Vienna.

AKA Wien. Upon learning the true name of this fascinating city I immediately felt ashamed for all those times I've called someone a wiener when they were being a coward ("stop being such a wiener and do it already!"). I had no idea I was basically insulting an entire European population by doing so! Consider this a formal apology, Wieners...

Aside from this silliness: Vienna is an interesting city. I don't feel like I really understand it yet... like there's all this historical depth to it that I need to read up on before I can truly appreciate it. It's a strange combo of new and old architecture, new and old everything... We've visited a few incredibly beautiful, enormous palaces that are the stuff of fairytales. And towering baroque churches just casually sit in the middle of shopping squares and on the corners of busy streets. The strange combination makes me extra aware of just how old this city is, and just how many generations of people have walked these same streets. Easily seven hundred years of history in this place. Probably more.

I'm staying at a very nice hostel with six other friends. We're right next to Naschmarkt, an outdoor market filled with Austrian men yelling at you to try their food (I'm assuming that's what they're yelling - it's all in german, ya know) and not liking it when you just take pictures of their food instead. I plan on stocking up on spices to bring back to CPH.

So far, we've visited Schönbrunn Palace (below) and Schloss Belvedere (also below). Today, the other girls went to Salzburg (I opted out; 90% chance of rain and a bit too much money for the train to make it worth it for me) and the boys went exploring in neighboring towns. So I was Miss Independent in a brand new city in a brand new country on a relatively new (to me) continent. I planned on going to the aquarium, and to the butterfly emporium, but the rain and the lure of clothing stores threw me off course... So instead I window-shopped and ate at a surprisingly tasteful McDonalds before heading back to the hostel for a nap and some Sound of Music. A for effort? :)

^ Schönbrunn Palace: the centuries-old summer home (?!) of the Habsburgs, the rulers of the Austrian empire. There's a historical museum inside, as well as botanical gardens, a maze, and a zoo on site. Yeesh!

^ Schloss Belvedere, formerly the summer home of an Austrian prince. It's now a wonderful museum housing the art of, among others, Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele and Karl Moll.

^ My most, most favorite painting at the Belvedere was Philharmoniker by Max Oppenheimer. It took him seventeen years to finish. The painting is probably twelve feet wide and seven feet tall, and it was like you could hear the music they were playing. 

 ♡ Maddie