Karlsplatz...Bitte...Westbahnoff...and other fun words

Back from Vienna, or Wien (pronounced veen). It was a lot of fun! Thursday we flew out and arrived at closer to 8. There is a 24 hour kebap stand by Jess' friend, Theresa's, house so we got that for dinner. And I am now obsessed with kebaps. We have them here I just never really go into the kebap places, but now I will! It was really funny to speak Deutsche. Jess and I couldn't help ourselves from reading every sign we saw because it just sounds so funny when we would say it.

We went out to a club located in an amusement park, called Prater Dome. It was decorated all Austrian-like and I felt like I was in a club in Disneyland or something. It was a lot of fun!

Friday we woke up late and spent the day walking around Stephansplatz, which is the main downtown area. We saw some gorgeous churches and amazing architecture. Vienna has incredible architecture. It all looks very old and European, but it is a very clean city. We explored a lot of town, then headed back and ate more kebaps for dinner. We ended up passing out and not doing anything that night.

Parliament building

Stephansplatz, downtown

St. Peter's church. So beautiful. During mass.

We're european so we don't eat anything with our hands...

Stephansdome cathedral

One of the prettiest/coolest cathedrals I've seen so far

outside Stephansdome, there is also an underground temple next to it

Saturday we woke up relatively early, for college students that is, and explored a flea market and the Museums Quartier, which is this area of the city where most of the major museums are located. They are all so close to each other and each decorated beautifully! Then we went to the old summer house of the royals. It looked more like a Royal Palace than just a summer house! The gardens were huuuuuge. It extended farther than we even explored. It was one of the coolest palaces I've seen, but I feel that Austrian royals were always really elaborate and extravagant in their homes. The 'Imperial Zoo' is also located within the grounds and we decided to go because it looked fun. We watched the sea lions get fed and it was hilarious! We unknowingly were standing in a splash zone, because who thinks of a splash zone when feeding sea lions? The trainer would feed the animals but throw the fish in the air so the seals would leap into the water with a splash. We kept trying to move farther away but the trainer always managed to bring seals towards us again! There was this one sea lion that looked more like a whale, we called him Biggie. And he was hilarious! We saw a lot of cool animals at the zoo, including pandas!

royals' summer house in front

Back facing the gardens

Gardens

It went on forever! The arch way in the distant and below that the famous Neptune fountain

The zoo. Biggie and friends giving their trainer a hug
When we knew it was too late...
Their skin is so weird..

According to the Imperial Zoo, the evolution of man begins with primates and ends with a sophisticated woman evolving from a chaotic, dancing man...can't argue there

After the zoo we walked around more and had dinner at this really delicious restaurant called Zurlich. Jessica and Theresa got the famous, Weiner Schnitzel, which is just battered pork meat, and dumplings. I got the famous Kasekrainer Sausage, which was delicious. It came with sauerkraut, but I didn't like that as much. Then, we all got Austrian dessert. I got the Apfelstrudel (applestrudel), which was awesome!

My sausage with roasted potatoes and sauerkraut + Theresa's already devoured weiner schnitzel and dumplings

The next day we left for the plane, and I bought a beer stein because I think they're so funny. It was a great weekend, and definately somewhere I would recommend/go back to for longer. It was a really beautiful place...and hot too! Random observations: the metro system of Madrid is amazing compared to other cities. Also I feel that, while Austrians weren't mean or anything, they don't give off as warm a vibe as other nationalities. And, I don't feel like unwrapping my stein so click HERE to see what it is. One more month of adventure until I see you all! Plans: My birthday weekend! Last weekend in Madrid, then London for a week, then Santiago de Compostela/Northern Spain for a week, then back to Madrid for my flight home on the 1st of June! Love you!