Day 70 - Jet Lag, Snow on the Streets & Our First Taste of Vienna

We were all up early. Proper early. Kia and I were awake around 4:30am and the kids weren’t far behind, maybe closer to five. Classic jet lag. Six hours between Vietnam and here and it hit straight away. We’d arrived late the night before and had no food in the apartment, so everyone was starving. Priority one became finding somewhere, anywhere, that was open.

After a bit of frantic Googling we found a bakery not too far away that opened at six. That gave us just enough time to get ourselves moving. Bags unpacked a little, devices on charge, layers pulled on. It was drizzling outside and properly cold. Kia and the kids were rugged up in big puffer jackets. I went with a knitted jumper and rain jacket and was warm enough, but only just. The cold cut through in a way we haven’t felt for a while.

The bakery was perfect. Meat, cheese and salad baguettes, coffees for Kia and me, hot chocolates for the kids. The staff spoke great English, which made life easy at that hour. It wasn’t cheap, but it didn’t matter. We were hungry and happy, and that first warm feed in a new country always feels like a win.

Sunrise wasn’t until about 7:30am, so it was still dark as we wandered the streets afterwards. Quiet. Calm. A completely different energy to Vietnam. We eventually stumbled across a Spar supermarket and decided to stock up on enough food to get us through lunch and dinner. Beef stew was the plan for the night, so we grabbed what we needed for that as well as a few basics.

Supermarkets here are interesting. Familiar, but different. Alcohol everywhere, much smaller fruit and veg sections, and a lot more pre-packaged produce rather than loose items. Buying small amounts is harder. Prices were actually pretty comparable to home. Everything went into paper bags, which felt optimistic given the rain. Sure enough, it turned into a careful march back to the apartment trying to stop the bags from dissolving before we got there.

On the walk we saw old snow piled up along the streets, which the kids were very excited about. Even if it was dirty and half-melted, it still counted. The neighbourhood itself is beautiful. Big apartment buildings, quiet streets, trams running nearby, a train line close too. Zebra crossings actually work. Traffic lights actually mean something. After Vietnam, it feels strangely calm and orderly.

Back at the apartment we unloaded everything and started figuring out logistics. Public transport here is great. A 24-hour pass is €9 and works across trams, trains and buses, so we’ll definitely be using that. We also touched base with the family we’re meeting in Scharnstein for skiing in a few days. The plan is to wait until we’re there to sort out ski and snowboard gear so we can borrow what’s available and only buy what we actually need.

We also finally locked in the car. We went with Sixt. More expensive than we wanted, about $700 over budget, but it ticks all the boxes. Big enough for all our bags, decent insurance, and most importantly we can use a debit card since our credit card was hacked in Vietnam and we don’t have a physical replacement yet. It hurts a bit, but it’ll make life much easier.

By early afternoon we realised Emmett was severely underprepared for winter. One pair of track pants, no boots, wet ground everywhere, and suddenly he’s cold. Decision made. We headed out to find clothes. A nearby shop felt very Best and Less. Two pairs of jeans and another pair of track pants later and he was sorted. Everything was on sale, which helped.

Shoes were another story. Emmett fell in love with a pair of boots that were about $110 Australian. Knowing him, they’d be worn ten times and then abandoned. Hard pass. We kept walking, checking other shops, until we found a Lidl, basically Aldi. In one of the bins were waterproof boots. Long socks made them acceptable. Price was €13 or €14, so about twenty bucks. Perfect. If he hates them in a week, no one’s upset.

We grabbed some beer while we were there too. A six-pack of Heineken was cheaper than back home, which felt like a small European victory. One will go very nicely with beef stew tonight.

After a lot of walking Maddie hit her limit, so we headed back to the apartment. One thing I couldn’t stop noticing was the chewing gum. Everywhere. White spots all over the footpaths. Maybe Brisbane is the same and I’ve just never noticed, but here it really stands out. There’s also a surprising amount of dog poo around. Rain probably doesn’t help, but we did witness one dog unleash liquid horror directly onto the footpath. There was no recovering from that. The smell was next level.

Still, walking around in the cold, in a brand new city, felt really good. It’s such a contrast to the heat, noise and chaos of Vietnam.

With me not working very much at the moment because things are slow, Kia and I can divide and conquer a bit more with the kids and homeschooling. That feels like a positive. We can slow things down, get some reading done, knock over some maths, and ease back into a rhythm that works for all of us.

We’re looking at heading into town tomorrow to visit one of the museums, and there’s also a big ice skating rink that opens at five in the afternoon. We’ll definitely go check that out and get the kids skating. It’ll probably be an expensive little adventure, but it feels worth it. One of those memories that sticks.

Vienna already feels like a big shift. The prices are a bit of a shock to the system, especially dealing in euros. One euro is roughly $1.60 Australian, and it makes every purchase feel heavier. It’s not as simple as rounding up in your head without things getting out of hand, so we’ll need to get better at thinking in euros rather than constantly converting.

But overall, this first full day in Austria felt really good. Different pace. Different energy. A reset of sorts. We’ll see what the next few days bring, but so far, Vienna is treating us well.