Vienna

Site seeing really wears the Americans out

One of the most beautiful cities in Europe. I was really in awe of its beauty and history. Happy Hostel was our home for the two days we were there. It was a really nice hostel with a private bathroom, little kitchen, and a TV! Although we never turned it on. Our hostel was quite far from the main square so it was a long jaunt to get there. We walked down a long street full of shopping stores to get to the main square. In the main square we saw the winter palace of the Hapsburg monarchs. The architecture of the palace was nice to see but we never did go inside to tour the rooms. We did get to see the summer palace the next day.

Schönbrunn Palace

 Schönbrunn Palace (the summer palace) was once on the outside edge of town but now the city has grown up around it. It was a really rainy and cold day so that put a damper on the beauty of the palace. However, the inside took my breath away. Every room was lavishly decorated. Maria Theresa had many of the rooms redone in her taste. We saw where the family lived and ate and got a look into their daily life. Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I had fifteen children. Marie Antoinette was the youngest of their children. I liked being in the home of such important historical figures.

Inge and I. It's not just the places you see that make traveling such an experience, it's the people too.

Later that day, I went to the Albertina, a modern art museum. There I got to see my first Monet and Picasso. It was lovely. There was so much to see there and afterwards I was exhausted. Later that night we went to a small pub down the street from our hostel. It was there that we met Inge. She was the owner of the pub. Inge is Austrian and her husband, Gary, is from San Francisco. Gary was in the U.S. visiting his family so it was just Inge. She told us about how she met Gary and even though they couldn't communicate very well they fell in love. Gary moved to Vienna and they have been married for almost twenty years. She touched all of our hearts. The next morning we left for Venice.