Palaces Galore!

Michelle and I walked back to Schönbrunn Palace to take pictures in the Gardens. It was perhaps the prettiest hike as we made our way up to the Gloriette. Built in 1775, the Gloriette is dedicated as a monument that leads to peace.

Hiking up to the Gloriette

View of from the Schönbrunn Palace from the Gloriette

To warm ourselves up, we each had a lauch-speck nockerl! It's deliciously comprised of pasta, bacon, and leek.

Lauch-speck nockerl

At Stradt Park, we (along with a handful of other tourists) took pictures with Johann Strass himself! Well, with his statue at least!

Johann Strauss statue in Stradt Park

The Hofburg Palace was impressive with its multiple museums. It is comprised of The Silver Collection, the Sissi Museum, and the Imperial Apartments. Going with the Sissi Museum was a good choice as we received the opportunity to learn about the Princess's life. With quite a sad lifetime, Sissi originally loved her life, but was forced to live the royal life in which she soon hated. Her assassination was originally unintended; the assassin was waiting for someone else and when the latter canceled his trip, Sissi happened to be there as she was taking time for health relief - so sad!

The Hofburg Palace

As it was the holiday season, there was no better place we wanted to be than in the Viennese Christmas markets! We first went to the Museums Quartier Market and then back to Rathaus (third time woohoo!). According to one of our mutual friends, there was a famous ice skating rink we had to find. EVERY local we asked was befuddled and after following directions on a map, we ended up on a lonely backstreet...HMM...

Afterwards we headed off to a relaxing night at Loop Bar where we enjoyed the last night in Vienna. Can I plan my next return already?