There’s much more to Vienna than schnitzel, but two months on it shines in the memory like a tender, crispy beacon.

Rhiannon and I spent a weekend in Vienna for a two-years-overdue celebration of Ten Years Living In The UK. When not busy gnawing schnitzels, my jaw was dropped in awe at the State Hall of the National Library of Austria…

(I love ye olde globes where the map of Australia is incomplete)

… as well as gobs and gobs of art in the many galleries. Happy eyeballs, grumpy feet. The Schiele exhibition at the Leopold was bloody brilliant and I had one of those Holy Shit I’m Not In Cowra Anymore, Toto moments seeing Klimt’s Judith and The Kiss at the Belvedere. Equally excellent was the Belvedere cafe’s chocolate passionfruit cake!

Another highlight: while trawling through this Masterpieces of German Expressionism exhibition, I noticed a boy about ten years old running between the galleries taking photos of paintings with a digital camera. Oh look at his happy wee face, I thought. Then I realised all the artworks he snapped had naked ladies in them. Whatever floats your boat, kid!

What Eurojaunt would be complete without a supermarket crawl. We saw many cakes, breads and things in tubes…

Back in Blighty, there was one emotional Friday where we said farewell to both Neighbour Cat (seen here with her Final Brekkie)…

… and Gareth’s brewery colleague Ali. We drowned our sorrows with fine Belgian beers at The Anderson.

Then came a blur of moving boxes, more goodbyes and soaking up the Inverness autumn colours. All accompanied by gut-churning anxiety. Intellectually, I understand that doing anything new in life involves discomfort and uncertainty, but I seemed to have a harder time than usual riding those waves of emotion. Anyone out there find it tricky? What helps you? Since then I’ve been working on the little things that keep me on a more even keel, so I’d love to hear your ideas. In those crazy days before the move, a good long walk by the river always worked a treat.