We just returned from a 3 day trip to Vienna. Thursday was a national holiday in Hungary -- commemoration of a revolution attempt in 1848. I guess it was either ironic or appropriate that we chose to go to Austria for this 4 day weekend, since the Hungarians were attempting a revolution against Austria.
Since living in Europe, we had wanted to go to Vienna. We never made it there when we lived in Germany, so we are happy that Vienna is just a 2 1/2 hour drive from Budapest.
In planning for the trip we found out that a couple of the tours and things we wanted to do were not yet open or available -- this being a bit early in the tourist season, which doesn't really get started until April. We were surprised to see all of the tourists there -- all of the places we went were quite crowded. It helped that the weather was great -- sunny and about 70 F / 21 C every day.
We stayed at a hotel right in the center of the city, within walking distances of all the sites (except Schönbrunn Palace).
Nash and Grant at the Kapuziner Kirche with the Kaiser Gruft -- containing the tombs of many of the Hapsburg family.
In front of the Hotel Sacher -- not one of our favorite cakes, but not bad, either.
While waiting for the tour of the Vienna State Opera house to start, Nash entertained himself (and us) with the costume.
The interior of the Opera House is impressive, as Nash's expression is trying to convey.
We liked the backstage part of the tour the best, where we got to see them working on changing over the sets for the performance that night --Madame Butterfly.
We thought about getting tickets to see the show that night, but we were all quite exhausted that day. We'll save that for our next trip.
And the exterior of the Opera House.
Where there are tourists, there are street performers. Some better than others. This guy was entertaining enough to warrant emptying our pockets of some small change.
In Vienna you cannot avoid going into the Stephansdom.
The kids and I slugged it up the 343 steps to the top of the main tower.
And back down below, after having made it to the top.
We had heard about this restauran in Vienna, called Figlmüller, where they serve a schnitzel that is bigger than the plate.
We thought it was funny that there was an article from the Salt Lake Tribune about the restaurant, right at our booth.
Yes, its bigger than the plate. And nobody should eat a schnitzel that big, even if it is only ~1/4 of an inch think.
The next day we headed to the Hofburg -- imperial palace of the Hapsburgs.
We toured the treasury, but we were most impressed with this unicorn horn (really a narwahl horn). I'm not sure how they swim around in the ocean with one of those things on their heads.
This is the home of the Vienna boys' choir, if I'm not mistaken.
We also went to see the Morning Exercises for the Spanish Riding School -- the Lipizzaner horses. Pretty melow affair -- horses trotting around this arena doing fancy footwork to classical music.
In the afternoon a few of us went to the museum collection called the Neue Burg, with a collection of archaeological artifacts from Ephesus, armor, and old musical instruments.
The interior of the building is amazing.
One of our favorite armor suits -- not sure if this is the world's first armored skirt, but that's what it looks like.
And this gives new meaning to the term "upright" piano.
Grant liked this double neck guitar -- looks more like a guitar / ukulele combo to me.
We also found good pastries, of course.
Heidi snapped a photo of this couple / family / whatever with a stroller.....for their dog.
We also spent an hour or so at the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
They have works from a lot of Flemish and Dutch painters, which I like.
Mallory had learned about this painting at school from one of her Dutch friends -- "the painting with a mistake" as she called it (an extra foot).
And Mallory learned to catch a frisbee.
On Saturday morning we drove out to Schönbrunn Palace.
After buying our tickets, we tried to decide between the audioguide tour or the guided tour, and at the last minute opted for the guided tour. We were glad we did because it was really crowded there (not as crowded as it gets in summer, so we hear), and the tour guide made it interesting. It was helpful to learn more about the Austrian-Hungarian empire and about the Hapsburgs, so we understand more of the history of Hungary.
On the back side of Schönbrunn -- the gardens.
And then the Schönbrunn Zoo, which is also on the grounds. The Rhino (above) and the monkeys (below) were the most active of the animals in the animal jail zoo. Oh, and the bats -- you could go in an indoor cave, for lack of a better term, and the bats just flew all around you, even brushing by your head or arms. Heidi didn't last more than 5 seconds in there, but the boys and I like it.
And our last stops were the Palm House (above) and the Desert House (below).
