Vienna, Austria

Oh my goodness...summer is already slipping away. I can't believe it has been so long since my last post - I'm sorry! You see, this summer I have what people call...a full time job! 40 hours a week. 8-5. 6am alarm. That type of thing. So I have been quite busy and tired, but I can assure you this blog post will be great because it is about Vienna. My favorite European city [next to Dublin, of course]. 


Oh, Vienna. Where to begin? This was the first city I traveled to solo. For three and a half days. To be honest, I was pretty nervous. I knew I could do it, but who wouldn't have a few butterflies? It turned out to be absolutely amazing. The weather was great [most of the time], I got to do what I wanted, when I wanted, and the architecture was unbelievable. 


The first day I walked around to get an idea of the neighborhood I was in and where the city center was from me. I also ate a great little mexican restaurant where the waitress advised me to sit up at the bar so I could talk with her and the other waitress and wouldn't be so alone...how nice :). The next day I went on a walking tour of the city and then took the metro to a palace! 

 chapel in the middle of the the Naschmarkt (most popular market in Vienna, right across from my hostel)

 museum

 art school Hitler attended and i believe was kicked out of for being an awful artist

 the opera! i didn't attend, but if you ever do...go to the ticket box on the side about an hour before, you can get the left-overs for super cheap :] 

 huge cathedral, unfortunately under reconstruction 

 inside

 the PALACE

 doesn't it look fake?

 i didn't go inside the palace since i had just been to the one in Madrid, i figured they would be very similar. i decided to walk around the palace grounds instead [it was HUGE, i probably didn't see 3/4 of it and i walked around for an hour]. anyway... it started raining a bit, so i opted to use my scarf for a hood :) 

 it looks like the giving tree :]

 at the top of the hill directly across from the palace... i'm unsure of its purpose

 the view

 i did the whole, ask a couple if they'd like me to take their picture so they'd take mine, thing. 

 and then i did a labyrinth, because what else was i going to do 

 stones that give you harmony when rubbed..

the goal of the labyrinth was to find the stairs to the look out tower in the center. it actually took me about 15 minutes, kind of cool! 

The next couple days I walked around Vienna a lot and discovered my tour guide on day one left out a lot of important and beautiful areas. I was so happy I found them! I also went to a few museums in which I discovered are actually very enjoyable alone. I could take all the time I wanted to look at the art...I spent an entire hour in one [maybe slightly laughable but that was a big step for me!]. Enjoy the rest of the photos!

 my favorite building... the National Library. i usually don't regret, but i sure wish i would have actually gone inside

 little church in the middle of the city

 beautiful quartet on my walk home

museum time! 

 the belvedere museum

 fountain shot from the middle of a huge metal sculpture 

 cathedral 

 i went to a butterfly house! it was closed the day i came across it but i went back the next. best five euro i've ever spent! beautiful butterflies freely flying all around you. can you say happy place? 

 action shot: two blue ones in the bottom right corner

 setting the scene: on a walk i heard music and saw tents through this gate

 when i walked in, this gorgeous museum was on my right...

 ...and this festival was on my left! a stage, food and drink tents, people of all ages everywhere enjoying the music and weather. how great to come across a little community of families, friends, and couples in the middle of this big city. i definitely stood and enjoyed this for quite some time :] 

 i love this one 

And that concludes Vienna! I am missing Europe like crazy. I couldn't even tell you exactly what I miss...just everything. It still feels like those four months were a dream. 

Paris is next and that will finally conclude my long, very drawn out blog posts of my Europe trip. I promise to try and do my final post in a much more timely manner. And then I will be able to give an update on summertime and life :]. Until then, it is about my bed time now that I am practically a grown up. Good night and happy summer!