14 October 2026

October 12 - 13 Toronto - Vienna

 Itinerary
Oct 12 -13 Toronto - Paris - Vienna

Sunday Oct 11 and we began getting emails from Air France delaying our flights.

October 12–13, 2026
Then when we got up on flight day our flight was cancelled! They had rerouted us to Copenhagen on SAS and onto Vienna on SAS. After a stressful hour ensuring we were actually checked in, we scurried to get ready for an earlier departure.
We got an Uber at 1:15 and were checked in in no time, through the priority security line and in the KLM lounge by 2 PM.


The problem with this airline and KLM (along with others) you have to be bussed far across the airport to another departure lounge.



We've never flown SAS before and the setup is very organized. It was a good flight and we both got a little sleep.







Welcome aboard. Wheels up at 5:10 PM.




My appetizer, salmon, delicious. John had the parma ham plate.


.


We both had the beef, I thought it was quite tough.


Gingerbread, very sweet. John had the cheese plate.


.





We landed at 6:30 AM local time - 12:30 AM our body time Toronto.
We landed 40 minutes early due to tail winds and probably a good thing as we walked miles to passport control and waited in line before being photographed and fingerprinted. 

We have been to Copenhagen before and saw The Little Mermaid, this was in the airport at the gate to our connecting flight.


In the air for a 1 hour 20 minute flight.


We picked up our luggage, got in a cab (55 euros) and we're are the hotel by 10 AM AND our room was ready! 
Bolts are metered here, just like taxis.


Normally our room is never ready and we did have a plan of where to go. But this was too good to be true! The bed was too good to ignore! And getting it at 10 just said nap! 
We headed out around 4.


TV with alarm clock etc.



With the train station right across from us, we headed there. It is gigantic!




We needed food!


We  sat in the front, which had lots of British tourists. It was interesting, and nice, to see many older locals come in for a late lunch meal.

We were both ordering the pork schnitzel but the server suggested that one order the beef goulash with came with a bread dumpling - delicious.



How Goulash Thickens Safely Without Flour
The 1:1 Onion Melt: Because you are using an equal weight of onions to beef, you are essentially cooking down a massive mountain of onions. As they simmer gently for 3 hours, the cell walls of the onions completely collapse, melting into a thick, sweet, and savory vegetable purée that binds the sauce.
Served with Austrian Semmelknödel (bread dumplings) [Klassisches Rindsgulasch], it tasted exactly like stuffing or dressing and is made the same way.

The portions were too large for us but I learned that it is perfectly acceptable to have appetizers and then order one meat meal and ask for an extra plate, dessert is always shared!

We were fading after that huge meal so had another two hour nap and then went down to the connected Novotel hotel (both Accor) for a drink and then back and watched the first episode of MasterChef Australia 2026 that I had downloaded on my laptop.

Train Station at night.


























Signs 2


Danforth Avenue in Toronto has been known by several historical names, alternate designations, and nicknames over the years.

Historical and Alternate Names
Concession Line Road / Concession II: Maps referred to the route by this surveyor's designation before it was officially named Danforth Avenue.
Don and Danforth Plank Road: The official corporate and common name after the Don and Danforth Plank Road Company rebuilt the route into a usable wood-plank road in 1851.
Highway 5: Designated as part of Ontario Highway 5 during regional transit planning eras.

We refer to it as The Danforth, the most common modern shorthand name for the avenue and the surrounding community, especially the famous Greektown section.



The Danny, annoys me. A newer, sometimes debated neighborhood nickname used by local business associations and residents.


Signs

 June 2026 - Toronto ON

Spadina St. 



Project Bookmark Canada is a one-of-a-kind, Canadian cultural innovation. Though many countries have tangible tributes to literature and writers, no other initiative in the world creates a permanent series of site-specific literary exhibits using text from imagined stories that take place in real locations.
#26 Knowing I Live in a Dark Age, by Milton Acorn
Corner of College and Spadina From Jawbreakers



12 October 2026

Europe 2026

 

A quick version of our plans as our flights with Air France today (Paris - Vienna)  were cancelled and we are now booked on an earlier flight to Copenhagen then Vienna!!!!!!!!



EUROPE ITINERARY OVERVIEW

October 12 – October 31, 2026


WEEK 1: VIENNA & BUDAPEST

Oct 12 | Toronto ➔ Copenhagen (In Transit)


Status: BOOKED

Oct 13 | Copenhagen ➔ Vienna (Arrival)

Transit: Flight 

Hotel Base: Ibis Wien Hauptbahnhof (Am Hauptbahnhof 2, 1100 Vienna, Austria)

Status: BOOKED

Oct 14 | Vienna (Wieden Loop & Markets)

Transit: Walking Core Trail

Hotel Base: 

Oct 15 | Vienna (Imperial Core & Architecture)

Transit: Walking + S-Bahn Subway


Oct 16 | Vienna ➔ Budapest (Nightlife Stroll)

Transit: ÖBB Railjet Train


Oct 17 | Budapest (Historic Core & Riverside)

Transit: Downtown Walking Trail



WEEK 2: BALKANS & TRANSYLVANIA

Oct 18 | Budapest ➔ Zagreb (Arrival Walk)

Transit: 

Oct 19 | Zagreb (Upper Core & Murals)

Transit: Walking + Ride-Share


Oct 20 | Zagreb ➔ Belgrade (Welcome Dinner)

Transit: Air Serbia 

Oct 21 | Belgrade (Bohemian Quarter Loop)

Transit: Pedestrian Core Walk


Oct 22 | Belgrade (Extended Sightseeing)

Transit: Free Day Loop


Oct 23 | Belgrade ➔ Bucharest (Arrival Dinner)

Transit: Air Serbia 

Oct 24 | Bucharest (Murals & Passages Loop)

Transit: Art Walk (Strada Verona)


WEEK 3: TRANSYLVANIA & POLAND

Oct 25 | Bucharest ➔ Brașov (Fairytale Castles)

Transit: 

Oct 26 | Brașov ➔ Bucharest (Communist Monuments)

Transit: 

Oct 27 | Bucharest (Calea Victoriei Culture)

Transit: Taxi + Landmark Pedestrian Route


Oct 28 | Bucharest ➔ Warsaw (Design Dinner)

Transit: LOT Polish Airlines

Oct 29 | Warsaw (Old Town & Royal Route)

Transit: Linear Royal Route Walk


Oct 30 | Warsaw (Eco-Murals & Floating Palace)

Transit: Park & Palace Walk


Oct 31 | Warsaw ➔ Paris ➔ Toronto (Return)



Foto Tunes

Tom the backroads traveller hosts this weekly meme.


May 2019 - Rome Italy



Bob Dylan - When I Paint My Masterpiece


Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble
Ancient footprints are everywhere


You can almost think that you’re seein’ double
On a cold, dark night on the Spanish Stairs



Got to hurry on back to my hotel room




Where I’ve got me a date with Botticelli’s niece


She promised that she’d be right there with me
When I paint my masterpiece



Monday Mural

  I'm linking up at Monday Mural

May 2026 - Toronto ON

This mural is located at Queen Street West and O'Hara Avenue in Toronto's Parkdale neighbourhood. 

It is a collaborative work featuring artists Bruno Smoky, Monki, and Gratian.
The artwork includes a prominent green, top-hat-wearing creature and a blue pirate mermaid.\It was was completed around April 2026.
I think it's pretty cool!



10 October 2026

Jumping Bean

 Linking up with Marg at The Intrepid Reader

9 October 2026 - Toronto ON
ST. JOHN'S NL

LAST WEEK'S POST

Saturday
Just for fun, what did I do today??
Added frequent flyer numbers and passport info on AF website. Wrote them on our paper tickets and added to my cell.
Wrote 3 posts. Linked up weekly post and September recap.
Provided info to cruise company for refund - they had all that info already since had already taken my money, whatever, I'll play nice.
Read some blogs.
I had a major meltdown as I thought my laptop had died. It didn't but I then did multiple backups of files and photos just in case!!!
Showered, dressed and lunched. Took pork out for dinner. Checked the weather in Budapest.
Spent ages trying to buy train tickets on a Hungarian website, finally success. 
I did a load of laundry after we (finally) unpacked our suitcase. 
It took thirty minutes to optimize my laptop, I had forgotten to do it last month.
I installed Apple on my laptop. Looked for MKR new season but couldn't get it to open.
Filed some photos. Did our mail in voting for mayor.
Prepped dinner.
Changed all the garbage, regular, recycling and green bin.

John took a walk to get some cool, fresh air.









We watched the first episode of new series War. Two top London law firms clash over a shocking divorce case that rocks the legal world, with elite attorneys from Cathcarts and Taylor and Byrne battling for supremacy. Hey, Dominic West stars in it, so it has to be good.
We also caught up on Criminal Intent Toronto.


Sunday 
We had 10:15 mani pedi appointments but we are still coughing so cancelled until Wednesday.
We just laid low and entertained ourselves.

Monday

John cancelled golf. We decided to remove a day in Sofia from our plan, it was for one night and involved a flight, so didn't make a lot of sense, we added the day to Belgrade. I confirmed the additional night with the hotel. We also booked our flight from Bucharest to Warsaw.

I got Euros from the bank (FCP) and walked to the Eaton Centre for a sweater that I wanted and also found one for John. I had sushi.
This is a new sign at Union Station. How civilized life was. Now there aren't even any benches or seats because the "unhoused" homeless would occupy them.


I also got confirmation that we will receive a 100% credit from the cruise company. 

We had our first frost warning!




Tuesday
Tuesday Treasures - Little Bighorn
T Stands for Tuesday

With all the news around Cornell I found this to be very interesting.

We stopped into Uniqlo at Union first and John found two lighter sweaters.

We headed to College Park and the subway was a joy, service was turned back at College Park due to "an injury at track level", shut down service between College Park and St. Clair stations. I must say there WERE shuttle buses outside, but the lines were huge.

At Winners we found two suitcases to replace out trusty almost 15 yo ones. The subway was going to be chaotic and we had the suitcases so we walked back.







Wednesday

10:15 mani pedi appointments came early after getting up at 8!! Walking back.



We headed out at 3:15 to meet John's daughter at Billy Bishop. 
Philip Cote (Anishinaabe-Algonquin muralist and ancestral knowledge keeper)


Cute! As we headed home on the shuttle.


She had been here for a conference and could only book the 7:30 flight home (company rules), so she didn't have time for dinner like we usually do. We took the Porter shuttle to Billy Bishop (island) airport and chatted until 6:15 when she went through security. Best laid plans... She messaged at 9 that flights had been cancelled due to thunderstorms, Porter only flies small plans. Porter simply said make your way to Pearson (train from Union) and see if you can get on a flight there. That didn't make sense timewise!! John picked her and got her to Pearson in no time and she got an 11 PM flight home.
Some customer service!
BTW it was a big light storm!

Thursday

John headed out to play Turtle's Creek at 8:30 and he sent this photo later in the afternoon.


I paid the condo insurance for 2027. I checked on flu shots - not until Oct 26. I filled out the AWAY card and gave it to Steve, I also did the online notification. Put another NO FLYERS sign in our mail box. Completed instructions for T while we are away. I updated our master travel plan.
I am now up to date on Australia My Kitchen Rules 2026!

We watched a 2016 movie with Cillian Murphy Anthropoid. It depicts Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich by exiled Czechoslovak soldiers Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš in World War II.


Friday
I went for a haircut and ran a couple of errands before meeting my BFF for lobster rolls, our go-to.
I cleaned out fridge and froze the remaining bananas.

We are away starting Monday for three weeks, I will post our itinerary soon.

Autumn is here.


The Canada geese are on their way south.



It is Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. 


Our Europe itinerary!





COOKING



Saturday - pork tenderloin au gratin potatoes and cauliflower
Sunday - leftovers with additional cauliflower
Monday - Bulgogi beef rice and green beans
Tuesday - Asian beef and beans
Wednesday - ordered Swiss Chalet
Thursday - ham, mashed potatoes cauliflower
Friday - steak green beans and baked potato


READING

I started Standing Still, but honestly, it is a bit of a drag and really not catching my interest.





October 12 - 13 Toronto - Vienna

 Itinerary Oct 12 -13 Toronto - Paris - Vienna Sunday Oct 11 and we began getting emails from Air France delaying our flights. October 12–13...