Vienna

In July, we visited Vienna with Paul, Glenna, and Dillon (friends from grad school). We stayed in a central Air B&B, and therefore had a nice home base to be able to easily go places but also hang out together (and allow Chase to nap in the afternoons because he was quite tired from all of the sightseeing). 

While generally walking around the city, we specifically visited the Maria Theresa Statue and Square (top) and the Hofburg Imperial Palace and Apartments (bottom). The Apartments had the Sissy Museum which was very interesting to all of us. We also visited the Albertina Museum where there was a Monet to Picasso exhibit. 

In order to get some nice views, we (including Chase) walked up the 343 steps of St. Stephen's Cathedral:

Finally, we went a bit outside the city to see the Schonbrunn Palace and Gardens. Some of the displays were similar to what we learned at the Hofburg Apartments but it was still nice to see the gardens and to climb up to the top end of the gardens and see a nice view of the palace and the city.

On the last day before leaving, Chase and I had a good time grabbing some boba: 

We overall had a wonderful time in Vienna: seeing the sights, hanging out with good friends, and drinking nice Austrian beer. 

Lisbon & Porto

Every few years, our lab does a team building trip/retreat to a nearby destination. Three years ago, we had gone to Sardinia (which I didn't document on this blog but did briefly mention here). This year, we went to Portugal, specifically Lisbon, but then a few of us decided to tack on a weekend trip to Porto afterwards. Portugal is a country I have had never been to and always wanted to go so it was particularly awesome to get the chance to go. 

Overall, I was very impressed, especially with Porto. There were many things to see and visit and the sights were so beautiful. I am also a sucker for anything near an ocean, so that also was a plus. If we get the chance, I will try to get Nate over to Porto before we leave Europe. 

In Lisbon, other than eating everything in sight, we visited Sintra, walked around the downtown area, and saw the Belem Tower. 

In Porto, we also walked around a lot, tried the Port (obviously), and watched a few football games from the World Cup including the Portugal game (they lost). Finally, we paid a visit to the Atlantic Ocean, which was unfortunately still quite cold even in early July.