Austria with no kangaroos!

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Author:  Tiffany (Mom)

Brandon planned out the next couple of destinations after Slovenia.  When he suggested Vienna, I thought, hey, why not.... I know nothing about it, but people seem to love it.  (Several Croatians told us, skip Slovenia, but go to Austria).  I immediately (because sometimes words get mixed up in my head) called Austria "Australia", which got a laugh out of Brandon and the kids.  Brandon said that is why he is in charge of booking the plane and train tickets.

The first afternoon we were here Luke wasn't feeling so good.  He fell asleep immediately when we got to the apartment, with his shoes on and everything.  I decided to stay home with Luke while Olivia and Brandon went out to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.  Afterwards we watched "The Sound of Music" as a family.  I loved that movie when I was a kid, but hadn't seen it in a long time.  Olivia loved it and is now signing the songs.  I really hope I did not give away my CD soundtrack that I own. I wished we had spent more time in Austria so we could go visit Salzburg, but it gives us a reason to return one day.  The next morning Luke was feeling better and ready to go.

The first morning in Vienna was rainy.  I decided not to let a little rain stop us, if we needed to, we would stop and purchase some umbrellas.  It rained some, but not enough to purchase said umbrellas. 

Our first stop was St. Stephen's Cathedral.  We turned a corner and it was breathtaking! 

This is the first picture I took of the church right after I turned the corner.  Brandon said this is a terrible picture, but I wanted to show you what I saw.
After consulting with my trusty "Rick Steves' Vienna Salzburg & Tirol" guidebook, we decided we were going to pay to see the main nave church, instead of walking along the free part of the church.  We got a great audioguide with our admission ticket and it was completely worth it!  (Thank you Rick Steves!)  The audioguides are better here in Austria than London.  They describe the "why" in what you are seeing in addition to the "who"and "when".  We were so busy looking at the front of the church, that Livi turned around and said "wow Mom, look at that..."

The beautiful stain-glass window, this picture doesn't do it justice.  See the mass under the window, those are the people who didn't want to pay the 10 euro for the audio guide...
Also, Olivia mentioned that she wants me to make her this window for her room.  She grossly overestimates my abilities.

The church was wonderful and I love all the little details, of the animals running up the pulpit, the details in the stonework, all of it.  It's really unbelievable.  Each church is so beautiful in their own way, I think you can see a hundred churches and still be stunned by the details in each one.

For lunch we found a brewery called 1516, that has pretty good beers.  After having one and some good old fashion goulash (the beer was better), we headed to the National Austria Library.  

Wow, the National Austria Library did not disappoint.   From the moment I walked in, it took my breathe away.  


It was so fascinating, the history of the National Austrian Library, from the first librarian to create a card catalog in the 1700's to what the National Library is today.  The history of Austria is really interesting and I'm enjoying learning about the Habsburg's.  But much to my disappointment, no one has mentioned Arnold Schwarzenegger once.

Olivia and I really enjoyed the very big historical globes they had.
Do you think they would accept a job transfer from the Windsor Regional Library?!?

Afterwards we walked around the inner city of Vienna, stopped at another brewhouse for a beer and looked at amazing fountains and architecture.  There is beauty around every corner in Vienna.  


It was a very nice first day in Vienna.  Today is our last full day and I'm sad to be leaving this beautiful country.  I do wish to return one day and explore more.  




Location: Vienna, Austria

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