Leading up to the date of departure, I had doubled down on my discipline, with worthy workouts and conscious calorie counting. Yeah, I know, there’s no such thing as a rollover workout, but, well … I knew I was gonna eat.all.the.things. whilst not caring what day or time it was … just nod and accept the logic is flawed and let’s move on.
The first official meal, discounting plane food (which didn’t completely suck), was that phenomenal falafel in Istanbul.
Kebabs in Istanbul
If I were more poetically inclined, I would write an Ode To Baklava. Srsly. It was that good. Fresh daily. Sweet. Just this side of too sweet. I think I mentioned we were two doors away from the baklava shop. It was about 70-75 degrees in Istanbul when we were there, and with no air conditioning, the windows in our 3rd floor apartment stayed open (oh, ask Sandy about the marching band practice after midnight on night #2). I don’t know what is the optimal time for baking (cooking? making?) baklava, but it was often enough that Istanbul smelled fantastic! Baklava with pistachio ice cream, good. Baklava with lemon ice cream, perfect…a simply scrumptious blend of sweet and sour.
After prowling the Grand Bazaar and Spice Market, we stopped for lunch at one of the restaurants on–or rather, under– the Galata Köprüsüthe. Much to Sandy’s delight, I tried the calamari and mussels. Both were deep fried. The first wasn’t too bad. The second wasn’t too good. But, I got points for trying. And yay me, I honored my promise to bravely try new things straight away. Those points carried over the rest of the trip. {wiping brow}
Speaking of taste buds… I haven’t been drinking coffee long enough to be a real aficionado, but I have been drinking coffee long enough to know that not all lattes are created equal, and some baristas have real talent. Starbucks Istanbul had a fair amount of elbow room, but a less-than-stellar caramel latte. Starbucks Vienna felt a little like I should have practiced maximizing my personal space in a sardine can. But, chin, chin, it’s warm and caffeinated.
Powdered sugar deliciousness at the Ernte Dank festival we stumbled on in Vienna
Fruit & yogurt is, clearly, the breakfast of champions. And something healthy to balance (shya, who’m I kidding?!?) to balance out the pastries. Aubrie is a champ and making the most amazing breakfast mix of yogurt and whatever fruit and nuts are on hand. Just never mind the odd random noise coming from the back bedroom. That’ll be Aubrie crunching up whole almonds into bite-sized pieces in a zip-lock bag with a pan on the ceramic tile.
Coca Cola measured in liters. Half portions. Delivered in the charming glass bottles with a glass and straw on the side. No ice. All served at room temp. After all the walking, you don’t notice it isn’t cold. It’s wet, and caffeinated. Done and done.
Bottled water comes gassy or not gassy. It’s best to pay attention, otherwise you end up with the other kind. Fortunately, the types are color-coded. Unfortunately, they’re not the same colors in each country. But no matter, in several cities the pilsner was actually cheaper than bottled water. (Like beer drinkers really need an excuse to drink more beer.)
<confession box> I am not a great beer drinker. But the pilsner was good.
Unlimited consumption in the rest area at Magnolia Spa
How often do you used the words “unlimited consumption” in a sentence? Yeah, me too; not very often. Not until Budapest. Anticipating a long train leg, we decided the first order of business on arrival would be a few hours at the Magnolia Spa. Along with a heavenly massage and several other treatments amongst us, we had leave to loiter in the “rest area” and indulge in a selection of teas, fruits and cookies. Unlimited consumption = delicious.
On our last night in Vienna, after touring the Habsburg Palace grounds, we wandered back into the city for dinner—Greek—then shopped our way back to the main square. We stopped for ice cream at the shop that had amazing lines (several yards long) each time we’d wandered past. There is a decided reason the lines were so long at Eis Greissler. Phe-nom-i-nal ice cream. Phenominal. Poppy seed ice cream. Srsly. Caramel ice cream. I can’t even.
The pastries: oh! the pastries!!! {sigh} The pastries were phenomenal. Light and flaky. Chocolate. Cinnamon. Vanilla. With nuts. Without nuts. Round. Swirled. Odd-shaped. All lovely deliciousness. {shudder} Pastries with coffee before breakfast. Pastries with beverage after breakfast, before lunch. Pastries as a mid-afternoon snack. Pastries, glorious pastries. (To all my vigilant grammar guards—please to just overlook this entire paragraph.)
To sum up, the food was fantastic. Thank goodness I didn’t have access to a scale, and I was smart enough to ignore My Fitness Pal. I would have missed out on some marvelous meals if I had decided to care about caloric intake. Because vacation calories don’t count 😉