Belvedere, My Dear...

After dropping off our luggage, it was time to venture out for some lunch at a nearby restaurant I found on Happy Cow. Just up the block from our hotel was this colorful building. 

I can’t remember what we ate for lunch, but know that we loved the traditional sachertorte, a chocolate cake invented in Vienna in 1832.

Our next stop was just across the street: Belvedere Gardens.

The Upper Belvedere was completed in 1723 as the summer residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy. Today it is the Belvedere Museum, housing the greatest collection of Austrian art, which unfortunately we didn’t have time to visit.

There were lots of intricate statues, but I think they were mostly made of cement instead of marble. 

The skies became very dramatic and we skittered back to our hotel to sit out some rain. 
 

Off to Vienna...

On August 13, we were back at Spoedtest in Leiden to get COVID-19 antigen tests for our summer travels.

The following evening we headed to Amsterdam Centraal to catch the new overnight train service to Vienna.

It was naïve of us to have thought that a new train service would mean that the trains themselves would be new as this train was likely built in the 50s. 

Travelling during the pandemic was stressful, but we benefitted from the fact that our overpriced train tickets guaranteed that we wouldn’t have to share our compartment, that normally would have slept six.

Probably not a surprise that we brought wine with us; nor would it be a surprise that we had more than just this strange test tube full of wine. Apparently our train stopped in the middle of the night for a few hours since we arrived in Vienna three hours late. 

Since it was my birthday, I splurged on a room at Hotel Daniel, a hip hotel with a sailboat perched on the rooftop. 

In addition to the giant message to be optimistic above the entrance, this sign was on the door: No Bad Temper, No Spies, and Ties? Why Not Try Without.

We were pleasantly surprised when we were offered free Prosecco for my birthday while we waited for our room to be readied. 

I surprised Jimmy with a room with a hammock seat (with a very funny note about not to do anything wild in it)…

…and panorama views.

 

Another New Canal to Explore...

It’s always exciting when we explore a new canal. In this case, we’d seen a very dramatic sunset when we hashed along this canal in our old neighborhood in September 2020.

Apparently, bikes can also be dramatic.

Not quite as colorful as the last time we were there, but hard to complain considering the incredible reflections.

Ironically, Kati licked her nose just as we passed the malt factory in front of Reinhardt and Inga’s new place.

We were racing against nature to get back to our dock before it was truly dark as we still didn’t have lights on the boat then. 
 

A Fond Farewell...

Carlin stayed with us for about one month while waiting for her UK visa. She dedicated herself to working on this very difficult shark fin puzzle and, as you can see, managed to finish it before she left.

On August 12, we took her for one last ride in 2021 on Bootjuh.  

It was another beautiful night with no wind and enough clouds to make for some interesting reflections.

While near our old house on the Oude Rijn some fellows asked for help...

…retrieving their radio-controlled boat, which Carlin gladly recovered. 
 

New Victims, I Mean New Guests...

On August 11, we had a lovely evening on the boat with Thomas, who Jimmy really enjoys working with at the Ministry of Defense, and Veerle (they had just bought a house together outside of Utrecht). 

We took a route out towards Leiderdorp. Along the way we encountered a man either delivering a hot tub by boat or going to pick up passengers for his floating hot tub. 

We also saw a giant plastic swan...

…several modern wind turbines...

…and lots of old windmills.

We came across some folks playing some kind of kayak polo...

…and a boat with ridiculously long oars. 

I made pasta salad for dinner and Veerle made an incredible cheesecake with blackberries for dessert in addition to bringing a huge assortment of cheese. 

Golden hour seemed to be made for Veerle.