Weekend in Vienna

Last Friday we headed to Vienna for the weekend. We left early Friday morning with every intention of boarding a ferry bound for Bratislava at 9:30 am. About 20 minutes into the drive I realized that I had forgotten our passports. Not only that, but once we went back home, we couldn't find Ron's passport! Arg!! So the Bratislava day trip was scrapped (non-refundable, very expensive ferry tickets scrapped) and the morning was spent inside the American Consulate in Vienna applying for a new passport. Great. 

The weekend did turn around very quickly after that. The Consulate is located right in the downtown area of Vienna and from there we spent some time at the Stadtpark, a very beautiful and large park in the middle of the city. There Ash met a Brazilian boy his age that could speak English and they were fast friends. 

In the park 

After that we had lunch and drove to the Schönbrunn Palace. This was considered the summer home of the regents. It was gorgeous, just breathtaking. We walked around the grounds and gardens outside, took a tour inside (learning about the history of the monarchy was so cool) and checked out the adjoining children's museum that was part of the actual palace. 

We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside, but here is the front of the palace. 

The back of the palace

The gardens, fountain, and the gloriette behind the palace. 

At the beginning of the childrens museum there was a renaissance dress up area, we had some fun. :)

After the palace we checked into our quaint, odoriferous, non air conditioned hotel room and quickly went back outside to find some dinner. A couple of blocks away we discovered a neighborhood playground and next to it what people here call a market. It's basically a pedestrian center shaped like square with restaurants filling the perimeter and the inside of the school packed with open air cafe tables and benches. It was really fun!

Ash and Cosette at the park

We were all in bed by 9:30 that evening though. It had been a very long day!