So Let's Talk About Vienna, Shall We?

Hello again all! Time for a new blog post and I've decided that it should be just about Vienna since it was a wonderful and packed day of adventures and sights!

We were staying in Bratislava at Radka's apartment there, so we decided that we should take a boat ride to Vienna instead of a train. Besides the fact that I slept for a large amount of it, it was a really beautiful day on the Danube.

As soon as we got into Vienna, we wander around trying to find the metro and proceed to almost get hit multiple times by bicyclists. We later found out that the sidewalks have certain sides for bicyclists and walker, but they tend to change at random points. Though they were nice about it and rang their bells and didn't say rude things, so that was great. 

We decided out first stop was going to be Schönbrunn, since it has a lot to it and that I couldn't wait any longer to see it! While we followed the signs to it, we somehow got lost and ended up walking around in a circle before we ran into a guy from New York that couldn't find it and someone told him it was right in front of us. Sure enough once we got back onto the street, it's right there in plain view!

It was breathtaking to see once we got there; I admit that once we got past the gates I started skipping! It was pretty busy, but not enough to make it uncomfortable walking about. We weren't allowed to take photos inside, but I may have taken a few on my phone.

They let you walk through about 22 rooms inside the palace and they had them filled with portraits and realistic settings. It was amazing to see how things were then and to see how my favorite empress, Elisabeth of Austria, lived there and to hear little facts about her.

After that we had the chance to walk around the gardens also known as the Great Parterre and up to the Gloriette. We stopped and walked around the Sun Fountain before going up the hill. It was a small hike up to it, but once you get there it's absolutely beautiful there and well worth the trek. If you paid for it, you can even climb to the top of the Gloriette and get a wonderful view of Vienna.

It's funny though, because once we got up there we asked two ladies to take our photo up there and we thanked them. But once I turned around, I said how I don't know why many people from California don't travel more, and the ladies said they were from California. After a little bit I found out they were from Ramona!

I wrote down their names, but after a week I can't find it nor remember their names. But my mom knows them and they know us. It's truly remarkable at how things like this can happen someplace thousands of miles from home! 

After walking the gardens a bit and getting lost in the maze there, we decided to go into town. We grabbed lunch (saw a street called Seidl Lane!) and made our way to Stephensplatz, which is the geographical center of Vienna.

The cathedral, Stephansdom, was absolutely breathtaking to see inside and outside. You weren't able to walk past a certain point, but you could see it all.

Since this is a tourist area, there are a lot of shops and one of them is a chocolate shop that sells Mozart- and Sissi-related chocolate. The most famous treat they sell are called Mozartkugeln, or in English Mozart Balls and these things are downright delicious. I asked the girl working there what exactly is around here and she told me quite a bit was near actually. We ended up going to one of the more known places where Mozart lived, we didn't see the museum though because it was full when we got there. After that we wandered down the main shopping street and enjoyed a nice strudel in a bakery. 

We kept walking around and thought we made it to the opera house, but it turned out to not be it. This happened a few times because we honestly didn't have a clue what it looked like. We did see where Antonio Vivaldi stayed at while in Vienna, he's one of my favorite composers so I was thrilled to see it!

We finally did make it to the opera house and they even had Hollywood-type stars out front with composers who had performed there. We didn't really quite know where to go, but we kept walking towards a church in the distance. We ended up seeing a couple museums, Maria Theresa Squareand Parliament House on the way. We wandered into a park and saw a part of Belvedere and then we found Hofburg Palace! We didn't take a tour there because it was late, but we did wander around the grounds. People were meeting with friends, playing soccer, or just hanging out. It's amazing to see how normal it is for people to be around such a historic building.

We then made it to the church and it just so happened to be a film festival going on there. It was amazing there, lots of food and people. I found a list of the movies playing and they were all tapings of operas, concerts, ballets, and plays. 

After that we had to catch our train back to Bratislava. It was a long day with lots of walking, but I would do it all over in a heartbeat. It was also an expensive day, but I've been saving for so long and it was all worth it. 

My next post will be about my weekend in Prague. I leave for Paris on the 17th, and after that post I'll also be doing a food post of all the different stuff I've eaten here! So ciao till then! 

Read about Samantha's first .