After Prague, Crystal and I took the train to Vienna! It was waiting for us...(drum hit!) We thought Prague was cold, this picture below was us the whole time we were in Vienna. DYING. It snowed almost every day we were there and when it didn't snow it was slushy and wet and freezing! Anyway, enough complaining, we did have a lot of fun too!
We took the metro over to Schönbrunn Palace, the former summer palace of the Hapsburg monarchs.
It has over 300 years of history, including being the offices for the British during World War 2. We took a tour and got to see the tapestries, paintings and furniture from the Royal families who used to live here, including Marie Antoinette!
After that, we took a tour of the famous Vienna State Opera House! Crystal got pretty dressed up for the occasion!
The Opera House dates back to the mid-19th century and gives over 300 performances per year, with over 50 different productions going on through out the year. This means from week to week they are changing shows, sets and decorations. It's pretty crazy!
Embracing the snow and my frozen feet!
Took a quick day trip to Bratislava, Slovakia! Check those icicles...
We stopped in a cafe to thaw for a second and look what the log in was! "Sputnik Powered." Love it!
We took a tour of the city and went to the Bratislava Castle!
Views from the Castle; the Danube River and the "UFO Bridge."
We headed back to Vienna and went back to the Opera! When we went to try to buy tickets that morning, the ticket man asked us if we were students, of course we are! (We are here on a student Visa!) So he told us to just come back about half an hour before the show starts and get in a specific line for students. They sell the leftover tickets that they usually sell for 108 Euro to students for 18 Euro! What?! Awesome! We thought we would try it and if not we would buy the 30 Euro nosebleeds the next day because we really wanted to go to one show. Crystal and I ended up getting 9th row seats! We saw a ballet, Verklungene Fest and Josephs Legende. It was awesome and we felt so lucky!
This is St. Stephen's Cathedral, the main Roman Catholic Church in Vienna.
We decided to go to the Sigmund Freud Museum one day and it was so interesting. It was in his real old apartment and offices, which added a personal element to it.
We learned about his teaching and research and even more about his daughter, Anna, who did even more for psychotherapy than her father!
Dessert time! We had to go to the famous Cafe Sacher!
We tried the famous Sacher Torte and enjoyed the luxury of the famous hotel!
This is when Crystal left to go back to Madrid because she had to work on that Friday, while I didn't have to work until Monday. So I decided to take a solo trip to Salzburg! When in Austria...
This is where the Trapp Family is from and better known, where the "Sound of Music" filmed scenes about the Von Trapp Family! The stories are similar but not completely the same. Hollywood glamorized and dramatized a lot of their story but, eh who cares!? Turns out though, that Austrians really don't care about "The Sound of Music" and don't really like the movie. So, I thought they would exploit the hell out of it and there really was barely any mention of it. Big mistake!
There was only one tour surrounding the movie and of course I HAD to do it! Some of my earliest memories are of my mom singing (or trying to sing, sorry ma) along to the songs, especially the Nun's songs, and her telling me stories about her Grandma singing along to them. It's always meant a lot to me but after a couple weeks of traveling and now being by myself it felt even more important.
Anyway, this is the mountain that they supposedly crossed and that Maria twirls on in the beginning, the Untersberg. Treacherous!
This is the back of the house used for the Captain and the lake they used when canoeing!
The Gazebo! I'm 16 going on 17! So exciting! They had it all closed up because people used to dance around in it a la Leisl and Rolf but then an old lady fell and broke her hip...
The subtle bus we were on! Our guide was also amazing! He was pretty flamboyant and so INTO everything! It was awesome. He kept putting on different songs from the movie and dancing in the aisles of our bus and telling us different "secrets" from the set. So cute! Especially since there were only families and older people on the tour I felt more comfortable.
This is the front of the Captain's house, now being used as a music school!
The red roofed building is Nonnberg Abbey, where the real Maria lived and where they filmed all the Abbey scenes. I went to it later and went to the church but they don't let non-nuns (is that a word?) into the Abbey no matter how big of a fan you are :-/
This is Hohensalzburg Castle, they did exterior shots there, but it's just cool looking too!
On top of that mountain to the left is where they filmed the "Do-Re-Mi" scenes! This is actually the town of Werfen and we are now about 20 minutes outside of Salzburg.
This is Mondsee Abbey where they filmed the wedding scenes in the town of Mondsee about 30 minutes from Salzburg!
Can you picture the long train and choir??
We stopped here for a coffee and some famous Apple Strudel with vanilla topping! mmmmmm
Next it was back to Salzburg for the Mirabell Gardens! "Do-Re-Mi" anyone?
This bridge was also in the movie for that song, they were all over the place, let me tell you!
A view of the city and the Salzach River.
I had such a great time on this trip and loved learning about Austria! It was freaking cold in Vienna, to the point where sometimes Crystal and I were just over it. But Salzburg was way more manageable! I'm really glad I ended up going to Salzburg on my own and exploring this little but amazing city! I hope one day my family can come back with me and go on this tour cuz I know they will love it! I flew home that Sunday and had school that Monday...I just can't do anything half assed! All my roommates had gotten back 4 days earlier to rest up. Oh well, I can sleep when I'm dead! On to the next!
"Climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow, till you find your dream." - The Sound of Music
