Czech Please.: December 1st, 2013

For our last day in Vienna we started with something big, the summer palace of the Hapsburg family or Schönbrunn Palace. The building was beautiful on the inside but sadly we were not allowed to take pictures...like always. The outside though was enough to get the idea. We spent about an hour just wandering around the back yard (if you can call it that) after we finished our tour of the inside of the building.

"Schönbrunn Palace is a former imperial 1,441-room Rococo summer residence in modern Vienna, Austria. One of the most important cultural monuments in the country, since the 1960s it has been one of the major tourist attractions in Vienna. The palace and gardens illustrate the tastes, interests, and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs."

(Schönbrunn Palace)

(Duck)

(Schönbrunn Palace)

Once we were done at the palace we headed back to the city center, got lunch and then were given some free time. We decided to just walk around the area we had been the first day and just get a better look at things. Sadly, I don't remember the names of a lot of the places but hopefully a little internet magic will help me find them. After we wandered around we made the wonderful decision to go to the butterfly house. It was so pretty and so so humid. My camera fogged up and didn't unfog until we had been outside for almost an hour, but it was worth it. After the butterfly house we needed to eat before the long ride back home. We made the best decision you can when looking for food in Europe, head down. We made our way down almost two stories underground and found an stunning restaurant. The food was average but the place itself was worth seeing. After dinner we headed to the bus for the long ride home, ending my third to last weekend in Europe.

(Delicious Pretzel Covered in Apple Frosting from a Christmas Market)

(Vienna)

(Hotel Imperial)

(Museum of Natural History of Vienna)

(Maria Theresa Plaza)

(Vienna)

"The Palmenhaus Schönbrunn is a large greenhouse in Vienna, Austria, featuring plants from around the world. It was opened in 1882. It is the most prominent of the four greenhouses in Schönbrunn Palace Park, and is also among the largest botanical exhibits of its kind in the world, with around 4,500 plant species. Several forerunners were built in the Palace Park in the 18th and 19th centuries, under Emperors Francis I and Joseph II. The present building was opened in 1882, under Franz Joseph I. Since 1918 it has been run by the Bundesgärten (Federal Gardens). A heavy bomb attack on Schönbrunn Palace in February 1945 destroyed most of the glazing of the Palmenhaus. Many plants died, although some were saved by being transferred to the nearby Sonnenuhrhaus. The rebuilding began in 1948, and the Palmenhaus was reopened in 1953. The building was closed to the public in 1976 as a safety measure following the collapse of the Reichsbrücke. Renovations were carried out between 1986 and 1990."

(Palmenhaus)

(Butterfly Garden)

"Hofburg Palace is a palace located in Vienna, Austria, that has housed some of the most powerful people in European and Austrian history, including the Habsburg dynasty, rulers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It currently serves as the official residence of the President of Austria. It was the Habsburgs' principal winter residence, as the Schönbrunn Palace was their preferred summer residence. The Hofburg area has been the documented seat of government since 1279 for various empires and republics. The Hofburg has been expanded over the centuries to include various residences, the Imperial Chapel, the Naturhistorisches Museum and Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Austrian National Library, the Imperial Treasury, the Burgtheater, the Spanish Riding School, the Imperial Horse Stables, and the Hofburg Congress Center. The Hofburg faces the Heldenplatz ordered under the reign of Emperor Francis Joseph, as part of what was to become a Kaiserforum that was never completed. Numerous architects have executed work at the Hofburg as it expanded, notably the Italian architect-engineer Filiberto Luchese, Lodovico Burnacini and Martino and Domenico Carlone, the Baroque architects Lukas von Hildebrandt and Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach, Johann Fischer von Erlach, and the architects of the grandiose Neue Burg built between 1881 and 1913."