Weekend getaway

Just got back from a quick weekend trip to Vienna about 2 hours ago, and I am exhausted. It was such a fun and busy trip! We left for Vienna on Saturday morning at about 6:30 am, and arrived there at about 11:30 am. Nicole's friend, Claudia, was nice enough to let us stay with her for the weekend at her apartment, which was only a few blocks away from the city center. It was perfect!
We spent all Saturday sightseeing, using our handy Rick Steves' travel book. Although it was extremely windy (I was almost blown over a few times), it was the perfect day for being out-and-about all day, with a temp of about 50 and lots of sunshine! We started off walking towards the city center, making a stop at the Belvedere Palace to snap a few pics. From there, we went to the Opera house and into Kärntner Strasse, which is basically a big shopping square- a very busy area that definitely gave off the "big city" vibe. Right at the end of Kärntner Strasse is Stephenplatz, where St. Stephen's Cathedral is located. It's impossible to miss this massive cathedral...

It definitely stands out, right?

Discovering that it was free entry (a very rare thing to find here), we went in only to be put in more awe of this church. You walk in and immediately look down the nave, said to be more than a football field long and nine stories tall. It's lined with pillars covered in statues and decorated with paintings all over. I was blown away by how ornate the structure of this cathedral is.
After the cathedral, we went down Graben, another big shopping area in the city. Fun fact: Graben means ditch, which this street used to be- it was originally a moat for the Roman military camp back in the day! Around the corner is Hofburg Palace, where the Habsburg emperors lived most of the year. And that's where our tour ended on Saturday. After seeing all the tourist sights, we went out to dinner and a party with Claudia and some of her friends who live in the city. It was tons of fun, but I definitely wore myself out after such a long day!
After sleeping in a little bit this morning, we saw our last sight of the city at Schönbrunn Palace, the former summer residence of the Habsburgs. Not only is the palace itself massive, but it is on an immense amount of land! The gardens were very impressive, and I can't imagine how beautiful they must be when everything is in bloom during the spring and summer. I might have to make another visit just to see that again later on in the year...

View of the gardens from the back of the palace.

Fun fact: Schönbrunn's park has been open to the public since 1779, while the monarchy was still going strong- pretty cool of Maria Theresa to allow that! At the top of the hill at the end of the gardens is the Gloriette, supposedly a monument to the idea of "just war." The most amazing part about the Gloriette, though, is the view overlooking the palace grounds from its balcony.

Ahhhhhmazing.

Okay, I think I've said enough about Vienna for the night. I just realized that it's 1 am here, so it's definitely time for bed. But, if you're interested in seeing some more photos from this trip, go here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50374522@N02/
The album is on the right side of the page, along with my Prague album I started.