SOPRON, HUNGARY (Week 5)

QUICK LOOK:

Location: Old Town

Main Attractions: Szechenyi Square, Storno House, Benedictine Church (Goat Church), Fire Tower, Bailey Promenade

Transportation: OBB , walking

SOPRON - Also know as "The Most Loyal Town," Sopron is a small town nestled at the northern edge of the Hungarian border welcoming many visitors (like us) from Vienna. Although, it wasn't our calmest of days (traveling or not, we all know how it is when big emotions decide to make themselves known...very known), we were very grateful to have taken the short hour-long ride to explore Sopron.

Note: not sure if you can tell in the photo, but the girls are playing Uno (or Mau Mau in this area of Europe). It was one of our best impromptu purchases in Vienna and has become a family favorite during our travels.

Like many Eastern European cities, Sopron is a display of baroque and medieval architecture harmonized with Soviet-era buildings. After our short train ride (we almost went to a different location because we didn't realize we were on the wrong car and the train separates near the Austria-Hungary border), we landed in Sopron. We walked from the station through Szechenyi Square toward Old Town and stopped by Patrick's Pizzeria and Lounge. With each pizza only being the equivalent to $7, we thought they would be on the small side, but they absolutely were not. Two pizzas for $14 and extra to take home—our stomachs and wallets were happy.

After lunch, we rested at the nearby green space and then ventured through Old Town. We walked through Bailey Promenade, saw the Storno House, went into the entrance of the Benedictine Church (Goat Church) because the rest of the church was boarded off, and saw the Fire Tower. After seeing some of the sights, we knew it would be nice to end the afternoon with time at a playground. So, we found a nice one not far from the train station.

On our way back home, Brad found out his uncle (the one he visited on the weekend of our farewell party) passed away. We are grateful that Brad had the opportunity to see him before he passed, but it is still hard for the entire family. With emotions running high today, death (although sad) is often a good reminder to be grateful and to truly live life to the fullest. So, even if life felt harder to navigate today, I was and am still very grateful for mine.

"You can't go back and change the beginning,

but you can start where you are

and change the ending."

-C.S. Lewis

QUICK LOOK:

Location: Various districts

Main Attractions: Danube Island, Beethoven Pasqualatihaus, Uhrenmuseum (Clock Museum), Wien Museum

Transportation: U-Bahn, S-Bahn, walking

VIENNA - Our final week in Vienna, we enjoyed every moment exploring and soaking up the beauty of the city in addition to our day trip to Sopron. We enjoyed as many parks as possible (including one right next to the manmade Danube Island), explored libraries, ate at some of our favorite dining spots, and went to three different museums (Beethoven Pasqualatihaus, Uhrenmuseum (Clock Museum), and the Wien Museum). We took advantage of the fact that select museums are free every first Sunday.

A note about Wien Museum: we loved it! We probably should have gone toward the beginning of our stay, but we are glad we even made it at all. The permanent exhibit "Vienna. My History" is free to all and covers about three floors ranging from the first settlement to the present day. It is extensive yet interactive and engaging. I would highly recommend going if you are ever in Vienna. After our little excursion and one last lunch at Max & Benito (a restaurant that quickly became a favorite of ours), our trip would not be complete without getting a souvenir for Vienna with her name on it. As you can imagine, she was very excited.

Additionally, for the last two weeks of our stay, the girls took ballet class at English Dance Academy (EDA) held in the Common Cafe. We weren't able to observe the classes, but it sounded like the girls had fun and did great (per their teacher and their excitement after class). We were so grateful to find a studio that would let our girls join for just a few classes without having to attend long term. They loved their ballet and gym classes back home, so this gave them a sense of routine and purpose.

After staying here for a month now and exploring new neighborhoods, I can still say that Vienna is one of my favorite cities.

Busi, babba!