We're Back!

We're back from Europe, and it was a blast! This is the first trip I can remember not wanting to return home from. Usually by the end of a two weeker, I'm ready for my own bed, but not this time! (That might be partly due to the fact that Florida doesn't totally feel like "home" yet.) I'd like to take you through some highlights. Adam took a gazillion pictures and about a gazillion of them are frame worthy. I'll try not to overload you.

We flew over with Virgin Atlantic on a double decker plane! It was our first experience on a double decker and we got to sit upstairs. The flight wasn't full, so we were able to spread out and there were personal tv's in the seatbacks. Verrra nice. We connected in London before arriving in Vienna a little after noon. Even though it was an overnight flight, neither one of us was able to sleep, so it was hard to keep going. But you don't go to Europe to sleep do you? No! We immediately hit the famous opera house (Staatsoper) for an English tour. Below is a picture of the front. They told us the original architect committed suicide because people complained it looked like a train station. :-(  So sad!

This pic is looking back toward the box seats from the direction of the stage:

The next day we visited Schonbrunn Palace, the Habsburg monarchy's summer residence. It reminded me very much of the Palace of Versailles. The inside was very beautiful, but the highlight was the gardens! So lovely. The palace grounds also included a zoo and a maze made out of hedges.

This pic is of the gloriette. It is at the far end of the gardens opposite the palace:

The gardens looking back toward the palace:

This big ole fountain is in between the palace and the gloriette:

Pic from behind the monster fountain:

One more pic from Schonbrunn.... 

Afterwards, we climbed one of the towers at St Stephen's Cathedral:

View from the top:

We spent the afternoon people watching in the park outside the Hofburg Palace. After sunset, we went to the city hall. During the summer, they put a big screen up and show free concerts and operas. The night we were there, they were showing an opera that was performed in the Vienna State Opera House (the one we toured). We felt very cultured for the 45 minutes that we watched, but that was enough for us! :-)

The next morning, we hopped on a train to Hallstatt, Austria. You can hear about that beautiful, little lakeside village in my next post!