Today Jacob informed me I was too short to get anything in the photos behind me.

 

Thanks Jacob.

Also,  I apologize for my abrupt post last night. I was so tired I could barely see straight!

Today, we had a slow start to the morning after an exhausting Monday. We ate breakfast at the apartment and then headed out to catch a train to the Schönbrunn Palace. Holy cow that palace was amazing!

We first just walked around the palace grounds and then purchased tickets to tour the inside. We of course opted for the self-guided audio tour. For only $26 euros, it was totally worth it. When you enter the palace they hand out audio guides that can give you the tour information in multiple languages. (On a side note, Jacob noticed that our Hertz rental car guy spoke to us in English and then immediately took a call in Spanish. Americans, we are so boring!)

We toured 22 rooms of the palace and learned all about Franz Josef and his wife Elisabeth.

Sounds like Austrians really like Franz and maybe not so much Elisabeth. I learned Elisabeth didn’t eat dinner and had hair down to her ankles. She also didn’t agree with the institution of marriage and opposed marrying off her daughters for the political agenda.

I also learned that Maria Theresa who also lived in the palace in the 1700s had 16 children but Maria Christina was her favorite child.

After touring the palace we walked through more of the palace gardens checking out the sculptures, fountains and more.

We grabbed lunch at the palace and sat outside. I decided to share bits of bread from my sandwich with a bird, who caught the stray bit in its mouth! Suddenly, I became very popular and had lots of bird friends who wanted some bread, but I decided I didn’t want to get swarmed and kept the rest of the food to myself.

We headed back to the apartment for a rest break before more activities in the evening.

After we snacked on some chips and gummy bears we were ready to go!

If you’ve ever been on a walk with Jacob you know that when he says the walk is about 2 miles that in reality it is probably 6. That is what happened today… We left our apartment in the Margareta neighborhood and walked to the Belvedere Palace. Another beautiful palace and beautiful gardens. We then got a bit lost and did some wandering which added to our mileage.

However, we figured it out and ended up by the Vienna Opera House. We checked that out and all the other amazing sights including the Albertina, the Austrian National Library, the Hofburg Palace Michealerplatz and St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

There are many examples throughout the city of places where old meets new. It’s pretty

incredible and cities like these make America look boring. I also want to note, that not once, have Jacob or I felt unsafe anywhere we have gone. It’s been pretty great!

After visiting the historical sights we hopped back on the train and headed to Donauinsel which is a subway station on the Danube River. We walked along the river and took in some spectacular views before making our way back to the train station. By this time my tummy was grumbling.

When we got back to our neighborhood we popped into a pizza place and got a salami

lovers pizza. And I also bought myself a little Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.

We are done for the evening. We enjoyed our time in Vienna but now its time to move on. Tomorrow is a four country kind of day. We are going to swing through Bratislava, Slovakia, have lunch in Prague, Czech Republic and then stay the night in Dresden, Germany. Here we go!