Day 13: Full Day in Vienna

Guten Tag von Wein!

The walk up to Schönbrunn Palace

Today we woke up and prepared to spend our first and only full day in Vienna. A group of us joined Ryan for a wonderful tour of the city led by his great uncle, Helmut. Our first stop was Schönbrunn Palace, the beautiful summer palace of the Hapsburg monarchy. Unbeknownst to those of us on the tour at the time, a second group of Oles ventured through the grounds around the same time we were there, and were rewarded with a breath-taking view of Vienna from atop the hill.

Helmut drove us across the Danube and around Ringstraße, the street where the old wall around the city used to stand. We lunched on Wiener Schnitzel and potatoes, and the waiters and Halmut made fun of Lucas for ordering tap water. We continued to visit several churches, including the first Lutheran church opened after the counter reformation. We walked around the Winter Palace and saw the Spanish Riding School, finishing out tour at the beautiful St. Stephen's Cathedral.

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Our next destination was Kaisergruft, the Hapsburg crypt, where we visited the final resting place of Maria Theresa and her lineage. We then caught the last two open hours of the Albertina and saw magnificent art from Munch, Monet, Picasso, and many others. For dinner we wandered over to a restaurant called Pürstner for more amazing Viennese food. While we considered reprising our lunch and ordering schnitzel, we all chose something new and were very satisfied by our meal.

Another group of us visited the Imperial Treasury. This housed everything from the crowns of former kings and emperors, to Napolean’s son’s baby crib (made from 280-kilograms of silver!), to a collection of robes and mantles worn by the nobility for the past 700 years. It was quite a
sight to see, and it took us a good while to move through all of the rooms and absorb everything. There were plenty of helpful signs that provided  information about the contents of the rooms, so we gained even more significance and awe from the beautiful artifacts.

-Erik, Jacob, and Matthew

City Hall, as seen from the winter palace

Almdudler and anticipation of schnitzel

A lithograph of The Scream at the Albertina

Viennese horses seem to be lighter...

W.A. Mozart's grave

Pürstner's Spätzle with cheese, onions, and bacon