husband’s favourite performers!

Cheesecake for lunch?  Burgers for breakfast?  And all gluten free!

Food is a massive part of our holidays (my mother-in-law recently commented whilst watching our slide show of Vegas pics that every single one seemed to feature food!), but Las Vegas surpassed even our holiday eating habits.  After a great Mexican breakfast at the La Salsa Cantina opposite our hotel for $4.00, we decided that we probably wouldn’t need a lunch that day as we’d had more than enough for breakfast.....that was until we came across the Cheesecake Factory in Caesar’s Palace....yes, we had cheesecake for lunch, and what’s more, with my wheat intolerance, I had gluten free cheesecake for lunch!  This is the only place in the world I’ve ever come across gluten free cheesecake (and trust me, I always keep an eye out!); America generally is great for allergy sufferers, and, despite an incident with flour-covered chips at Senor Frogs, I also had gluten free pasta at the Enoteca Otto Pizzeria in St. Marks Square in the Venetian, lots of choice and an excellent and extremely reasonably priced meal in the restaurant of the Four Queens Casino in Downtown Vegas, a very helpful server at Le Burger Brasserie in Paris who helped me to pick a gluten free option (burgers for breakfast!), and yet another great Margaritaville meal, as is always the case, including a wheat free burger bun!

Gluten free cheesecake!

The Vegas Experience

All in all, Vegas was an experience – the heat, the crowds, the noises, the neon lights of the strip, everything about it combined to create a brilliant few days.  It’s not for the faint hearted, that’s for sure, but it’s something everyone should experience once in a lifetime....and if you’re very lucky, maybe you’ll get to go back and experience it again!