OCTOBER 2023
As my regular readers know, my wife Rita and I took to the road last fall, sampling the roving retirement lifestyle after six years of living on the coast of Ecuador, and a long COVID-caused delay in our plans. So far in my pages I’ve covered our time in Athens and Thessaloniki in Greece, and Istanbul in Turkey. Today I would like to tell you about the next stop on our planned 9-week tour, the majestic city of Vienna, Austria.
We flew out of Istanbul on Turkish Airlines, a comfortable flight that served an excellent lunch, and took just over 2 hours. A word about the new airport in Istanbul – it is huge, and beautifully designed. Sweeping, high terminal ceilings, built to allow natural light during the day. Plenty of stores and restaurants to keep you occupied, and plenty of information boards and easy to follow signs.
I mention the signs, because that was a noticeable difference when we arrived at the Vienna airport. Also large and attractive, but they went minimalist on the signage. Still, since all airports provide the same basic functions, it wasn’t that difficult to find our way through passport control to our baggage, and then out to our waiting driver. Soon we were there in the City of Music, as our driver pointed out highlights on the way to our AirBnb.