Vienna

     The next phase of our trip was traveling to Vienna for three days.  Using Prague as a home base to fly in and out of, we took the train to Vienna.  None of us have been to Austria, so we felt like that would be a great addition to our itinerary.

Prague (Praha) Airport

My happy little train travelers

  Tommy has done a great job of putting together the many travel details of this trip.  The hotel that we stayed at was not in the city center, but was right in the metro/subway line, so it was very easy to get anywhere that we wanted to go.

Cathedral - Vienna

    Knowing that our time was limited, we opted to see the Stephansdom Cathedral and the downtown area on the first day.  Stephansdom is one of the city's most prominent landmarks.  This Gothic cathedral has a foundation that dates to 1147, but the earliest surviving features of the exterior date to the 13th century.  The building suffered significant damage during the bombings of World War II but has been successfully repaired.

Mozart statue at night

This is one of those cities with horse drawn carriages everywhere

Must sample a few desserts when in Vienna.  It's the rule! 

   On Wednesday morning, we visited the Hofburg Palace which is Vienna's former Imperial Palace.  It once housed the emperors and today contains an elaborate collection of various kinds of artistic treasures.  This was the home of Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife, Empress Elizabeth.  They devoted an entire section to her, "Sisi", which we found strange, as she was not a very appealing character in the nation's history.

Here is Josh listening to every detail on the audio guide

  In the afternoon, we visited the Kunshistorisches Museum.  This contains the royal collection of art as well as other treasures collected or gifted to them through the years.  Many of the pieces are from the "old masters", making this collection one of the most important in the world.  The boys are enjoying seeing treasures from ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome.  

 One of the strange street performers

Viennese coffee, sausage and Hungarian goulash for lunch

   
  On our final morning, we visited Schonbrunn Palace, which was the summer residence of the Habsburg family.  We were able to tour the inside and go through rooms such as the Napoleon Room, which is where he stayed when he occupied Vienna from 1805-1809, and the Millions Room which derives its name from the rosewood panelling on the walls that reportedly cost one million Gulden (former Austrian gold coins).  We took time to walk through the royal gardens behind the palace.

Our Metro Stop

Pretty little canal outside of our hotel

You never know who might show up on the train!  Look at this guy's traveling companion.

Most of the time, he was in his shirt pocket, but sometimes he found his way out.

     These are a few of the things that we saw, but I must say that we also had some fantastic Viennese food, including desserts.  What a wonderful and memorable excursion for our family!