Weekend Recap

Ahhh the weekend. So much to see and do in this city! We haven't had the time to really "get out" for a weekend and visit Salzburg, Slovenia, the Alps, or Germany yet so we've been exploring Vienna. As I write this I can say we've seen more than expected in Vienna.

Vienna is Austrias wine Capital. Often overlooked by tourists it's a must see for anyone looking to get away from the crowds. Viennese have these cool taverns called "Heuriger's" in the foothills - think an outside beer garden. However, instead of beer you sip wine. It's pretty much a red or white choice, they pour what's in season, and full glasses. Not at all like tasting in the states, they also have buffet-style food and awesome views to go along with it. In our effort of finding/trying to walk the wine trail we ended up getting lost and confused. So we just dropped into one of these and called it good. We drank quite a bit of wine over the 6 hour tasting, but not so much we would be considered drunk, it's a slower pace out here. And drunks are annoying. We didn't want to be "those drunk Americans."

Also, since Vienna was a hotbed for baroque sculpture, architecture, painting, and music back in the day it's a good idea to see some baroque stuff. So we checked out the Belvedere palace. If your short on time this one is easier to access than the Schoenbrunn and has more to it. Split into two palaces, the upper and lower, with a manicured garden between them (think fantasyland) the upper is an art musuem and the lower a restored baroque palace & horse stables. The gardens are free to visit. There was a good number of runners in there simply doing laps around the palace gardens - yes, it's that big.

We checked out the upper palace. It took about three hours to cover that many floors. It houses collections by Gustav Klimt, Monet, Renoir, and Austrian art pieces ranging from the middle ages to present. Frescos adorn every ceiling and all art subjects are covered. This place was really cool to visit. We're kinda deprived of old world art in the states for obvious reasons. This place has got the stuff you usually only see in text books. Obviously pictures are not allowed inside so I can only post a few images I found of the art online.

Location:Friedlgasse,Vienna,Austria