January 24, 2013

Schloss Schonbrunn

There is nothing better than waking up and imagining your life as a princess. Today, we went to Schloss Schonbrunn—a huge palace with 1441 rooms, but only 40 are open to visitors. Originally, Emperor Leopold of Austria commissioned it, but Empress Maria Theresia and her husband expanded it to what it is today. We were able to view rooms such as the studies, dining room, bedrooms, meeting rooms, parlors, and my favorite, the grand ballroom. It was so pretty with very embellished decorations, tons of candle chandlers and huge mirrors and windows that gave the room an endless dimension, not that it needed that. It is the largest palace in Austria, and equally the most visited attraction in Vienna.

The Tower of the Cathedral that I climbed

After our tour, we walked around the garden properties for a bit, even though we really couldn’t see anything as it was covered with snow. We still enjoyed the view until the cold helped make the decision that it was time to head back for lunch. We stopped for a quick lunch at a local attraction, McDonalds, (haha!) before four of us braved almost 300 steps up the steeple in one of the old churches. We laughed at the thought of making it to the top and sliding down the spiral staircase, bouncing off the walls and knocking people down as we fell. Laughing definitely made it easier to ignore the burn in our legs as we skipped up the stairs. The view from the top of all of the snow-covered roofs reinforced our prior decision of exercise. To cancel out the calories that we just burned, we stopped for pasties and coffee once again. I’m at the point where I am telling myself that if there is some type of fruit involved, it is automatically healthy. For some reason though, I don’t think that is the case.

Ice Skating in Vienna!

Later that night, a few of us went ice-skating on a huge rink and an ice path that curved through the trees in front of the city hall. Ignoring the fact that I absolutely love ice-skating, it was so lovely skating under the stars and the glistening lights of the city. It was my first time ice skating somewhere other than in an indoor rink and it was so fun! It took some getting used to though, as the ice wasn't flat, which made it very tricky to go fast without completely wiping out. After a while, I stopped caring and just took it in. At first, I was worried that it was too cold to stay out for very long, but as soon as I skated a completely circle around the course, I forgot that it was 10 degrees outside.  It was definitely a night to remember!