Postcard from Vienna

The challenge of being in a wonderful European city for work is that most of your time is really about work. To get around to the conference we commuted on Vienna's convenient (but unfortunately poorly air-conditioned) subway. The signage for the priority seating was amusing and creative. There's an old man on the right; what we figured to be a disabled veteran; and a pregnant lady showing a little belly on the far left. The Viennese art of pictorial language was present later on the street crossing for the blind. I giggled saying "Nur Fur" a few times to myself. (The device makes a ticking noise to tell people when to cross.)The time left to see Vienna and pick up chocolate for the coworkers who were helping me back home fell between conference sessions and at night.

St. Stephen's Cathedral is a central tourist magnet. We stopped a couple times at cafe and sweet shop, Demel.
After seeing everyone in cafes enjoying this orange drink during the afternoon hours, we ordered a few ourselves. I'm pretty sure it's an apricot wine spritzer. Since Vienna was far more hot and humid than I'd expected, we usually ended up at a gelato place every night, eyeing the many tasty flavors. (It's also why my hair is in a ponytail in nearly every photo. Ugh, so hot! Such weak air conditioning every where!) Nutella was my favorite gelato flavor, but blood orange was also a nice post-dinner palate cleanser. I tried Vienna's signature dessert, the sachertorte (the chocolate cake seen here) but the gelato was far better. It must have been the walking and climbing of subway stairs that brought me home at the same weight I'd left, because my gelato intake had me expecting a different result. I brought home some eight mosquito bites, the result of outdoor dinners. I didn't expect that, but it reminds me of the wisdom of always traveling with some Cortizone-10 for itch relief.