WIEN!

That's German for VIENNA and that's where we spent the weekend!!!!! Dad kind of stole our thunder with his comment to the last entry...

Long story short is that we decided the prior weekend that we should leave the Czech Republic ...with one week to plan the trip we madly looked at flight and train options. Vienna is the closest city to us that we were interested in seeing and the train was certainly affordable and available...so Vienna it was! Friday afternoon Jeff came home early, we took the metro to the train station, figured out where our seats were in a flurry of excitement ("excitement" always sounds better than "tension" doesn't it?), and we were off! I even got to practice some Czech with a man who was sitting in our seat. Ella did very well on this 4+ hour journey. (Better than I did, actually, as I was losing a fight with a cold.) The train ride itself was lovely, through the scenic Czech countryside. (Some parts really reminded me of Nova Scotia!)

We arrived in Vienna around 7pm and walked to the hotel we'd booked - Clima City Hotel. Got Ella into bed, Jeff ran out and got us some yummy pizza, and we hit the sack. We soon learned that Ella is no longer so easy going about just sleeping wherever we put her. She eventually ended up in bed with us...and with much more than 1/3 of it for herself. Of course, it was actually two single beds pushed together, as is so common in Europe, which made things all the more interesting!

After a hearty breakfast and lots of cappucino at the hotel we started out to see the sights. Armed with our "Vienna from A to Z" guide book we began our walking tour of this amazing city. Here are some of my first impressions/comparisons to our new hometown (I think Jeff would agree):
1. There are not as many dogs in Vienna as in Prague...by a long shot! (This does have the added benefit of less dog poo on the sidewalk.)
2. There is not as much graffiti in Vienna as in Prague...by a long shot!
3. Vienna feels alot bigger than Prague. (I think the difference is 1.6M to 1.2M.)
4. Prague is overall a more pretty city. Almost every building in Prague has some interesting or aesthetically pleasing aspect to it.
5. However, Vienna is more grandiose! Some of the buildings are simply magnificent! AND ABSOLUTELY HUMONGOUS!!!!! Truly awe-inspiring.
6. We love both cities!

OK...our walking tour of Vienna...it is really hard to choose photos. There was so much beauty and grandeur to capture and at the same time everything was just so darn big that you couldn't really capture it...but I will try...


St. Stephen's Cathedral...the most gothic building I have ever seen. Lies at one end of the pedestrian street, Kartner Strasse. Near the other end is the Sacher Café where we feasted on the world famous Sachertorte.


The Hofburg, former Imperial Palace of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Ella ate lunch in the Burggarten and fed some goldfish in the Volksgarten. She also admired the flowers...



The Greek Revival style Parliament building. (Some people we know punch swans...this guy takes on horses!)

The following three photos are from the Rathaus, or City Hall. Spectacular!


And the circus was in town!



We topped off the day with sushi at Naschmarkt. Yes, that is Ella eating maki with chopsticks. No, we didn't actually feed our baby raw fish.



The following day was spent at Belvedere Palace. It's museum houses some impressive artwork, such as original Klimt paintings. I was thrilled to see "Judith", "The Bride" and "The Kiss".


This day was topped off with Greek/Austrian feast before catching our train back "home" to Prague.

That's Vienna in as much of a nutshell as we can give it to you. We need to go back...there's so much more to see. One thing is for certain, we're reinfected with the travel bug...Prague may no longer be enough for us!

Auf Wiedersen!
Maylia