Abenteuer Neunzehn: Wien (Teil Zwei)

(OK, I'm going to try to power through getting spring break posted because I have final papers to write and a million other things and I really don't have time for writing all this stuff. Because there's a lot of stuff. 

 For instance, I have about 900 spring break pictures to sort through. )

My Easter morning in Vienna dawned quite unlike any other Easter morning I have ever known. I was awakened before daylight to the faint sound of...someone singing?

Yes, there was certainly someone singing outside my window. I opened my eyes. The seven other people in my hostel room were still asleep. I checked my watch. It was somewhere between 4:00 and 5:00 AM. Who could possibly be singing..?

Then I remembered. The day before, I had spotted a mosque down the street.

My Easter starting with a muezzin calling the faithful to prayer.

A few hours later, after a brief nap and a laaaaarge breakfast (the Wombat City offered an "all-you-can-eat" breakfast buffet. I'm not sure they realized exactly what that phrase means to an American...) I was on my way. My destination: Schloβ Schönbrunn.

Schloβ Schönbrunn is the former summer residence of the Austrian imperial family. It was built as a hunting lodge by emperor Maximilian in 1569 and redecorated by Maria-Theresa in the 1740's. Today its got a reputation as the "Versailles of Austria."

It's also host to an Easter market, where you can see people dressed like this:

Why?

 Upon arriving at the Palace (I will say the Palace henceforth, because copying and pasting umlauts and essets really takes up more time than you would think) I got caught up in one of the longest waiting lines in Europe for a ticket. A few hours later, I ticket in hand, I was finally able to start exploring.

I first visited the gardens, which are every bit as extensive as those of Versailles. It was still a little early for flowers to be blooming, but the landscaping and all the little gazebos were really quite beautiful.

View from inside the sculpture in the previous picture

The structure on top of the opposing hill

A savage giant snail attacking Vienna!!

It was a long walk to the top of the hill...fortunately, they had a train running...

Side view of the thing at the top of the hill

View from the top of the thing at the top of the hill

The day had started off a sunny 60 degrees--hence my surprise when, as I got back to the Palace, it started snowing. 

Since I had some time to waste before my tour, and since by this time I'd been hiking around with my heavy backpack for about four hours, I decided to warm up in a good, Dachländer way: Glühwein.

Glühwein is a hot mulled wine that's commonly served in Austria and Switzerland (and probably also Germany) during the winter. I'd had several opportunities to sample it in Switzerland but I'd never taken them--and I figured, with spring coming, Easter in Austria would probably be my last chance.

So what does Glühwein taste like? Well, imagine pouring a little vodka into a cup of Red Zinger...

It kept me warm, anyway. And my back hurt less afterwards :)

After the Glühwein, I took an audio-guided tour of the Palace. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take pictures, so you'll just have to take my word for it when I say the place was luxuriant. Having been in Versailles a few years ago, I can honestly say that Schönbrunn was every bit as impressive.

In case you'd like to check it out for yourself, here's a link to a virtual tour . I didn't actually see all the rooms featured here because I bought the poor person ticket, so you can see more than I got to see.

After my tour,  I went and poked around the Palace grounds a little more. You know what I found?

That's right--an American bison.

In Europe, you find the strangest things in the strangest places...

I also found some pretty cool statues and fountains.

The back of the palace again. It was pretty

Pigeon coop. And yes, there were still pigeons in it. You know, in case you needed to send a message...

A fountain from the 1700s that was built to look like Roman ruins.

The same, close up.

This one was cool. It was all covered with tiny animals

 After Schönbrunn, I set off on another quest--to find the Danube. 

It wasn't as blue as I had been lead to believe...

From the Danube, I set off hunting for something that shouldn't have been as hard to find as it was: a Viennese coffee house.

It took a bit of poking around, but after a while, I found a nice non-chain place where I could acquire a cappucino and ein Stück Torte.  They even served my coffee with a few chocolate eggs, for Easter's sake. 

The street the coffee house was on was nice, too. 

After cake, I still had a few hours in Vienna before I needed to catch my train. So, I took a walk down the Danube.

Graffiti is pretty much everywhere in Europe. I kind of like it--I think it brings these old cities new life.

My amblings brought me to the amusement park which is the home of the Wiener Riesenrad--the Vienna Ferris wheel. This Ferris wheel stands at 212 feet tall (for friends back home--the Ferris wheel in Six Flags is 180) and has been a popular tourist attraction since its construction in 1897. Of course, I had to take a spin.

A glimpse of the rest of the park--my camera's focus goes wonky at sunset.

On the way up

Looking down

The top of the world

Back on the ground, I found something in the gift shop that really made me laugh:

Pretty sure they make these for Americans...

I walked back along the riverside, enjoying the sunset. 

I spent the night on a train, once more in the recliner section. This time, my only companion was a girl about my age, sans TFH. We were both able to stretch out across the seats, and I slept harder than I had in a long time. 

When I woke up, I was in Italy, on my way to Venice.