I was traveling with friend Katelyn for the weekend and she had a friend Livia who lived in Vienna and would be our guide for the day. Vienna is a very beautiful and pristine city. Everything was so clean and pretty.
We were staying right near downtown so our first stop was Belvedere palace. Belvedere palace was a huge complex of baroque palaces and manicured gardens and sculptures. Now it is converted to a museum but we just walked through the palace grounds.
Livia then took us to Karlskirche which was a gorgeous Baroque cathedral. The cathedral had a viewing platform so we could look out at the city. I loved the paintings that covered the ceilings and the amount of gold decor.
St. Stephen’s Cathedral is the most famous attraction in the city and the top of its spires can be seen on the city skyline. It stands in the center of the Ring which is the downtown area. It was built in 1147 in the Gothic and Baroque styles. The Cathedral was also the most touristic area and was packed with visitors.
Everything in Vienna was situated in the ring. We passed by the royal Vienna State Opera house, the Hofburg which is another palace complex, the Rathaus which was the Town Hall and the Parliament buildings. We also wandered through two gardens which had statues of Mozart and Strauss both of which frequently performed and composed in Vienna.
For lunch, Kaitlyn and I went to Vienna’s most popular market - Naschmarkt. The market was bustling with tourists and mainly consisted of upscale restaurants on one side and vendors on the other side selling cheese and Middle Eastern food. It was a bit overwhelming as there were so many different vendors to choose from but not a whole lot of takeaway food.
I had a reservation at 2:30pm for the Schönbrunn Palace which was about 30 minutes away from the city center by train. Schönbrunn Palace was the main summer residence of Vienna’s most significant rulers - the Habsburgs. It reminded me a lot of the Palace of Versailles. In particular there was one room that looked like the Mirror Room although there were no mirrors. There was a room known as the “millions room” due to the fact that it is made entirely of rosewood which is now endangered with paintings embedded in the walls. There was a lot going on in that room and it was so interesting how the paintings were framed inside of the walls. I had booked the royal tour which was a guided audio tour through the state apartments and imperial palace. The audio tour only took 30 minutes and I was shocked. I thought for sure I missed something since on the website it said it would take 2-3 hours but apparently it was true. Other things to see at the palace were the museums and gardens but I decided to skip out on that.
Vienna is known for its signature cake called the Sachertorte which is a chocolate sponge cake with apricot jam topped with a dark chocolate ganache. I decided I needed to try it and as I got in line, I realized I was right behind Katelyn and Livia! How fun we found each other without even trying. Hotel Sacher, famous for the chocolate cake, has been serving it since 1832. I am usually quite skeptical of cake but this cake was divine!
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