Day 30-Ljubljana to Vienna

Traffic today was thankfully much nicer on our way to Vienna! We stopped at the beautiful Slovenian Lake Bled and took in Bled Cathedral, on an island kin the middle of the lake, and Bled castle, overlooking the lake from off a mountain. It was absolutely idyllic and so much like a fairytale, the waters glassy and smooth, warm and clear. For those at home, think Lake Louise on a cool, grey, rain-cloudy morning, with smaller mountains, fog covering the tops...sigh. We are starting to come into territory that is much like home; lots of green trees, mountains, and a dry heat that isnt stifling. The Austrian countryside is gorgeous, postcard-picture perfect houses nestled in lush green hills. Vienna is just as I remembered it; the atmosphere of class oozing from the gorgeous old buildings, treed boulevards and shops and cafes lining the clean streets. We arrived at our hostel-a very nice one with all the facilities in each room of four- and got ready for dinner and the Mozart and Strauss concert. The concert was very very very nice! It was in a beautfully decorated smaller room of Hausberg Palace, the place where Mozart played for Maria Thereza at age 5. The music itself was performed by a pianist, string bass, cello, two violins, a flutist, oboe, and clarinet player, and sang and danced to by four characters for some pieces. Both composers were beautiful, but I actually think I preferred Strauss...I feel so cultured now! It had been a long day, so once the concert was over, we came home and slept to refuel for tomorrow's tours of Vienna!

Day 31- Vienna

A whole day in one of my favorite cities! What more could I ask for? We started off early on a city tour my bus taking Bergstraße, the main street that circles the downtown, seeing the Opera house, university, Stadt Park, various monuments, the parliament house, St Stephan's cathedral, Hofburg Palace, and many more buildings and areas important to the Viennese identity. It's so weird to see all these streets and places and be like, "hey, I remember this!". Its great. We were dropped off and then given free time until the afternoon. Kallee, Amelia, and I took advantage of the shopping, of course stopping to eat for a good lunch and the daily ice cream (no wonder I'm not losing weight..!). Then we had to meet Josh for a walking tour; we saw many of the buildings in greater detail, along with other things like the monuments to the Jewish and the treatment of them during WWII. Josh also gave us a hilarious demo of the moves of the Spanish riding school's horses since we couldn't go see them in flesh. Next, we were taken to Vienna's Schnaps museum and learned about all the concoctions they made. We got to sample some as well...very tasty and thus a bit dangerous! After the museum, we were taken to see Shonnbrunnen Palace, the summer residence of the Hapsburgs. This being the second time seeing the Palace, I chose to forgo the tour inside and check out the beautiful gardens much like Versailles. Then, we made our way to dinner! We were literally out in the woods at a cute restaurant, and enjoyed wine, apple schnaps, excellent food, and singing dancing, and accordian playing. Supper's drunkenness lead to a raving coach party, excellent photos, and good times in the bar before rolling into bed.