Tl;Dr: I value agency & exploration
We are in Vienna, the city of M’s heritage. I am up a bit earlier in the morning than she is, so I’ve taken to exploring Vienna’s 3rd Wave coffee scene (here is a map of 15 well regarded shops). My favorite times have been morning strolls – I get to go to the things that seem exciting, going the way I want. I think this points towards an ultimate value is mine: exploration.
Today I went to KaffeMik – tiny coffee shop. Definitely not the CoffeeShop Culture of Vienna, but definitely the best coffee I’ve had in… A year? 5 years? Wow.


I had a pour over with SuperFreak beans fromWideAwake roaster, plus a small sample of beans roasted by Daniel (owner?). Wow – so different from most coffee I’ve made or tasted in quite a while. Much more like a tea in it’s flavor – but with flavors that last quite a bit longer (maybe I need to drink different tea, eh?). Daniel was very nice. The shop was quite small but he made it very welcoming. And… I got some beans from DAK that I am very excited about.
But enough about hobbies – I remember walking around some of the great cities of Europe (London, Cologne, Madrid, Paris and oh yeah Warsaw once) back in the 2000s – I really enjoyed strolling around them, just finding my way. Rolling around Vienna this morning felt the same and I really like it.
There’s a weird balance between knowing where to go and finding my own way. I’m pretty resistant to advice in some cases, and definitely seek it out in others. Not really sure what the difference is, but it might be whether I’ve sought it.
And I love finding the little things along the way. Today’s finds are a Visible Mending shop, a ceramics place, a record shop, and the ripped founding fathers (?) of Vienna. M. suggested we walk in this direction last night, but I couldn’t have known what was here based on her description (Museum District)





We are staying in a part of the city that is particularly canyonesque – every block has 7 story building end-to-end. It’s very dense, and can feel a bit claustrophobic. Getting out to some spaces with a bit more variety was very nice. To be fair, the photos below are still fairly canyon like.


All of which is to say: good morning, I’m fully caffienatedy – thank you Kaffemik
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