This weekly wrap-up covers our journey from September 22 to September 28. We traveled from Bratislava to Vienna via boat on Monday, then flew to Tbilisi, Georgia, on Friday.
Favorite thing we ate: Jonathan really enjoyed his Vienna sausage in Vienna. And no … these are not like the canned Vienna sausages in the U.S. Go to any wurstel cart in the city and pick which sausage you want (Jonathan chose spicy, I got the cheese). Then, they will skewer a big bread roll to make a hole, add your choice of condiments inside, then use tongs to shove the sausage down into the bread [above left]. Enjoy it while you walk! Megan’s favorite item from the week was khachapuri in Tbilisi. We tried two kinds, but her favorite was the adjaruli khachapuri, which is also the one you usually see in photos: boat-shaped bread filled with cheese and butter and topped with an egg [above right]. Yum!
Favorite thing we drank: There are two main reasons we visited Georgia: khachapuri and wine. 😉 On our first full day in Tbilisi, we went to Karalashvili Wine Cellar and tasted 11 wines (and chacha, the local liquor). Jonathan doesn’t typically enjoy sweet wines, but he loved one of the semi-sweet red wines we tried: Kindzmarauli [above right]. In Vienna, Megan ordered a Maria Theresia: coffee with milk and orange liqueur. It was very good.
Favorite thing we did: Once Megan saw it was harvest season for Austrian wine, she knew we had to do a wine tour. We found a bike tour in which you cycle to two different wineries in the Wachau Valley, and it was awesome [above left]. Our group was friendly, the cycling was fun (it’s been a while since we’ve been on a bike!), and we got to drink lots of wine. During the tour, another couple told us we could get “standing room only” tickets for 10 euros at the Vienna State Opera House. So on our last night in Vienna, we visited the Opera House and watched a beautiful ballet. Before the performance began, we had time to explore the Opera House and have a drink on the terrace with a great view of the city, which was Jonathan’s favorite activity of the week [above right].
Biggest splurge: The wine tour in Austria cost $109/person, but it was worth it! (Also, I feel like there’s a trend with our biggest splurges each week….)
Best deal: Our “entire apartment” Airbnb in Tbilisi is only $25 USD/night including all fees, so we can’t complain about that! It’s also in a fabulous location, right next to lots of bars and restaurants, and it’s located in one of the oldest residential buildings in Old Tbilisi, which is fun.
Biggest oops: We like to think we’re pretty savvy when it comes to travel spending. Heck, I even wrote a whole article for The Everygirl earlier this month about “how to avoid money mistakes when traveling.” But this just goes to show everyone makes mistakes…. 😉 We visited Naschmarkt in Vienna and decided to buy some peppers with cheese [pictured above] as a snack while we looked for a lunch place. The guy behind the counter kept piling peppers into a tub, and we thought about saying something but didn’t want to sound rude, so we just sat back and let the tub get packed … and ended up paying $40 USD for peppers. We knew the peppers were priced by weight and we should have just asked him to stop, but hey. That happened.
What we’re reading: Jonathan is reading Becoming a Supple Leopard by Kelly Starrett on his Kindle and listening to The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. Megan read The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu to celebrate #ReadEthiopian week with bookstagrammer @beingabookwyrm. She is currently reading Ali and Nino by Kurban Said, a novel set in Baku described as “Romeo and Juliet” featuring a Georgian girl and Azeri boy.
Total walking distance: 52.39 miles
Up next: Exploring more of Georgia!
Featured image: Vienna State Opera House (Wiener Staatsoper)
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