I am back from Vienna and actually have some homework to do for my classes-- man, it's been forever since I've done any real school work.... more on classes later. Vienna was (guess what I'm going to say....) yep, BEAUTIFUL! It was as pretty as Paris, just more relaxed and not as crowded. As with all of my trips so far, the weather was perfect-- sunny and about 7odegrees. It took us 10hrs. by train to get there and 13 to get back (thanks to a delayed train that made us miss the rest of our connections). I am really becoming a pro at riding German trains!
This was the view from our hostel window.
Vienna is known for its coffee houses, and most specifically, for the Melange (milk coffee) and Sachre Torte (chocolate cake with thin Apricot glaze in the middle). MMMM!!!!
This is probably the most famous coffee house in Vienna (which is saying a lot). It looks super fancy, although people just come in jeans and sit for hours drinking a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper. Notice in this picture the DOG ON THE FANCY BENCH! Yes, it is completely allowed (and completely) common to find dogs everywhere, including in restaurants.
And now for my favorite part of Vienna-- the Vienna State Opera!! Amelia and I got to see Mozart's Die Zauberfloete (The Magic Flute) for 3.50 Euros. Yes, 3.50 and the people sitting directly in front of us paid over 200 Euro for their seats. Okay, granted we had to wait in line for 3 hours before the show to get standing room tickets, and then we had to stand for the performance, but we had a rail to lean on and LITERALLY had the best standing room tickets in the whole opera. This is a picture I took at the end of the performance without any zoom-- we were that close to the stage!
A view from our standing room spots inside the Opera House.
A view of the very short distance between us and the stage (and of the very nicely dressed people who sat in very expensive seats).
Amelia and me looking pretty on the stairs at the Opera. I'd never been to an opera before, but I think we saw an especially great one! It was hilarious and had a happy ending and I think I smiled for three hours straight. They also had little LCD screens in front of each of our places that showed the text of the opera so we could follow along.
Vienna by day.
Vienna was the center of the Habsburg Monarchy and thus is full of----crap, I can only think of the German word for what I want to say.....okay....I actually had to look up the English translation of the word----traces of the royal family. In this picture you see the coffin of the Maria Theresa and her husband. Apparently they were so in love they were 'buried' together in a coffin that's supposed to resemble a big bed. We saw this in the slightly creepy but really cool Kaisergruft (Imperial Burial Vault), which is where are all of the Habsburg family is laid to rest when they die. The last person to be buried there actually died last year, and there's still room for about 5 more people.
We also saw the historic Spanish Riding School's Lippizaner horses (which still operates in the tradition of the Habsburg family), and gives their horses 3 months of vacation per year in the fresh air in the hills of Austria. They were so pretty! Unfortunately we didn't get to see them perform, we just got a tour of the stables. We also saw the "silver chamber" of the monarchy (ie. all of their silver and china and porcelain--- actually a lot more interesting than it sounds), their "treasure chamber" (ie. their coronation crowns, religious items, royal dress, jewelry etc), and a museum dedicated to the extremely intriguing and sad life story of the Queen/Empress "Sissi."
We also climbed to the top of one of the spires of the St. Stephan's Cathedral. 300+ stairs helped us feel less guilty about the amazing gelatto we ate earlier. This is a picture from the top.
Hmmmm, this is something big. And pretty. And important. Oh yeah, it's part of the HUGE palace called Hofburg that is located directly in the middle of the city. The Habsburgs ruled from here for over 700 years, and today it houses a bunch of museums, the office of the Austrian President and some offices of Congress. It's interesting that the museums the government offices are, and how little security the office have (especially in comparison to DC)!
So there's a little flavor of my trip!
Europe is beautiful, but nowhere is as pretty as the place that houses the people I love. I miss you guys!
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