Ending our Trip in Vienna

Guys, I feel like we finished our Eastern European road trip ages ago, but it is taking for-ev-er to blog all about it. I've been busy with my parents here, but I've also lost all motivation to blog about anything except baby stuff.  Since our lives involve a little bit more than just waiting for Baby Maximus, I am really trying to not turn this in to a pregnancy blog, but I promise there will be lots of updates, mainly because my mom, aunts and Anna want them, but also because they're just so fun!

Anyways, our last stop on our road trip around Eastern Europe was Vienna.  We did this purposefully because it was the farthest north the Ottomans made it.  Like I said before, we were really hoping to do a big Eastern Europe road trip to mimmick the Ottoman Empire, but the evacuation wouldn't allow for that, so this was our attempt.

We left Bratislava first thing in the morning and arrived in Vienna by mid-morning. This gave us a day and a half in Vienna, which was plenty of time to see the main sights.  There is a ton of stuff to do in Vienna, but a day and a half was more than enough to hit the highlights.

Our first stop was the Schonbrunn Palace.  If you have been/know Versailles, this is the Austrian version. It was built during the reign of Maria Theresa, who was an impressive lady, just like the palace.  Unfortunately, there are no pictures allowed in the palace, but it's definitely worth a tour.  You have to do the audio tour, but it's worth it and has a ton of information.

After the Palace, we wandered around the old city, which is stunning.  You could spend a whole day just taking in the architecture.  Unlike a lot of the other Eastern European cities we've visited, every street and alley seemed to have that charming old feel.  Many other cities, like Budapest, have that charm on their main streets, but looking down an alley or side street gives a view into what old Eastern Europe used to be like.  Not Vienna.  Every turn is stunning.  It's just as pretty and magnificent as it's reputation says it is. 

We did Rick Steve's audioguide, which actually has you getting on the tram and riding the loop around the Old City.  It was a great way to see the sights and learn a little bit about some of the lesser known buildings and monuments of the city.  Definitely recommended! We love our buddy Steve!

 We even found a monument (in a dog park of all places) to the Turks!!  So much of what was described was true.

We hung out in the public gardens, which were beautiful and provided some respite for this pregnant lady who was tired of walking.  Plus, it was a beautiful day, so really, it was just a great place for anyone to hang.

Walking down a random street.  What if every city were this beautiful?

In our retirement home, I'm making sure all of my windows look like this.  :)

And last but not least, we couldn't walk down Annagasse (Anna Street) without getting a picture for my favorite Floridian!

We loved Vienna! We always find that the last stop on our trip gets the shaft because home, our bed and a normalcy are within reach and we're usually pretty tired, which was definitely true this time around, but Vienna did it's best to keep us out and about.  It was the perfect stop for our last couple of days, but I could also see how you could spend a week in the city and surrounding area and manage to stay busy.  Until next time Vienna! You were great!