I Wien to Vienna

It was the start of a new day on Friday, 20 November. My roommates and I woke to shower and get ready before filing onto the bus with the rest of the AIFS crew. We all, half-awake, stumbled onto the bus and fell asleep for a bit. By about 2 in the afternoon, we made it to Vienna, Austria for the start of our adventure.

We were dropped off near the center of the city and led to our hotels. We all got situated and met downstairs to be led to the city center and dropped off for the rest of the afternoon and night. We wandered around and by the time we made it to the city center, the group and I realized the organizers just dropped us in the most expensive shopping district in the city. We all looked at each other, then around us at Tiffany, Cartier and Prada, and realized we could not only not afford anything in the general vicinity, but that it was very cruel for them to drop us off hear, haha. We wandered around a bit, grabbed some food and then ended up in the Christmas Markets for a while before going to sleep for the night.

We woke the next morning and grabbed breakfast at the hotel before being led out on our tour by the tour guide.

Side Note: In Vienna, you must be a registered tour guide in order to give tours legally in the city. You can get in much trouble if leading a tour and your are not a registered tour guide.

Anyways, we were led out and saw a lot of the famous buildings. We saw Parliament, downtown, the Christmas markets, the Church where the Vienna Boys Choir sings. We had much fun and enjoyed the tour. We then had a 2 hour break before our next tour began and some of us decided to go to the Natural History Museum. The Museum was huge and a lot of fun. At 2, we met up and took another tour. After the tour, were set free and a few of us decided to go back to the hotel for a bit and rest before setting into the night.

We took an hour or so break and then went out to dinner at a restaurant called Centimeter. We got some traditional Austrian Schnitzel and a beer.

Andy, Jill and I then wandered into the Christmas markets to do some shopping. We ate some more and enjoyed the festivities. Andy and Jill bought a few things and then we headed back to the hotel for the night.

Today (Sunday) we all ate breakfast and then set out of the bus to Maria Theresa's palace, Schobrunn Palace. We got to see one of the most beautiful palaces ever. I loved it there so much. There were more Christmas markets there that we enjoyed. We then explored the grounds and found the gardens and then hiked to the top of the hill overlooking the palace where Maria Theresa's Triumphal Arch was built. everything on the property was so cool.

We then got back in the bus and headed back to Prague. Vienna was awesome.

Until next time...