Vienna, Austria

With the grandparents here to care for the boys, my husband and I decided to flee, I mean, travel to Vienna.  We have been wanting to go to Vienna for a long time and it so happened that the airfare to Vienna was lower than to the other cities of interest.

2012 marks the 150th celebration of Gustav Klimt's birthday.  Gustav Klimt is one of my favorite artists.  I especially enjoy his drawings and his painted landscapes.  Vienna is also the home of amazing music (having been home to Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Strauss, etc.) and opera.  

It was another whirlwind trip - we basically had about 25 hours in Vienna.  I don't know what it was, but it didn't feel like as much of an escape as Verona.  Instead, it just felt like we were always walking or on our way to something more than just enjoying Vienna - and that's despite making the effort and time to relax and enjoy a couple of meals, coffee houses, and a few shops.  I think perhaps Vienna just offered too much that we wanted to see.  

As it was, we went to three museums, one church, and a Mozart concert.  I highly recommend NOT getting the "Vienna card" unless you are going to be there for a week.  We definitely spent WAY more money on the cards than the cards saved us (they basically give you only nominal discounts at the attractions).  For me, the highlights of Vienna were the least expected aspects of our trip.  

Highlight 1:  the Wien museum.  The Wien museum had an AMAZING Klimt exhibit.  The exhibit far surpassed the one offered at the Belvedere.  And the Wien museum itself had some amazing art and fascinating historical exhibits.   We only ended up at this museum because my husband noticed it when we were our way to a church and when I then realized that the Klimt exhibit I had wanted to see was no longer open.  Anyway, I highly recommend this museum!  Wien Museum

Highlight 2:  Weihburggasse - the street next to the Marriott that we took to get almost anywhere.  It had the cutest shops.  I would have loved to have spent more time browsing - and browsing through shops is not something I usually spend much time doing when traveling.

Highlight 3:  the Cafe Frauenhuber.   This is Veinna's oldest coffee shop.  Mozart actually performed here.  Luckily, it was near our hotel.  We had a half hour to get something to eat - an almost impossible goal in Europe where there really is no such thing as a "quick" bite to eat.  I got an amazing hot chocolate and interesting vegetarian food that the waiter brought just for me.  We got good food, and in good time!  It was just perfect!  Cafe Frauenhuber

We have so much to do and see when we go back, too!  I definitely want to see the inside of the Opera House and see an actual opera, amongst many other things.

Pictures from Vienna: