Secret Trip Transit - Vienna, Austria to Florence, Italy

Chris and I travelled from Vienna, Austria to Florence Italy on Niki (Austrian subsidiary of Air Berlin).

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We had purchased a return ticket on the City Airport Train (CAT), and used that to transfer from the hotel to the airport. A convenient feature offered by CAT is the ability to check in luggage at the Air Berlin counters prior to boarding the CAT. We presented our pre-printed boarding passes (to avoid the 25 Euro fee) and luggage to the Air Berlin agent, and did not worry about our luggage during the CAT ride or upon arrival at the airport.

All airport lounges were located between boarding and security check. We did not want to risk missing our flight due to potentially long lines through security, and opted to have lunch at Daily Roast, a café next to our gate. We shared a croissant (schinken, ei, schnittlauch), gallegra (beinschkinken, tomaten, ei, salat), and chai latte (orientalischer tee, milch, milchschaum) for lunch before boarding our flight. The sandwiches were heavy on sauces, but we were able to take advantage of the free wifi at the café before our flight.

After scanning our boarding passes, we rode a shuttle bus that took us to our tiny Dash 8 Air Berlin aircraft. There was no space for carryon roller luggage on the small propeller plane, and we left these with the attendant before boarding. This was Chris and my first time on a propeller plane. After the short 1.5 hour flight, we were greeted by the lush greenery and red rooftops of Tuscany outside the aircraft window. We were also offered Lindt chocolate hearts by the Air Berlin flight attendant as we deplaned. Of course, we graciously accepted!