Vienna Day 2

On our second day in Vienna we went to the Schönbrunn Palace (you can read that post here) and then took the U-bahn to the Museum Quarter.  We had lunch at a local bakery and then grabbed Starbucks before we headed out.  There are several passages in the Museum Quarter and each one was painted differently.  I like how the red pops off the white and the painting is pretty interesting to look at in this particular archway.

After leaving the Museum Quarter we came right upon the Hofburg Palace.  This building is huge and spectacular.  The Hofburg Imperial Apartments, the Hofburg Treasury Tour and the Spanish Riding School, home to the famous Lipizzaner Stallions are all housed within the palace.  Since it was mid-afternoon we missed the chance to see the horses practice but we strolled around the exterior of the building and enjoyed the sun.

JG wanted to ride a ginormous ferris wheel that is in Vienna so we made our way to the amusement park where it was located.  The park had free admission and you only had to pay for the attractions you wanted to ride.  How fantastic is that?  The girls rode ponies for the first time ever and surprisingly both girls loved it.  Lolo is timid and afraid of many things but she was all smiles while riding the pony.  Aubrey was excited from the start. 

Any Amazing Race fans out there?  Did you watch this past season?  If so, then ferris wheel in the photo should look familiar to you.  We were in Vienna before the episode was aired and since we are dorks we thought it was pretty cool to visit a place and then see it on T.V.  This is not the ferris wheel JG rode.  He rode in a bigger, regular car type one and took some aerial photos. 

After this we headed back to our hotel so we could get ready for dinner.  JG talked to the desk clerk and she told us about a fabulous little wine bar right up the street called Bunt.  I had a delicious spicy chicken curry, JG had a steak and the girls had schnitzel.  I need to remember to bring my camera to dinner with us as I would totally share the photos.  Our waiter was very nice and the decor was a bit eclectic and fun.  It was a great way to wrap up our quick, last minute trip to Vienna. 

I hope maybe we can sneak back one more time before we move back to the USA but it is unlikely to happen.  I would love to tour some of the palace museums and maybe even watch the horses.  Our time is running short here and with JG preparing for another deployment =( we lose that much more time.  I am not much of a solo traveler since traveling with the girls alone can be difficult at times. 

Thanks for stopping by today!  I enjoy sharing our photos and experiences with you! 



Vienna Waits for You

Okay, maybe Vienna isn't waiting for you but JG sang this line to a Billy Joel song the entire time we were in Vienna.  We left the house at a decent time and according to the GPS Vienna is just 4.5 hours from our home....however, when you have kids and are limited to just one chain of gas stations in Germany in which you can use a ration card to get gas it tends to add some time to the drive.  A lot of time. 

We arrived at the Hotel Cortina around 4:30 p.m. and checked in.  We grabbed the camera and our jackets before we headed to the U-bahn, which is just a short walk from the hotel, so we could begin our adventures in the city.  We took the subway to Karlsplatz and grabbed a frappuccino from Starbucks before we walked down to St. Stephen's Cathedral.  This beautiful church has an amazing rooftop and gorgeous spires but as our luck would have it it also had an abundance of scaffolding.  At least many famous sites make an effort to disguise the scaffolding by covering it with a photo of what you're missing.

Located right next to the church is the store to one of my most favorite treats of all our travels, the Manner wafer cookies!  The lemon wafers are so delicious and I was excited to visit the store but it was crowded the first night so we went back the next day.  I ended up with a little stash of cookies!

On the same platz (square) we found a group of street performers so we stopped to watch their show.  These guys were pretty amazing...take a look below.  Yeah, that guy was spinning on his head!  

We found this interesting memorial named The Gates of Violence, just a block over from St Stephen's and on the Albertinaplatz, which is in rememberance of all victims of wars and violence.  It was a very interesting piece of art with images on all sides. 

The Albertinaplatz is just a small portion of the Hofburg Palace and this portion is now a museum.  I liked this statue of the gentleman on the horse mostly because I like the oxidation.  I really, really like the way a green dome looks against a blue (or in this case cloudy) sky.  The contrast is usually very stunning and I find myself wanting to take tons of photos. 

By this time it was pretty late so we stopped for dinner and then headed back to the hotel.  My first impression of Vienna was pretty amazing.  Honestly, if given a little more time there, it just might replace Prague as my favorite city!  I loved being there. 

The next day we continued our walking tour and I will share those photos tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna

Back in early April we planned a list minute trip to Vienna, Austria.  While we were there we learned that there as an Easter Market at Schönbrunn Palace.  It is always fun to see how other countries celebrate holidays so we stopped at the palace to have a look around and it was just a few subway stops away from our hotel.

The palace was beautiful and we were able to wander around the grounds as we wanted.  There were a lot of joggers/runners here but the dirt paths were very wide and could easily accommodate everyone.  The Easter Market was in the front of the grounds and had ton of food booths that smelled so yummy.  JG was interviewed by a local reporter and the girls did not want to have their photo taken.


The back of the palace opened up onto some gardens, a fountain and rows of perfectly aligned trees.  The palace was a summer home of the Habsburgs and they certainly lived extravagantly.

If we would have had a bit more time we would have visited the Imperial Zoo, Europe's oldest, which is right on the palace grounds and possibly joined a tour of the interior of the palace as well.  One could spend a good chunk of their day here but we were only in Vienna for 2 days so we had to hurry on our way but we certainly enjoyed our time at Schönbrunn Palace and the amazing grounds.