Oh Vienna...

A really cool water fountain in front of the Albertina Art Museum...

A giant cathedral on the main square...

The second palace that we visited in Austria, I can't remember who lived there!

A random street performer playing the accordion... I love the live entertainment that fills the streets of Europe ♥

A statue in front of the parliament buildings on the main square...

The Museum of Modern Art in Austria!

Europe has the coolest street lamps... This is one in front of the cathedral in the picture below.

A beautiful cathedral I saw on the first walking tour...

The Schönbrunn Palace from behind...

The next morning we had another early start, and then we were off to Vienna, Austria. All I have to say about the bus ride there is that I am so happy I fall asleep at the same rate as a narcoleptic. I had no trouble at all sleeping nearly the whole ride there. Our first stop in Vienna was the Schönbrunn Palace complete with a tour of the palace garden. The castle’s grandeur was breathtaking. It was stunningly large, and the garden’s upkeep was immaculate. We had a short history lesson about the palace and then we were off to lunch. For the most part, it seemed like traditional Austrian food was pretty similar to traditional Czech food. Its tastes great, but its probably the worst type of food for your body. I feel like there is always at least one fried substance accompanying every meal. After lunch we headed to our hostel and had about 20 minutes to get ready to meet the rest of the group downstairs for a walking tour. As we set out towards some sort of shopping area I was surprised to find that Vienna reminded me of my favorite city in the states, San Francisco. I felt right at home. As we wandered up the street I passed all sorts of stores that I knew I would want to check out in my free time. And before I knew it we were right in the center of the Museum Quartier... I had remembered reading about the Modern Art Museum in Vienna earlier and knew that I wanted to check out the exhibits currently being shown; they included Andy Warhol, John Lennon, and Yoko Ono. The building stuck out like a sore thumb. It was massive and dark grey, it expulsed modern art through its walls. As the tour continued I started growing somber. I am not the biggest fan of following large groups of people around, I would much rather explore on my own. Oh well, it was almost over. Finally we made it to some sort of city square and we were free to do our own thing. I of course wanted to shop. Too bad all the stores in Vienna close at 18:00, and the current time was 17:55. I just figured I would try again during my free time the following day. So instead of shopping, I grabbed a gelato ad soaked in the free entertainment, accordion tunes. From the hostel, Kendyll, Kierra, Kerri, Nick, Drew and I decided to head out and search for somewhere to enjoy dinner. We stumbled upon a delicious Italian restaurant where we enjoyed good food, conversation, and company.

Sunday morning we were up and headed out on another walking tour. We headed to another palace and took a tour through the gardens. The masses decided it would be best to next head towards the Albertina, a huge art museum. I explored the museum on my own, and I really enjoyed it. On the first floor I walked from room to room closely examining the black and red charcoal sketches that dated back as early as the 11^th century. Jakob and Rudolf van Alt had a temporary exhibition on the next floor. Their watercolors were some of the most exquisite I have ever seen. Even from only inches away the paintings looked like photographs. After the Albertina we had free time again, and there were two stores that I really wanted to hit. Dilemma yet again, stores are closed on Sundays in Vienna. Instead I headed straight for the Modern Art Museum. Kerri, Nick, and Drew joined me; we were all quite surprised to find that our student IDs got us free entrance. We went straight to the top and decided to work our way down. My favorite exhibit was on the very bottom floor. Andy Warhol had a couple of different television specials in the eighties and they were all available in the exhibit. I sat down in front of Warhol’s special on Betsey Johnson, my favorite fashion designer of all time. In the video she said, “I happen to get dressed to records, if I put on the wrong one, I know I am not going to look good.” How true. Before I knew it, it was time to hop on the bus to our next destination: Esztergom, Hungary.

P.S. I have been dabbling in photo editing a bit... Hope you guys enjoy!