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Published: March 26th 2007
February 15, 2007 - A few weeks ago I went with my friend from Canada, Mike, to Schloss Schönbrunn on the outskirts of Vienna. The history of the plot of land dates back to the middle ages, but the palace that we see today was built in 1700 as a grand hunting lodge for Leapold I. In 1728 Maria Theresa moved into the Palace and expanded it even more. She had it converted from a hunting lodge to a magnificient palace.
The Gloriette in the back was built to completely finish the beautiful palace and its gardens. It was completed during the last year of Maria Theresa's life. After that, the palace was home to many different generations of monarchies until the Republic of Austria was formed.
Mike and I took the 45 minute guided tour in the middle of February and toured the gardens as well, but I hope to get back sometime in the spring when everything is green and alive in the gardens.
March 22, 2007 - I went downtown Vienna on Thursday to go walk around and do a little shopping. It was my first time doing that and the first time
seeing St. Stephens Cathedral.
One of my favorite parts of Vienna is how easy it is to get around. The trains are almost always on time, and everything from the buses, trains, and subways are all very clean compared to anything like that back near Chicago. Kids as young as 8 or 9 travel on the public transportation system every day without anything ever happening. It’s a very safe country.
When we get off the subway at Stephensplatz, we walk upstairs and the huge cathedral is right there. It is really something amazing and pictures of the inside do it almost no justice at all. It was built in 1147 so occasionally it needs some restorations. Unfortuanately when we visited on Thurdsay, the main tower was being worked on, but I'm sure I will be back again sometime soon.
After walking around the cathedral for awhile we went to one of the main shopping districts between Stephensplatz and Karlsplatz. It was so nice and there were so many stores.
There’s still a lot more of Vienna to see so check back every now and then for some more pictures.
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