Gruss Gott!

I realize I'm a little out of order with my blogs but I had a crazy 4 days between Vienna and Paris.  Give me a break (hint hint JOSH!) Haha anyways, here is a blog on my time in Vienna. 

On Thursday September 23rd, Jake and I flew to Vienna for the weekend.  Davnah was kind enough to lend us her flat along with maps galore and a list of places to see.  Josh also filled me in on the lingo and gave me more information about the places we'd be visiting.  We had some difficulties with the language barrier but began to feel more comfortable as the weekend went on.  On Friday we did a lot of unintentional aimless walking but ultimately saw so much of the city that way.  Our first stop was Belvedere Palace which was only a few blocks from the flat.  As soon as my lease is up in Syracuse senior year, I'm moving in here.  Plenty of room for family visits!

Since I'm still 19, the ticket to enter the palace and see the exhibit was free.  Inside, we saw a lot of Austrian artists including Gustav Klimpt who I had never heard of before.  He is most famous for his painting The Kiss which I bought a coffee mug of.  As you can imagine, the interior was just as beautiful as the exterior. 

This is a view of the garden and in the background the city of Vienna.  We sat on the steps for a few minutes before continuing on just so we could enjoy the view.  Our next plan was to head into the city and check out some of the sights.  Of course we tried to use the map but when you don't speak German, all the street names look alike.  Anyways, we ran across this WWII memorial which was also quite lovely. 

 After wandering for a bit we decided to grab a quick lunch and people watch.  I had a cheese filled bratwurst and roll.  Very delicious and filling.  It was just what I needed to help me keep trekking.  

Here is the Vienna State Opera house or Wiener Staatsoper.  It was just another interesting site we came across unintentionally. 

The church below is Stephansdom.  I particularly liked the roof which shown closer consists of a multicolored tile pattern.  It is in Stephansplatz which literally means Stephans Place.  This was a very popular area and attracted lots of tourists.  With this came souvenir shops, and street entertainers.  On this particular day we got to see 5 younger men break dancing which was a fun addition to the stop.  

  

Our next stop was Karlskirche, a Roman Catholic Church.  We only toured the exterior since we had to pay to get in.  After googling Karlskirche I saw pictures of the interior so I guess we missed out on seeing that... maybe next time.  Several architectural features of the church have been borrowed from Roman baroque churches (the domes) and Greek temples (the main portico entrance).  The palm trees and body of water were also an interesting touch. 

 

Our last stop of the day was Naschmarkt.  It's a large outdoor market that spans about a mile and even longer on Saturdays for a flea market.  A lot of the stands seemed to be similar and sold products such as dried fruit, olives (which Grandpa would have loved), meat, fish, fresh fruits and vegetables and nuts.  We had dinner at a Chinese place in the market because we were a little nervous about going to a German place.  Sorry to disappoint.