Vienna-1

I don't think blogger likes me to load a ton of pictures so, I am breaking the posts down to make it happy :)

We did it! We finally got our trip to Europe in!

Vienna may go down in our books as one of our most favorite cities ever. That is even with a chilly drizzle. It is lovely with beautiful buildings, parks tucked here and there, lots of fascinating history and culture, and even though it is a large city it does not give that impression once in it. Our method of traveling has two objectives: see old stuff and eat food. This is mostly accomplished by allowing ourselves to walk to anything that looks interesting and safe. For the record, Vienna never felt unsafe even when we were out walking after the sunset. Most of our walking kept us in the inner ring of town. If we saw something, we walked over and looked at it or in it. We decided early on while planning that we wouldn't go to see things just because they were there. For example, if we ever find ourselves in Cooperstown, NY we probably won't go see the baseball hall of fame because neither of us have interest in it. One can drive themselves crazy trying to see everything a place has to offer. We enjoy of lovely blend of seeing major sites while simply enjoying our surroundings.

Waiting for the S-Bahn, crusty from long airplane trips
ps. Austrian airline has free alcohol. wine with dinner!

After dropping our bags off at the hotel, we immediately, although exhausted, took off to see things. We wandered a bit and discovered we were only a few blocks from St. Stephen's Cathedral. Hands down, my favorite of the probably dozen churches and cathedrals we wandered into. 

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It is quite the popular thing to see and it was easy to see why. I wanted to be able to see it minus all the other people, to really take it in. The size and the particular beauty was mesmerizing. But of course, it's hard to get an epic place like that to yourself. So we wandered on and found out that nearly every old church in Vienna was incredibly beautiful, old, and generally free to visit.

amazing artwork everywhere

Augustinian Church, location of some private ceremonies
for the Hapsburgs

Karlskirche, which we didn't go inside because after a handful
of free churches 9 euros seemed a bit steep.

happy hungry davis getting fed

We went to the Naschmarkt to check out the local foods. We found some inexpensive meats and bread, just what I expected. Perfect for the moment.

After fueling up, we continued to wander and found protestors marching around the art museum to the government buildings. It was pretty exciting. So we watched it.

police running to the gathering protestors

While in Vienna, there was a Vienna city festival. So there was a lot of random events going on all around town. I mostly was annoyed at all the tents set up in front of beautiful old buildings. Also, much of Europe was in election season. We were able to experience the very bland political ads contrasting to the passion of protestors.

Davis in front of the Queen Bee herself, Maria Theresa

and old roman road in the heart of the city

Davis' mind was blown by the roman road. I think we'll have to go to Italy next. After romping all over town, we took some naps in the hotel. Staying up all night and walking around all day made us exhausted. We would stop and sit in a church to read about it and almost fall asleep. After napping, we went out for dinner. After dinner, we went straight back to bed and slept until eight the next morning.


Also, I realized so much of Europe was  changed by WWII. Much of history was damaged or destroyed. War is a terrible thing that destroys so much. I am glad many of these beautiful places were restored after damage or destruction.

So, another time day two and so on!