Vienna was breathtaking. This is one of those gorgeous European cities that, despite it being rather small, makes you gape constantly upward at the gorgeous architecture and across the lovely sprawling parks full of flowers and fountains.
While the fine arts museum was small, I was still impressed. Maybe it was because I have been a bit art deprived lately. My last museum was in Cairo and that was more artifacts and hieroglyphs than art. Before that it was Rome. Sad for me considering that I envisioned the bulk of my vacation would be gazing at priceless works of art. So. It was good. They even had a Raphael. You guys, I was so art deprived that I was excited to be looking at Renaissance and Reformation art. My least favorite movements. At least one of the paintings had a unicorn.
St. Stephen's was gorgeous. We all know how I love a good chuch, so Europe has been good to me in that regard.
We also went to a Schnapps Museum. Our guide was the definition of hilarious. So friggin funny. We also got to try free samples of various flavors. They also make absinthe. The guide gave us the history of absinthe and explained that the myth...yes. myth...of absinthe as a hallucination inducing alcohol goes back to the olden days before regulations when gin was also bad.
The Swarovski Museum was, to steal the phrasing from Tour Guide Sam, "what I imagine being on an acid trip would be like." It was so shiny! I was a bit disappointed in the store though. I guess I have super ridiculously simple taste in jewelry because virtually everything was waaaaaaay to opulent. In fact, I would use the word tacky. If I did not know that it was Swarovski and that is a renown brand, I would not have taken a second glance. That being said, once I found the simplistic section I actually found some nice thngs. You better like your gifts!
Next we headed to Hopfgarten. It was like beng at Nick and Laura's cabin in temperature scenery and vibe. Well, maybe we drank a bit more. I went for a mountain bike ride and kayaking. Yay! The Aussies complained about how cold it was but I was finally comfortable. I am glad to be heading north to a normal climate.
More later. Six countries to go!
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