Vienna!: Die Eltern sind in Wien!! (Teil Zwei)

Guten Tag!

Mom, Dad, and I had tons more adventures after they got back from Budapest! On Wednesday, I had class most of the day, so Mom and Dad went exploring around the city until I was done. After class, we went to a cafe for dinner and sat there for a couple hours...it was such a beautiful place and the food was so delicious! After the cafe, we went to go ride the Riesenrad, which is a giant ferris wheel with an incredible view of Vienna. Unfortunately, when we got to the ferris wheel, it had just closed, so we went back to the hotel to rest up.

dessert at Cafe Landtmann

Dad's Turkish coffee and Turkish delight

On Thursday, I had class for most of the day again. I got to go to Beethoven's House with my Classical Symphony class though, so that was pretty cool. We went to the apartment where he lived in Vienna for the most years. We even saw one of his pianos! After class, I met up with Mom and Dad and we went to the Naschmarkt. Mom and Dad were amazed at all of the food! We walked around, bought a few little things, and had the most FABULOUS falafels and hummus at Dr. Falafel. After the market, Mom and Dad went to an organ concert while I went home because one of my friends from Emory was in Vienna to visit. I went with a couple of friends to an Irish pub and had delicious hot apple cider (not as good as Grandma and Grandpa's, of course!) and it was really nice to see a familiar face from Emory. (All of these pictures are on Mom and Dad's camera!)

On Friday, we got up early and took the train to Salzburg. I met Mom and Dad at the train station and they were waiting with coffee and pastries and sandwiches! It was so nice and yummy :) This time, the train went fairly smoothly (other than there being almost no places to sit), so we got to Salzburg problem-free! We checked into our hotel and then went to explore the city. We ended up in a park in front of a palace that we had no idea what it was, but it was beautiful! There was a huge fountain and gates and hedges and an archway and everything was so green. Once we had our tour on Saturday, we actually found out that we had been in the garden where Maria and the Von Trapp kids sang "Do-Re-Mi" in The Sound of Music! After walking around the gardens, we walked into the old area of the city and did a LOT of shopping. We didn't buy too much, but we saw so many amazing things! Some of the stores had their Christmas things out, and Mom and I had so much fun looking at all of the beautiful decorations. We also saw an old church (that looked remarkably similar to all of the other European churches we've seen, but no less beautiful!), and then we went to a cafe to get some coffee. The cafe ended up being a Buddhist/Indian/hippie-ish cafe, so it was an interesting experience. My hot chocolate spelled "Joy" in the whipped cream!

part of the gardens

more of the gardens

the fountain and gates of the "Do-Re-Mi" song!

one of the Christmas stores...everything was so pretty!

a stand in a market that we found

one of the churches had stones on the ground with strings to the ceiling, but we never figured out why!

my "Joy" hot chocolate!

On Saturday, we got up early to go on the Sound of Music tour around Salzburg (after croissants and coffee, of course). The tour took us to the backyard of the Von Trapp's house, the gazebo, the gates to the entrance of the Von Trapp's house, the church where Maria and the Captain were married, and into the mountains to this beautiful small town. We went into a couple cute little shops and got some coffee and pastries before the bus took us back into Salzburg. When we got back, we went to an old church that was attached to an old brewery. The brewery had a type of cafeteria in it with all different kinds of Austrian food. Dad got some weird bologna and onion dish, but Mom and I got cheese and Liptauer and bread. Dad also tried the beer and said it was really good. After the brewery, we went window shopping again for a little bit. Then we headed back to the hotel and got dressed for our dinner. We went to a Mozart dinner, which is a dinner that supposedly simulates the dinner parties back in the time of Mozart. We had a yummy dinner and dessert while an quartet and two opera singers performed pieces from Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, and, The Magic Flute. The room where we ate was really fancy and pretty and the music was beautiful. One of my favorite parts of the dinner was the Mozart silhouette that was made of cocoa powder next to the cake that was for dessert!

the backyard of the Von Trapp house

dancing at the gazebo!

the church where Maria and the Captain were married

the inside of the church

the city of Salzburg

a small village near Salzburg

we met my friend Ian and did the Do-Re-Mi dance on the steps!

the brewery

the room of the Mozart dinner

the dessert at the Mozart dinner (with the cocoa Mozart silhouette!)

On Sunday, we made a quick stop at Anker and took the train back to Vienna. Once we got back to Vienna, we went to an organ concert at the Votive Church, which is a beautiful old church just outside the center of the city. Then on Monday, we got up and had an amazing breakfast at Anker and then went to the Belvedere Palace. I had seen the outside of the palace before, but the interior was absolutely incredible. There was a huge Klimt exhibit in the palace, including a huge permanent display of "The Kiss." Then after the Belvedere Palace, we did some shopping on the main street, Kärtner Strasse and then went to a couple chocolate shops. Then after shopping, we went to Cafe Sacher and had the original sacher torte! It was so pretty inside and the food was incredible! After shopping, we went to the Opera House again to wait for tickets for Madama Butterfly. Once we got tickets, we went over to the grocery store and got yummy sandwiches and chocolate and cookies and chips and ate dinner in front of the Opera House. Then we went inside, and the opera was absolutely AMAZING!!!! The set was incredible and all of the performers were beyond fabulous. I think we all three really enjoyed it! After the opera, Mom and Dad walked me home and then went back to their hotel room to get ready for their early flight on Tuesday morning. After Mom and Dad left, I had to recover for a couple of days and catch up on sleep and work! More news on what I've been up to since Mom and Dad left later :) Auf Wiedersehen!!!