Vienna Sightseeing, Part 2

Sunday morning we woke up a bit sore from all the walking the day before, but we were still excited for day two of four in Vienna!  We took the train to the Prater station to meet Gerhart for a morning walk around the park, but of course we stopped for delicious pastries and coffee first.

I love German/Austrian breakfast :)

The Prater park also brought back some memories of the time my grandmother took me to ride anything I wanted! It was a ten-year-old's dream (mine at least) and I still remember that day.  This Sunday in the Prater park was a bit chilly, and almost everything was closed, but we still had a nice relaxing stroll around the park as Gerhart told us stories about his memories there.

The famous Prater ferris wheel.

Boyfriend being a clown in the Prater park :)

The amusement park is free to walk around and you can pay per ride with very pricey tickets.  The amusement park also backs up to a city park, also called the Prater, which continues for about 4.5 kilometers along the Danube River.  Despite the freezing cold weather there were runners galore enjoying the park.  We managed to have a little fun ourselves inside a rope maze in the park.

Me in the Prater Park.

We walked along the edge of the city park back past the train station and a few blocks further to Gerhart and Traude's apartment for a wonderful warm lunch.  After our rest and meal all four of us took the train out to the Schönbrunn Palace, which is just a few kilometers outside the old city.  We spent at least an hour wandering the property and enjoying the beautiful scenery.  Once again we were told that the gardens are filled with beautiful flowers in the springtime; I guess we'll just have to come back.

Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna

We returned to the city via train and said goodbye to our wonderful tour guides, Traude and Gerhart.  We were on our own for the next day and a half in Vienna and only had a few 'must sees' left to fit in our schedule.  That night we had tickets for the State Opera House, so we first went back to the hotel to change for the evening.  Right next door to the operahouse is the Sacher Hotel, famous for its Sachertorte, a rich (and expensive) chocolate cake that my grandmother used to send to us for Christmas.  We arrived in the area early enough to enjoy a delicious slice of Sachertorte and coffee before heading to the Staatsoper for the ballet, La Sylphide. 

The Sachertorte. Yum!

Inside the Staatsoper.

Luckily the ballet was in a universal language, dance, so I could understand it perfectly.  Not sure boyfriend speaks dance, but nevertheless, he enjoyed it also.  It was a wonderful evening out with the best company I could have asked for.  

I have to add this picture of the bathroom in the train station 

underneath the operahouse that we visited on Saturday :) 

Luckily the real operahouse music and ambiance was better!

We weren't quite ready to call it a night after the ballet, so we opted for a stroll around the pedestrian area to enjoy the fresh air.  Eventually we found ourselves just a couple tram stops away from our hotel, so we decided to head home.  But, first we grabbed a couple sausages to eat along the way.  We were both so hungry and I love trying the different street food in new cities.  This sausage stand even makes a sausage-shaped hole in the bread, fills it with mustard (or other condiments to your liking) and fits the sausage right in.  Delicious and innovative; gotta love it!

Late night street food.

The next morning was our last day in Vienna so we packed up our bags, checked out of the hotel and left our backpacks in storage for the day.  There were only a few things left on our to-do list, and the first one was a certainly on my list, not necessarily on boyfriend's: Ice skating in front of the city hall!  We walked past it on Saturday and my eyes widened like a little kid. I wanted to go so badly! I know boyfriend loves me because he agreed to go back with me :) The best part about it is that it isn't just a rink, but also ice paths through the park!

See all the ice paths? How cool is that?

After it took us a while to get the tickets and ice skates, we were ready to hit the ice!  I was so excited; in fact, I'm still excited while writing this almost a month later!  It was beyond fun to just be a kid for a couple hours.  Here are a few shots of our adventure on ice:

Me and boyfriend in front of the city hall.

Boyfriend zooming past me.

We were exhausted from ice skating, and a bit chilly, so we rested in a restaurant next to the park and shared a delicious dampfnudel.  It is a yeast dumpling filled with plum jam and topped with vanilla poppy creme sauce. Yum.  It was just what we needed to refuel for our last few hours in Vienna.

The dampfnudel.

 The only thing left to see was the Stephansplatz cathedral in the middle of the old city.  We visited a couple nights ago, but it was too dark to take a decent picture and the inside was blocked off because of an event going on the next day.  It was fun to go back, especially since this was the one other part of Vienna that I remember from my childhood.

The Stephansplatz Cathedral, Vienna

We stopped for a coffee to warm up and process our incredible weekend.  Then we stopped just once more for street food; this time it was a schnitzel burger.  I swear I found the secret of Chick-fil-a.  I've never tasted anything so close to my beloved chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-a, but this came very close, and it was just food from a street vendor.  I'm telling you, if you don't taste the street food in a new city then you're missing out on something delicious!

The chicken schnitzel sandwich.

Alas it was time to head towards the airport.  It was sad to leave this new city, but also wonderful to know we fit everything in on our list of things to do.  We had such a wonderful time in Vienna.  After collecting our luggage from hotel storage and taking the reverse series of trains from three days before, we arrived at the airport just as the sun was setting.

Sunset at the Vienna airport.

What a wonderful trip! Sorry it took me so long to tell the stories, but I wanted to make sure I didn't leave out anything (plus school has been busy!).  I hope you enjoyed the tales!