Vienna Eins

The trip from Prague to Vienna was easy. No buses got stopped, no layovers in random cities. Plus the hostel sent me directions on how to get there from the bus stop in Vienna. John and I had a relaxing night, just going down the street to get pizza and then heading to bed early. I still wasn't feeling great but there was a small grocery shop open where I was able to buy some carrots and a banana. The man who helped me was very nice and remembered me the rest of the week!

The next day, John and I awoke to a very overcast Vienna. The weather report said to expect rain, and we weren't sure what to do. We finally decided to go to a museum, and away we went to the Kuntshistoriches Museum, the museum of fine arts. We got to see art from Italy, Spain, Germany. We also saw a Roman and Egyptian exhibit. It was a lot of fun. Afterwards we went looking for an Italian restaurant and a chocolate shop. While we never found the chocolate shop, we did find an Italian place. We looked forever! Apparently Italian is not something they do in Vienna and by the time we sat down, we were both starving. It was an alright place. I just think I will have to go to Italy or home for good Italian food.

The Parliament Building

We passed along the way to the museums

Some random statues along the way...

The Kuntshistoriches Museum

That night we were both just so tired that we came back to the hostel and we watched a movie! The Egyptian exhibit inspired us so we watched The Mummy 2, one of my personal favorites! We had the next day planned and we fell asleep right after the movie was over. 

The Hofburg Palace is the winter palace of the Habsburg family. The Habsburgs ruled for over 600 years in Austria and the surround countries so we were pretty excited to see this palace. We came in from the back, the gardens which was very pretty and we got to see more of the architecture of the palace. 

Best picture ever.

John really wanted to see the treasury and I thought it sounded really fun as well. We went in and got our tickets and walked through the exhibit. It was cool, but not as impressive as the travel books and everyone says it is. To be honest, we were disappointed. We also were going to have to buy separate tickets for the rest of the palace and with the letdown of the treasury, we opted for the cafe for lunch instead of roaming the royal rooms.

This is quite the crown

Once we had some food in us, we thought we'd go explore Stephensplatz, the main square in Vienna. It's similar to Hauptplatz in Graz only bigger and grander. It was really neat to see the different shops and people walking around. We found ourselves some Starbucks as well (give me a break, there's no Starbucks in Graz!) We got lost walking through the different side streets and came upon this small mall-type area. We found a chocolate shop that was filled with truffles, chocolate bars, chocolate covered nuts, just anything you could imagine. And it had two floors. John got some of his souvenirs here and it was one of the best little shops we stumbled upon. We also discovered this beautiful church. I'm almost positive it is an Italian church with services in Italian. I went to one like this in Madrid only it was English speaking. The church was old and similar to St. Stephens or Notre Dame in the way it was laid out. The difference was that it was like an untouched beauty. I was excited because I wanted John to really see a church and this was perfect. It wasn't crowded, it was quiet, and it was magical. One of my favorite churches I've been to. 

Again that night we grabbed some good old McDonalds and headed back to our hostel to watch Lord of the Rings, the extended edition. It was about three hours long! We had fun though and were up and ready to go the next morning. We decided to go see the summer palace, Schönbrunn Palace. It was so worth it. The grounds were prettier than the Hofburg Palace, there was a huge garden and grounds area covered with grass, plants, trees, and flowers. It was simply beautiful. You could tell this is the place the royal family came to relax and get away from the busy city. We took a guided tour through the palace which was great. At the end of the tour we decided to sneak back in and look at the rooms. John was just amazed with the place which made me super happy.

A fountain in the inner courtyard in front of the palace

The "backyard"

We were both pretty hungry after the tour but there wasn't anything around the palace as far as food. We hopped on the metro and went into downtown Vienna, to Stephensplatz to find a place to eat. I had read about one in the travel guide, it was Italian, and we made our way towards there. As John and I rounded the corner, we came to a pizza place with a buffet style/serve yourself restaurant. We decided that would be a good place to go! I got a tray and grabbed some pizza and salad. I put the tray up on the counter and went to get a drink. All of the sudden...CRASH...and my pizza and salad were half on the floor, half on my foot. I was so embarrassed!

A nice man working there cleaned it all up for me and told me to get a new pizza and salad, free of charge. I was shaking and just so mortified that I had done that. As I go up to the counter to pay for everything, I knock my drink over onto my tray!! I honestly am not a messy or clutzy person but today I was! I just about started to cry and they had me go back and get another piece of pizza and salad and a drink! I had cleaned them out of Margaretta pizza so it was spinach for me.

After the pizza incident we headed to St. Stephen's Cathedral. It's the big church to see in Vienna and we wanted to check it out. It was getting close to closing time and John and I wanted to see the catacombs so we hurried over and made it into the last tour of the catacombs. The man didn't ask us for tickets or to pay and then we realized we had just snuck into a tour! In a church! I felt terrible! I remember just praying to God asking him to forgive us for sneaking into a tour and that I honestly didn't mean to do it. Well as it ended up, we payed at the end. But I must say I did not feel bad about paying! I just didn't want to disrespect the church.

The catacombs were awesome! There were huge pits filled with bones from people who had died during the Black Plague. I thought it was awesome and pretty spooky. I would go there again (like when Zach and I go).

It's so black from the pollution

The organ

Sunday night John and I came back and packed and organized our things. He was planning on bringing a suitcase home for me that way I could travel lighter when Zach and I were traveling. We watched another movie that night. We also called Dad since it was Father's Day. He was so surprised and happy we called. I think it was the best Father's Day gift we could have given him. I love you Dad!

The next morning, Monday morning, John and I got up pretty early and checked out of the hostel. We rode the underground to the train station I would leave from. There was a bus that would take John from the train station to the airport and we arrived just as the bus did. I said my goodbyes (and almost cried. But didn't!) and I got myself on a train to get back to Graz. The next week and a half held finals to study for, a room to pack up, spending as much time with my friends here in Graz, and getting ready to see Zach and go home. Talk about a lot of emotions! But I was ready for it.

I had such a wonderful trip with my brother and it's a trip I will treasure forever. I have the best brother in the world who would fly around the world to spend one week with his sister. I love you John!

Liebe,
Sara