Vienna

Third city - Vienna, Austria. Vienna is the capital of Austria, the "cradle of classical music," home to the Habsburg dynasty and is considered one of Europe's most livable cities. The city center is sky-scraper free, pedestrian friendly, dotted with quiet parks and gardens.  Many of the buildings reflect 18th and 19th century elegance. Although Austria is no longer the grand empire it once was, the city is the sum of its illustrious past.  There is classical music everywhere, people enjoy nursing a apple strudel pastry and coffee tucked away in a cafe, and it home to some world class museums.

 A friend from Bentley is spending the semester in Vienna so we met up with him after settling down into our beautiful hostel. Christine and I were begining to look to the Rick Steeves book as our bible for the trip -it was our go to for what sights to see, how to get there and how to jam as much into one day as possible! So I'm sure you noticed that I left out how we got from Prague to Vienna. We were able to take a bus! For only 10euro we were able to jump on a bus that offered movies, comfortable seats and free hot drinks from Prague to Vienna. A 7am departure and we were in Vienna by noon! On the bus ride we noticed that there was a recommended self guided walk throughout Vienna. Without knowing it, John took us on this walk and we were able to see some of the major sights.

Since Vienna is the world capital of classical music, so it is no surprise that the Opera is huge in Vienna and the building is absolutely beautiful. We passed the Opera and continued toward the famous Cafe Sacher.  This cafe is home to the world's classiest chocolate cake: the Sacher torte: two layers of cake separated by apricot jam and covered in dark chocolate icing served with whipped cream.  This cake was invented back in 1832 by Franz Sacher - today the cake served at this cafe is said to be dry and overpriced.  Our walk continued to Karntner Strasse, a grand mall like street (traffic free) is a people watching delight and is filled with shoppers, street musicians and tourist.

Opera

Continuing down Karntner Strasse, we came to Neur Market  in the center stands the Four Rivers Fountain symbolizing the rivers that flow into the Danube.  The most impressive structure is Stephansplatz, located at the center of Vienna, the Gothic Church is known for its 450ft south tower, colorful roof and size. When the church was built (cera 1300-1450) it was a giant church built for a small town and placed Vienna on the map.   The view surrounding the church in incredible in the sense that there are buildings featuring centuries of different architectural styles.

Living in Europe (yes living!) means seeing numerous churches especially spending the majority of my time in Italy where churches can be found on every street corner. St. Peters Church in Vienna was so incredibly beautiful and it was built as a thank-you for surviving the 1679 plague.  From there we walked down Kohmarket, Vienna's most elegant and unaffordable shopping area - right of my ally - Tiffany, Cartier, Armani and the Hofburg Palace at the end. 

Hofburg Palace

After walking all around Vienna, John had to get to class and Christine and I decided to head back to the hostel to wait for our friend Kiley to get there. Sticking with our plan to try local food we were recommended to try some Wiener Schnitzel... which is a veal cutlet pounded flat, coated in flour, egg and breadcrumbs fried and served with french fries..