Vienna

This past weekend Jim, Carol, Randy and I went to Vienna, Austria. It was a very beautiful city and we got to see a lot of great art and architecture and eat a lot of Viennese pastries and deserts. We flew to Vienna on Thursday, July 24 and left on Saturday, July 26. We saw the palaces of the past Austrian/Hungarian Royal families - most famously Emperor Franz Josef I and Empress Elizabeth (Sisi), and a lot of Cathedrals and Churches. Vienna is also home to my favorite artist, Gustav Klimt, so I was thrilled to finally see some of his work, including his most famous painting “The Kiss.” Here are some pictures from our weekend.


The city of Vienna, Austria


The gardens at the Schonbrunn Palace - The Austrian
Royal Family's summer palace


The grounds of the Schonbrunn Palace


Randy, me, Carol and Jim at Schonbrunn


Randy and I in front of the Neptune Fountain (it was
beautiful) at Schonbrunn Palace


The Schonbrunn Palace (not a bad summer residence)


Randy and I outside of the Schloss Belvedere Museum,
which use to be a palace


Outside the front entrance to the Schloss Belvedere Museum
(you can see the city and Cathedral in the background)


Inside the Schloss Belvedere


Gustav Klimt's famous "The Kiss" painting - it
was absolutely breathtaking. It is just to bad my
picture is blurry.


This is the famous Hotel Sacher, which is home to the
original chocolate cake/first chocolate cake ever made.
They still use the same recipe, so we had to all go in and
enjoy a slice of the "Sacher Torte" and a Viennese coffee.


A beautiful monument in downtown Vienna


Saint Stephen's Cathedral, located towndown Vienna.
This cathedral was consecrated in 1147.


Inside Saint Stephen's Cathedral

Walking towards the gate to the Hofburg

Palace - downtown Vienna.

The Gate to the Hofburg Palace, this palace was the

main palace of the past Austrian Royal Family.

Beautiful sculpture outside of Hofburg

Another beautiful sculpture

Cool statue on the Church near the entry of

the Hofburg gate

The Hufburg Palace - home of the Austrian Royal Family

We went to the Austrian Treasury Museum - here

is one of the Royal Crowns worn by the kings/emperors

Here is the crib of Napoleon Bonaparte's son

The nail inside this jeweled case is believed to be

the actual nail used on Jesus' right hand

when he was nailed to the cross.

The piece of wood in this cross is believed to be

a piece of wood from the cross Jesus was crucified on.

Randy and I outside of a government building

Mozart's statue/monument

Randy and I next to Mozart's statue

Wiener Staatsoper - The Vienna State Opera

Karl Church in Vienna - a wedding was beginning while we

were here. It was neat to see.