Thinking Allowed: Keeping it social in Vienna

Vienna has been such an easy enjoyable place to spend April. The weather has been warm, the city very safe and walkable, and there are endless cultural and active things to do. It has also been a very social time for us. We came for a one week convergence of other traveling families. It was both intense to go from our small family unit to a large group (more than 20 families) but also a nice change. We have spent hours lounging around Vienna's green spaces with other interesting families. Some families we barely had time to chat with and others we were able to connect with and fingers crossed maybe get to see again. It was interesting to see how families interact and bond over a short period of time.

Aurora turned 17 in Vienna. She never likes a big fuss to be made of her so we did the things she likes doing most with just our family. We ate crepes, we went bouldering, she did a homemade scavenger hunt, and we played a game as a family. We are always so pleased that what she wants to do on her birthday is spend even more time with the rest of us. She also was gifted tickets to see an operetta. Sophia, Aurora and I spent three and a half hours at the volksoper enthralled by Strauss' Fledermaus. So Aurora was gifted for her 17th birthday a whole unexplored genre of music that she probably wrote off as uninteresting. Next time I come to Vienna will definitely have to see more opera and music. Levana seems to enjoy listening to Wagner so maybe by our next visit it will be her I take along as my opera companion. Although, as easy and wonderful as Vienna is, the rest of Austria is so full of mountains and perfect little mountain towns that it will be hard without social reasons to choose the city.

Jakob has returned to Cyprus to work and we were all sad to see him go. Now we too are packing up our bags for a Georgia chapter of our adventure. This time we are excited that we have friends joining us for the travel!