Vienna

My friend Christine, who I have known since I was 7, came to visit me in Hungary. She arrived late Thursday night, went to the Ladybird Christmas party with me on Friday, and at 2am on Saturday we left for Vienna.

Anna, Keith and Christine crammed into the back of Eszti's car

My Beszti Eszti organized the trip. The bus was to leave at 3am and get us to Vienna by 9am....however there was a massive snow storm and we didn't get to Vienna until shortly after noon.

In the parking lot of Tesco for a potty break......
I don't think I know anyone who loves snow more than Eszti

The snow was coming down in snowballs...seriously

Our first stop was the Schöenbrunn Palace and the market there.

Schönbrunn Palace together with its ancillary buildings and extensive park is of the most important cultural monuments in Austria. Scheduled as a listed monument, the whole ensemble, including the palace, the park with its numerous architectural features, fountains and statues and not least the zoo – the oldest of its kind in the world – was placed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List in 1996.

In the possession of the Habsburg dynasty since Maximilian II, the palace passed to the ownership of the Republic of Austria at the end of the monarchy in 1918 and was subsequently administered by the Schlosshauptmannschaft Schönbrunn.

Christine, Anna, Me, Eszti

So first on the list was to get some forralt bor/gluhwien/mulled wine/whatever language you speak...so we could be warm..it was nagyon finom. The awesome part is that the mug costs 3 Euro and then each refill is only 2 Euro--ta da! Souvenir and eco-friendly!!

Anna, Eszti, Christine, Keith

I would love to see the palace gardens in the summer...but Eszti pretending she is some sort of garden creature was equally as awesome.

Typical Keith picture pose

By the time we left the palace, I was too exhausted to take more pictures...so I only have a few pictures of the actual Christmas Market. There we met up with Keith's friend, Andrej, who lives in Bratislava...t'was too short, but lovely nonetheless

And some video of the market just before we left.