Our Ever After...: Vienna

I adored Vienna. We spent the most time here and leisurely enjoyed the city of the Hapsburgs. It was full of history of Kings and Queens, music, and art. It was lovely.

We were hungry when we arrived, so we headed to Rathausplatz (City Hall) where they have a food circus.

I tried lemonade and beer - very good!

St. Stephen's Cathedral

In front of the Hofsburg Palace. The first day in Vienna we toured the Imperial Apartments and the Sisi Museum. We got to see many treasures of the Hapsburg family. Plus the Sisi Museum gave us a glimpse into Empress Elisabeth (Sisi)'s tragic life - they compare her to Princess Diana.

Our first night in Vienna we went back to Rathausplatz for the Open-Air Classical Music Cinema and food circus. Every night in front of City Hall thousands of people come to eat and watch the films (usually operas and classical music). This night they were showing the ballet "Midsummer Night's Dream". It was so amazing - even Stephen enjoyed it! We adored Rathausplatz and came back as many times as we could.

The next day we went to the Hapsburg Treasury Museum where we saw more treasures of the Hapsburgs - including the crown jewels! We saw crowns, coronation robes, swords ... even a unicorn horn (technically a narwhal tusk). There were also many religious relics - including what is believed to be bits of the cross. Unfortunately, we weren't able to take any pictures in the Treasury.

I had to post a picture of our lunch on this day because it was ordered by accident. I can be somewhat of a picky eater ... not terrible, but there are certain things I do not eat. Well, with the language barrier, this particular lunch spot was a little difficult. I decided to be safe and order the goulash. Not. safe.

I quickly learned that - when ordering goulash - you have to make sure it's "meat" goulash. I ended up with (or should I say Stephen ended up with because I could NOT eat it) mushroom goulash! Yuck, yuck yuck!!!

After lunch we went to this butterfly exhibition.

We traveled by tram and subway everywhere in Vienna. The transportation system is really good there, and there was a tram stop right in front of our little apartment.

There's where we toured the imperial apartments the day before...

We went back to Rathausplatz that night to watch some opera. Behind us is the screen where they show the film.

The food circus before the show.

And, the next day we climbed yet another tower. This time we went to the top of St. Stephen's. Thankfully, there was not an open-air observation deck, so it wasn't as bad.

There was one little hairy spot, but it wasn't too bad.

In front of the Treasury museum.

At the Kunsthistorisches Museum. This was one of my favorites. It had the Hapsburgs' art collection with some very famous works which were exciting to view. I also loved seeing the portraits of all the Hapsburg royalty with Maria Theresia and her daughters (including Maria Antoinette).

Whenever we went to a museum we got these silly little audio guides that made the viewing a lot easier.

After the museum we headed to the Sacher cafe to try the famous Sacher tort. It was ok.

The Sacher tort.

The streets of Vienna were filled with musicians, but this guy was especially fun.

Our second to last day, we went to the Schonbrunn Palace. This was probably my favorite place (aside from Rathausplatz) in all of Vienna. Shonbrunn was the summer residence of the Hapsburgs and it is said to rival Versailles in grandeur. I've never been to Versailles, but I was definitely impressed by this place.

Here is a picture of me with Maria Theresia. I was obsessed with the history surrounding her, and I like to think she is resting her hand on my shoulder here.

We started our Schonbrunn visit with a tour of the fancy royal apartments. Everything was absolutely amazing. After that we headed out to see the grounds.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch in the palace grounds

When we finally headed back into town we decided to go see the dead Hapsburgs. Literally, we went down into the crypt where the family is buried. Their bodies are here, but not their hearts or intestines - those they keep somewhere else!

One of our favorite meals! We ate at the Reinthaler's Beisl where we shared roast chicken and goulash - so good!

Consulting "the book" for some language translation...

Again, we ended the night at Rathausplatz where there was an unbelievable thunder and lightning storm. Lightning literally struck City Hall a couple of times!

Our last day in Vienna we went to see the Belvedere Palace. It was owned by the Prince Eugene of Savoy who the French king deemed to short, fat, and ugly to serve in the French court. The Hapsburgs, however, appreciated the military genius, and he ended up saving Vienna from the Ottoman empire. Needless to say, he made a lot of money and built this beautiful palace which we had the pleasure of viewing. We, again, could not take pictures, but here are a couple of the shots of the beautiful grounds...