Road Trip in Central Europe

Even as I am writing this post it seems somewhat surreal.  Husband Jared and I hired a car and set out for Vienna, Austria this morning from Prague.  Nothing but a GPS with only Czech maps, a bottle of water and some music that neither of us could understand and we were off.  The open road awaited.

 Husband Jared driving us to Vienna

The scenery was picturesque.  Rolling hills, quaint villages flanking the road, religious statues marking the entrances to a new village and occasionally a pit stop at a petro station.  Three and a half hours later, including a slight detour trying to find our hotel and we arrived.  Upon checking in we were told our reservation had been cancelled.  As we patiently, or not,  waited to find out if there was vacancy we were called to the check in desk only to be told we were upgraded to a pent house apartment.  Excuse me?  Of course we, meaning I, squealed with glee and as soon as we were outside our room, I posed Vanna style next to the plaque claiming our status.  Mind you, we both know this is not our style but when in Rome, or Vienna in this case!

 Need I say more?

Knowing we had only a short amount of time here we hit the city centre immediately.  There was an art exhibit we had to see, Gustav Klimt's work was being shown at the Leopold Museum.  On our walk to the museum quarter we passed Hofburg square and intricate statues decorating each and every building.  The display at the museum was worth every Euro.  Stories were told of each painting and the relative history to Vienna.  It was captivating.  Outside the museum there were tents with signs reading, "Tour of Italy".  Why yes, thank you.  We popped in for a delicious anitpasti plate and a breather before we hit the streets on our sight seeing expedition.  On our route we passed Parliament, the Burg theatre and the National Library.  Every which way we turned there was another remarkable piece of architecture awaiting.  By the end of the afternoon our necks were aching from constantly looking up to take in the phenomenal surroundings. 

 Entrance into the Museum Quarter

 Standing in front of one of several fountains throughout the city 

There is a much different vibe here than in Prague and we were looking forward to experiencing the nightlife here.  On the agenda, wienerschnitzel and apple streudel.    Yes please.  After some diligent research while we rested up in our Penthouse apartment, enjoying the view, and found a historical cafe to partake in some fine Austrian cuisine.  A family run establishment with weinerschnitzel as large as my face.  Potato salad and baby spinach.  Wow.  I might have been drooling. 

And that my friends concludes our day spent in Vienna and what a day it was.