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| Schonbrunn Palace |
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| Kayla, Amy, Claire |
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| View from the back of the Palace |
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| <3 |
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| Lunch. YUM. |
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| Belvedere Palace: Lower |
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| Belvedere Palace: Upper |
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| Loving fountains |
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| Karlskirche |
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| The wolfpack |
Showing posts with label Austria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Austria. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
if we lived there...
As we walked around Vienna, visiting the two most impressive palaces in the city (and the most impressive ones we saw over the course of our trip), we imagined what it would be like to live in either one. What would we be like? Would we also need that many rooms to structure our day within? Would we frolic in the expansive gardens? I would like to think that I would be able to spend most of my time sitting by the fountains and enjoying the expansive areas. Obviously we had to get out of our imaginary palace world and explore the other parts of Vienna. But we tried to stay in our fairytale land as long as possible... Here are a few of my favourite pictures from our time in Vienna.
Despite our short stay in the city I was able to see everything that I wanted to. It was nothing like I expected but I really enjoyed it. And not just because I thought about the perfect life in various palaces :) xo
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
daydreaming
Salzburg is one of those places you daydream about. One that you don't think actually exists because it is too perfect to ever be a reality. It could have been the beautiful weather, or the perfect placement of the river, fortress and Alps, but whatever it is Salzburg knows how to do it right. This city was my flatmate Amy's favourite place we visited and I can totally understand why. I will hopefully never forget images of the crystal clear skies against the Alps backdrop, with a mixture of cute houses and greenery in the foreground. I tried to capture the essence of the city with my camera and this is the best I could do.
Everything about what we saw in Salzburg was magical. I would definitely recommend this city to anyone travelling in Austria, or near Austria. I am so glad we decided to make the trip all the way over there. After Salzburg we stayed in Austria and made our way up to Vienna (pictures for that coming soon - plus the other 7 cities we visited). But for now it is off to bed and then to Denmark tomorrow morning. xo
Friday, April 8, 2011
the city of palaces
On April 3rd we arrived in Vienna around 8:30am. Without very good directions to our hostel we spent the first hour wandering the surrounding neighborhood trying to find someone that both understood English and knew where the hostel was. Of course it was basically right next to the train station. This was the first hostel we were staying at on our trip - and my first hostel stay ever. Thankfully they are nothing what movies make them seem like. It was easy and had everything we could have needed for our stay.
With the help of my Fodors Europe guide we decided that we had to see the Schonbrunn palace. Being the smart girls we are we were able to figure out how to get there on the tram. When we got off the tram and stood in front of the massive yellowish building I am pretty sure we all gasped. The front courtyard is ruled by formal design of rigorous symmetry, with every inch complimenting each other. Little did we know it got even better on the other side. We took a tour of the rooms available to be seen, learning about the Habsurgs family life and importance in European politics. After the tour we went to the back of the palace for one of the most breathtaking sights I have ever seen. The immensity of it all was unbelievable. The formal garden promenades that shoot off diagonally from the palace, and the woods beyond are merely a frame for the composition in the center. The sculptured marble fountain on the opposite side of the courtyard, the screen of trees planted behind and the almost vertical rise of the grass covered hill beyond make this entire scene mesmerizing. We determined that it would take days to see it all, and even then it wouldn't be enough to capture it all. I can definitely say that this attraction is a must see, and by far one of my favorites.
Continuing with our palace theme we went to see the Belvedere palace. It is one of the most splendid pieces of Baroque architecture and I now know why. The palace is actually two imposing palaces separated by a garden parterre boosting with fountains. Although originally lived in by a different person I was interested in seeing it because the Archduke Franz Ferdinand lived there later. The inside of both the upper and lower palace houses some of the most interesting rooms I have seen. One of Kayla and my favorites was an entire room made of only marble.
The rest of our afternoon consisted of walking through Old Town, visiting Karlskirche, and trying to get a sense of the Vienna lifestyle. The weather was really warm and sunny that day allowing the sun to glimmer on the pretty buildings. Vienna had a more city vibe then I had expected but you were still able to see the history shine through. The two palaces are what made me enjoy Vienna as much as I did, specifically Schonbrunn. I can still not get the breathtaking image out of my mind (hopefully I never do).
Austria was a very interesting country, and one that I knew very little about before visiting. After seeing what I did I am interested in learning more about it's earlier history. I have a feeling this is going to happen in every country though. My summer reading list will be covered with history books in regards to all of the places I visit. It was off to a new country the next morning, one that I was very eager to visit! xo
With the help of my Fodors Europe guide we decided that we had to see the Schonbrunn palace. Being the smart girls we are we were able to figure out how to get there on the tram. When we got off the tram and stood in front of the massive yellowish building I am pretty sure we all gasped. The front courtyard is ruled by formal design of rigorous symmetry, with every inch complimenting each other. Little did we know it got even better on the other side. We took a tour of the rooms available to be seen, learning about the Habsurgs family life and importance in European politics. After the tour we went to the back of the palace for one of the most breathtaking sights I have ever seen. The immensity of it all was unbelievable. The formal garden promenades that shoot off diagonally from the palace, and the woods beyond are merely a frame for the composition in the center. The sculptured marble fountain on the opposite side of the courtyard, the screen of trees planted behind and the almost vertical rise of the grass covered hill beyond make this entire scene mesmerizing. We determined that it would take days to see it all, and even then it wouldn't be enough to capture it all. I can definitely say that this attraction is a must see, and by far one of my favorites.
Continuing with our palace theme we went to see the Belvedere palace. It is one of the most splendid pieces of Baroque architecture and I now know why. The palace is actually two imposing palaces separated by a garden parterre boosting with fountains. Although originally lived in by a different person I was interested in seeing it because the Archduke Franz Ferdinand lived there later. The inside of both the upper and lower palace houses some of the most interesting rooms I have seen. One of Kayla and my favorites was an entire room made of only marble.
The rest of our afternoon consisted of walking through Old Town, visiting Karlskirche, and trying to get a sense of the Vienna lifestyle. The weather was really warm and sunny that day allowing the sun to glimmer on the pretty buildings. Vienna had a more city vibe then I had expected but you were still able to see the history shine through. The two palaces are what made me enjoy Vienna as much as I did, specifically Schonbrunn. I can still not get the breathtaking image out of my mind (hopefully I never do).
Austria was a very interesting country, and one that I knew very little about before visiting. After seeing what I did I am interested in learning more about it's earlier history. I have a feeling this is going to happen in every country though. My summer reading list will be covered with history books in regards to all of the places I visit. It was off to a new country the next morning, one that I was very eager to visit! xo
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
picturesque city
This was not a place I had ever planned to visit while over here on exchange. But I am so glad that Claire had a friend studying there and convinced us to go and visit with her over our break. The city was stunning, and nothing like I had ever seen before.
We got in to Salzburg around 9:30pm on Friday and successfully figured out how to get a taxi and get to Lauren and Peggy's place (the girls we were staying with). Considering we don't know German we thought this may have been a little more difficult. When we got there the girls already had friends over at their apartment pre-gaming for the night ahead. We did the best we could to make ourselves look presentable (the amount of buses and planes we had been on since our last shower made this difficult) and started enjoying our first night in Salzburg.We went to Murphy's and O'Malley's, two Irish bars over the course of the night. Kayla and I tried apple strudel shots and Claire and I had some of their local beer. The night was crazy, hilarious, and just what we wanted out of our first night out on our Eurotrip.
The following day was unbelievably sunny and warm (we all ended up getting sunburns -who thought you could get sunburnt in Austria). It made for the perfect way to see the picturesque city. Most of the sights were located in the Alstadt (Old City), between the Monchsberg and the Salzach River. We walked around the Alter market, admired the Dom and took a peek at Mozart's residence.
For lunch we decided to walk up towards the Fortress Hohensalzburg. Founded in 1077, it is the largest preserved medieval fortress in Central Europe. Brooding over the city from atop the Festungsberg we could see the fortress from wherever we were. We enjoyed an Austrian style lunch on the Festunsberg (cliff) with the Alps in the backdrop. We could not get over the absolutely stunning view we had. It was mesmerizing.
In the afternoon we got some delicious ice-cream and took a stroll through the Mirabell Gardens. This is where Julie Andrews sang in The Sound of Music. Both the formal gardens and the palace were spectacular. The flowers were all just planted for the springtime so the colours were bursting. Since the weather was so nice we decided to sit out by the river and bask in the sun for the remainder of the day.
We picked up some food at the grocery store and enjoyed dinner on their rooftop. With the church bells ringing in the background, the sun setting, and the river in the distance it was just lovely. I will always remember sitting out with some of the best people out there and truly appreciating this experience. This was followed by us pre-gaming with catch phrase and going out to a bar later that evening. A 4:30 wakeup call made our night be cut a little bit shorter then normal but it was still lots of fun. Some great new friends and some everlasting memories (and the stunning scenery) made this city one of the best. Xo
We got in to Salzburg around 9:30pm on Friday and successfully figured out how to get a taxi and get to Lauren and Peggy's place (the girls we were staying with). Considering we don't know German we thought this may have been a little more difficult. When we got there the girls already had friends over at their apartment pre-gaming for the night ahead. We did the best we could to make ourselves look presentable (the amount of buses and planes we had been on since our last shower made this difficult) and started enjoying our first night in Salzburg.We went to Murphy's and O'Malley's, two Irish bars over the course of the night. Kayla and I tried apple strudel shots and Claire and I had some of their local beer. The night was crazy, hilarious, and just what we wanted out of our first night out on our Eurotrip.
The following day was unbelievably sunny and warm (we all ended up getting sunburns -who thought you could get sunburnt in Austria). It made for the perfect way to see the picturesque city. Most of the sights were located in the Alstadt (Old City), between the Monchsberg and the Salzach River. We walked around the Alter market, admired the Dom and took a peek at Mozart's residence.
For lunch we decided to walk up towards the Fortress Hohensalzburg. Founded in 1077, it is the largest preserved medieval fortress in Central Europe. Brooding over the city from atop the Festungsberg we could see the fortress from wherever we were. We enjoyed an Austrian style lunch on the Festunsberg (cliff) with the Alps in the backdrop. We could not get over the absolutely stunning view we had. It was mesmerizing.
In the afternoon we got some delicious ice-cream and took a stroll through the Mirabell Gardens. This is where Julie Andrews sang in The Sound of Music. Both the formal gardens and the palace were spectacular. The flowers were all just planted for the springtime so the colours were bursting. Since the weather was so nice we decided to sit out by the river and bask in the sun for the remainder of the day.
We picked up some food at the grocery store and enjoyed dinner on their rooftop. With the church bells ringing in the background, the sun setting, and the river in the distance it was just lovely. I will always remember sitting out with some of the best people out there and truly appreciating this experience. This was followed by us pre-gaming with catch phrase and going out to a bar later that evening. A 4:30 wakeup call made our night be cut a little bit shorter then normal but it was still lots of fun. Some great new friends and some everlasting memories (and the stunning scenery) made this city one of the best. Xo
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