Some trips are itineraries. Others become gentle mirrors. This was the latter.
When I boarded the plane to Vienna, I didn’t quite realise how much this trip would end up being a balm — to my weary body, and my quietly bruised heart. Over the last few years, life has moved at a relentless pace: my father’s kidney failure, my mother’s painful weight loss from oral ulcers caused by sharp teeth, my own autoimmune hyperthyroidism, and the grief of losing my beloved mother-in-law, Manimegalai, on 20 March 2020 — the same day as her only daughter Suhanthi’s birthday, at the height of Covid lockdowns. I never really paused to process any of it. I hate admitting I’m weak, in pain, or that I need help.
Somewhere between Mozart and mountains, something softened.
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🎓 Part 1 — EUSEM 2025, Vienna
Messe Wien was the buzzing heart of the European Society for Emergency Medicine 2025 conference, held from 28 September to 1 October. It was a whirlwind of ideas — from emerging EM researchers to seasoned educators — and a joy to be part of a strong SingHealth contingent, mostly bright juniors.
Dr Ronald Tan led us on a site visit to the Austrian equivalent of PaedsEngage — a tertiary paediatric hospital service that operates till 10 pm daily. Our kind host was Clemens, a paediatric EM resident (and fellow poster presenter in the paediatrics track!).
I also had the joy of connecting with two remarkable international colleagues:
• Dr Jabeen Fayyaz (SickKids, Toronto), a world-renowned figure in paediatric simulation who developed a tool to teach simulation effectively in low-resource settings.
• Professor Thomas Miller, an EM physician and President of the Professional Staff Association at Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Canada — who moved many of us with a poignant poem on the loss of a child.
He was deeply fascinated by the medical humanities work coming out of Singapore, particularly the SingHealth Duke-NUS Medical Humanities Institute 🇸🇬, and the initiatives led by Dr Yee Hui Mok, with current and past grantees Gillian Hendriks and Goh Mei Ching from KKH Children’s Emergency.
Gillian delivered an inspiring oral presentation on youth well-being initiatives at KKH. MC’s Lego Serious Play™ methodology even got a shout-out in the THINK³ systems thinking session by Hasselt University 🇧🇪, as a powerful translational simulation tool.
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🎶 Prelude — A Night of Music
On the evening before the conference began, we attended a concert at the Goldener Saal (Golden Hall) — the world-famous Musikverein where Mozart and Strauss come alive. It felt poetic to let music bridge my professional and personal worlds.
We went as a little Singaporean group: Gillian, Mei Ching, Ronald, his sister Elizabeth, and me. As someone who loves Mozart and Strauss, being in that hall was goosebump-inducing — a bucket list moment I’ll treasure.
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🏛 Days in Vienna — Between Knowledge and Kaffeehäuser
Day 1 ended with a warm, rustic dinner at Lentzer family heuriger, tucked in Vienna’s vineyard outskirts — hearty food, shared laughter, and the kind of gentle conversations that mark the start of something memorable.
Day 2 brought quieter, contemplative beauty: the Austrian State Library, a long queue for the world-famous Café Sacher torte, and then the AKH hospital visit in the evening with Gillian, Mei Ching, Ronald, and Elizabeth. Shu Fang joined for the hospital part. We ended the night with dinner at The Glasshouse, just near Café Sacher — the kind of cosmopolitan evening only Vienna can pull off.
Day 3 was all about Kunsthistorisches Museum treasures.
Day 4 saw me wandering through the Papyrus Museum and Armoury, revelling in quiet corners of history.
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🛤 Part 2 — Krems, Lidl Pitstops, and the Wachau Charm
Everything from Krems onwards was thoughtfully planned, budgeted, and booked by Gillian — and it showed.
Day 5 took us to Krems, with its storybook charm. Gill and I did a little SPAR grocery stop, followed by a Lidl middle aisle bargain hunt, picking up goodies I promised to lug home. In the evening, we enjoyed dinner at the Siegler family heuriger, a rustic, authentic Wachau tavern — the perfect way to end the day.
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🥨 Day 6 — Melk: Cobblestones, Boundaries, Sushi Night & Serendipity
The next day’s uphill cobblestone climb in Melk felt like poetic punishment for my Lidl excesses. After a hearty lunch at Gast Die Bäckerei, Gill and Ness headed straight up to the Abbey. I, however, was in no shape for another uphill assault. Laden with my haul and running low on patience, I completed the climb to the pension, stretched my back, and parked myself at a café for an hour of much-needed rest.
In hindsight, I realised I should have stood my ground, recognised my physical limits, and simply insisted on taking a cab to the pension. It was a quiet reminder that setting boundaries isn’t weakness — it’s self-respect, especially when travelling with others.
While sipping my drink, I called home — the family was in the midst of sushi night, their easy chatter grounding me. I also spoke to Daddy, who quietly shared his longing, wondering aloud if he would ever get to visit Austria and do what I was doing. I reminded him that Madhu, my younger sister, has a partner in Cornwall, and that if she chooses to settle down, my parents could finally tack on a European dream trip of their own. His sigh carried hope.
My irritation softened; my mood lightened. Refreshed, I eventually made my way to the Abbey, arriving just in time to catch an English guided tour. What began in fatigue and seething ended in quiet awe.
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🌄 Part 3 — Hallstatt & Dachstein: Grit, Snowfall and Stillness
Day 7 took me to Hallstatt, that dreamlike lakeside village that inspired Arendelle in Frozen. Standing by the lake that morning, I felt the tug of my two Frozen-loving daughters — how they would have delighted in this fairytale setting.
The next day brought a cable car ride up Dachstein Krippenstein and a steep 30-minute uphill climb to the entrance of the Giant Ice Caves. I’ll be honest: it was tough. But I had the Smith sisters — Gill and Ness — cheering me on every step of the way.
And just as I reached the entrance, snow began to fall. Tiny flakes swirling around me, as if the Alps themselves were applauding my grit. I teared up. It felt like providence’s quiet reward. The cave itself was magnificent — ancient ice, silent grandeur, and a sense of having earned this wonder.
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✈ Epilogue — Of Cabins and Lessons
On my way home, I got a surprise Swiss Air business class upgrade for my short Vienna–Zurich hop — my bid had won. For an hour, I felt like a queen, sipping champagne above the clouds.
But on the Zurich–Singapore leg, I didn’t get my premium economy bid. Crammed into economy for the long-haul flight, back aching and knees throbbing, I realised a clear truth: for long journeys, comfort is worth planning for from the start.
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🫀 A Final Note
This trip began as a professional conference and ended as something more personal — a journey through music, history, friendships, grief, resilience, snow, and self-understanding. It reminded me that healing doesn’t always happen in therapy rooms. Sometimes, it happens between train stations, in library halls, on snowy mountain paths, and in the quiet realisations of a heart that finally exhales.
Dr Jayapriya Sathiyan is a Consultant in Paediatric Emergency Medicine at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore. She is passionate about child protection, trauma-informed care, advocacy, and medical humanities. An extroverted storyteller, she finds joy in blending medicine with reflection, travel, and culture.
This post first appeared here.