Traveling home, I must admit seemed to take a long time. The traveling was easy and uneventful- it was just long. Thursday, I left for the Erbil airport at 1:30pm, traveled on a 4-hour flight to Vienna Austria and had to spend the night there.
When I booked the ticket months ago, I thought I was getting into Vienna at 7am and I would have until 10pm to travel around the city. But I was wrong. I got in at 7pm and left at 10am the next morning. That was okay, I was tired and happy to just get a hotel and spend the night. And even happier that my luggage was safely under the plane, and I did not have to lug it around the city with me.
I found an inexpensive hotel ($43 US) in Vienna, grabbed a free breakfast and traveled back to the airport. I then flew 9 hours from Austria to Newark and an hour from Newark to Cleveland and I did not get home to my house until around 8pm Friday night.
Thursday night I knew I had a short window to make the bus to my hotel. I looked at several options online. One option took me right to the hotel, the other options meant changing subway lines or trains. I was praying I would make the bus Thursday night, and I did. It was a $10 round trip ticket. A great way to travel! And the bus dropped me off right at my hotel, Lenas Donau.
Nothing fancy, but it was clean and had what I needed.
Friday morning, I was excited to have my free breakfast...with lots of bread. This is the last bread I will be eating for a long time! I can eat gluten anywhere but the US.
I did enjoy the croissants with some tea. Okay, a couple cups of tea. And yes, I had four croissants, but they were small. The first two I did with meat and cheese made them into sandwiches. The second two I had with butter and jam. I miss bread, lol!
Dallmayr is a German company that has been in business for over 300 years (coffee) and 130 years in the tea business. They have over 120 tea varieties.
These are the two varieties I tried.
Alpine Herbs Tea- Fennel (21 %), rosehips (19 %), peppermint (18 %), apple pieces, aniseed, blackberry leaves (6 %), lemon verbena, sage (2 %), thyme
Fruits of the Forest Tea- Hibiscus blossom, apple pieces (28 %), blackberry leaves, flavoring, acidifier: citric acid, blackcurrant fibers, rosehip peel, strawberry fibers, blackberry fibers
Fruits of the Forest was my favorite of the two teas I tried. I liked them so much that I took a few extra from the restaurant to enjoy at home. I shared one with my mom and she loved it too. She liked it so much she looked to see how much the tea was on Amazon. I plan on checking the website for US shipping to see if it is cheaper and maybe mom will get some for her birthday. Or maybe they will see this post and send her some tea, lol.
The hotel's restaurant was really cute. I loved the blue overhead lights.
I needed to catch my bus at 7:05. Thankfully the bus stop was right beside the hotel and a McDonalds. I thought I would go in an get an ice tea. However, I went inside and saw they had more tea drinks than the US did. I wanted to take a closer look.
This McDonalds had all kinds of yummy looking treats. If I had been hungry, and not just ate, I would have tried a wrap with avocado...I hope we get these in the states soon. They also had really delicious looking muffins. But what shocked me most was that they were selling Matcha's and Chai Lattes.
I decided to get a chai latte.
McDonalds Chai Latte. 3.60 Euro
The chai was okay. It was on the sweeter side. It tasted like an instant mix. It was just alright, I would get it again, but it is not something I would search out. Maybe if they do bring it to the states, they will get a better flavor. They sure have iced tea down right!
I was in a cute area. My hotel was nice, especially for being only $43 US.
I snagged my Vienna Starbucks mug, yay!!!
Now Newark to Cleveland. Grabbed my bags in Newark- opened them and confirmed nothing was missing or broken. Went through customs again and put them on a plane to Cleveland.
Safely Home!! What an incredible 10 days. I loved every minute.
10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
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