Vienna, Austria

Since I had to fly through Europe to get to Dubai, my best friend Jodi and I decided to meet in Vienna for our 6th "honeymoon" vacation. While Vienna is full of history and museums, we did none of that. We were actually asked by one gentleman if we had "any hobbies besides eating and drinking". For three days, we did what we do best - eat and drink wine. And sir, to be fair, we also got super fancy and attended a ballet! 

We explored the Christmas markets, which were all over the city. It was super cold, so we used the mulled wine to warm us up. 

 

For our first lunch, we went to a tiny hole in the wall meat and cheese shop in the Naschmarkt. We intended to go there for a quick bite, and it turned into 4 hours, continuous tastings and probably 3 bottles of wine. The shop is a little larger than a closet. There were about 10 regulars there enjoying a mid-day wine, and they were all older gentlemen who were clearly glad two American girls walked in! The owners were amazing and made us reservations in all of their friends' restaurants. Turns out, the shop was also featured on Anthony Bourdain's show "No Reservations. If you ever are in Vienna, Urbanek is a must visit! 

The owners and us at the end of our stint there (hence the eyes)

Our Thanksgiving Dinner

Another evening we spent in Grinzing (a neighborhood on the outskirts of Vienna) going to Heuriges, which are wine taverns. Our favorite one had all the locals singing along to a violin and accordion. It was such a cool experience and way to enjoy the local culture. 

  

The last day we went about 2 hours North of the city to go wine tasting. However, we didn't know you had to have special train tickets and we got a $70 fine. This was especially surprising since in the city center, there is no place to give tickets and no one checking for them on the buses or subways. We realized Jodi is good at schmoozing and Sandy will forever be in charge of logistics and maps. It doesn't work out well when we try to reverse our roles! Also, it's not season, so none of the wine houses were open. We ended up walking the streets looking for a place, thankfully saw a wine sign, and knocked on the door. It wasn't a restaurant or tasting room - it was a wine maker's house! He gave us the most amazing tasting of about 10 wines in his production room. He spoke little to no english, but was so kind! All of the tasting and two bottles of wine to take home was only 20 Euros! He even took us back to the train station. Thankfully, the trip was worth it! 

Fink vineyards - which only produces 30,000 bottles each year!

the winemaker

Vienna was a very pretty and manageable city. It is super clean and easy to get around. We were surprised on the food culture there - there was a lot of Michelin and fancy restaurants. We preferred the cheese stuffed sausage stand in the park across from our hotel, but we got great restaurant recommendations and had a nice meal out too. 

we couldn't read the menu here, so we ordered the chef's tasting with wine pairings

We also enjoyed the live music and good food at Albertina Passage after the ballet. 

Dubai, UAE

Well my first real post is going to be a LONG one, so get ready! But I can't help it! Dubai was amazing and so photogenic!!! Over Thanksgiving week, I went to Dubai to visit my sister Talia and her husband Dennis. I was their first visitor in the 3+ years they have lived there! I had no real expectations of Dubai as a city - it wasn't high on my list of places to visit. The reason I was going was to spend time with my family. Well, both the city and family time was better than I could have imagined!

Upon returning home, I realized that this trip was the longest, real quality time Talia and I have ever had. We had a lot of fun! I also got to really know Dennis. And the two of them are super cute together :)

Dubai was also very pretty.  However, I'm glad I was able to experience it with the locals. Otherwise, I can see how you can get stuck in one part of town and the city becomes a little like Vegas or a resort you could find somewhere tropical. That's not what I flew across the world for!!! Going around with Talia and Dennis allowed me to see the whole city, and really the whole country. We drove through or visited 5 of the 7 states of the UAE. And we ate at random local places like the most legit Chinese food in China mart (mall that covers a square mile, sells all sorts of goods from China and has a small town built around it for its Chinese workers). I also learned so much about the culture from them, as well as the country's background and the way of life for the locals while going around with them. The most interesting thing I learned was that everything is status - even down to their car liscense plates (2 numbers = Sheikh,  3= really affluent, 4 with a pattern = good!....and people will get out of these cars way)

The first day we visited the traditional

Market where there was everything you can imagine for sale - huge terrines, whole stores for combs, and beautiful huge barrels of spices. There is also the gold souk section, where there was the largest and most ridiculous jewelry.

I also walked along the creek, where these traditional boats are loaded by hand with goods like refrigerators and TVs before the travel to Indian and Africa.

Later that day, we had an amazing lunch at Flooka with this view:

It was a medditeranean meal and the flavors were amazing!! The best tuna tartar I've ever had!!

The next day I convinced Talia to go on a camel ride and sand boarding tour in the desert. Only one of us was deemed coordinated enough to sand board though ;)

That night, we went to the Burj Kalifa. It is truly a beautiful building! It is astonishing from the outside - it really towers over the town! I had to use panorama to get some of the photos. It is currently the tallest in the world and it has the most floors, fastest elevators, most workers….The -est everything! When we went, the building was swaying too much to have the elevators at full speed. We went to the top observation deck, which offered amazing views! If you plan on visiting, I would also look into visiting the bar, which is just a floor below vs. the tour - actually cheaper and you get booze. 

Afterwards, we watched the light show outside and then went for Shisha and drinks 

The last day, we traveled to Abu Dhabi to see the Grand Mosque. We did the free tour, and it was so worth it! The building is beautifully ornate. They created the mosque to expose the world to the Muslim culture and it was so amazing to see, and experience, a part of their culture. 

that chandelier beats the Bellagio! 

It was a great trip! I saw more than I expected, went fishing in the Persian Gulf, ate better food than I could have imagined thanks to Dennis and his need to make sure I tried all of their favorites on every menu, and enjoyed sitting in the courtyard, drinking wine and chatting.