travel diary 15th of March (corrections welcome) Because we wanted to sleep in, we left the apartment at lunchtime to go to the subway. We left the subway at Vienna’s main train station and had to walk till we reached the Schloss Belvedere. There are two of them, one is called Lower Belvedere and Upper Belvedere, whereas we went to the Upper Belvedere. Around the castle is a huge area with fountains and sculptures. Right in front of the Belvedere were all the sculptures from the Chinese zodiac. We walked around the castle to find ticketsales and then we found an annex of the castle, where they sell them. Inside of the castle is an exhibition of art of the Belvedere collection from the medieval to the past. Highlight of the exhibition is the Kiss by Gustav Klimt. Then we left the Belvedere and rode the subway to the Naschmarkt. A huge market with various things. We tried some Mohnzelten, were allowed to try special almonds and bought some. Then we were in a hurry, because we wanted to be at the apartment at 5pm. In the apartment we dressed up for our special highlight, Tristan and Isolde in the Wiener Staatsoper. It was another walk from the apartment to the subway. That was especially hard for Tina, who wore high heels. Then we entered the opera, which is one of the world’s most famous opera houses. The premiere was there on the 25th of May 1869. We had some problems finding our seats, but we made it in time. A few minutes later and we would not be allowed to have a seat at our places. The actors were so amazing because they spoke the whole text word literally, how it appeared on my screen. The whole performance lasts five hours with two breaks in between. After the second break, Tina cheered the conductor of the orchestra and earned a shocked view from the lady next to her. After the opera we were so hungry that we were looking for something to eat. Unfortunately all the restaurants were already closed or were going to close soon. For that reason we had dinner at McDonalds.

travel diary 16th of March (corrections welcome) At 11am we had to leave the apartment and went to the car in a parking garage to put our luggage into the car. Then we went back into the city for lunch. We wanted to eat at a typical Austrian restaurant. A special tip was Pürstner, a tavern that is located in the heart of Vienna and with a quaint and unique flair. We had a delicious meal and tasty Eismarillenknödel. Our next goal was the Wurstelprater, an amusement park and section of the Wiener Prater, which is a large public park. Therefore we had to ride the subway to the Praterstern subwaystation. First we couldn’t find the Prater, but with some help we found it. It was a huge amusement park, but we still were so stuffed from lunch and so we decided to walk through the park and have a look into the souvenir stores. At the end we didn’t end up buying anything and went back to the city again. On our way through the city, we passed a comic store, where Tina bought an Asterix comic. Then we passed a telephone box, where we posed for some pictures. Straight ahead was our next goal, the famous Hundertwasserhaus. It is a residential neighborhood that was built from 1983 to 1985. The house is known for the colorful and extraordinary façade. A nearby annex was also built in this style and inherit many stores that sold souvenirs. Even the basement had a fountain and was built in its own special style. Before leaving the city center, we wanted to taste an Apfelstrudel. We intended to eat it at a small café, but most of the places ran out of it. So we went to Zanoni and had Apfelstrudel and ice. Totally stuffed we left the ice cream parlor. Our last goal for today was the Schloss Schönbrunn. It is located outside of the city, which is why we had to ride a long distance with the subway. Then it was a ten minute walk till we reached the imposing castle. It was first built from 1638 to 1643 and had several annexes in its history. We really enjoyed our stay, had a look at the sunset in the gardens and a walk through the park. When we listened to the nature we could hear the lion’s roar from the nearby zoo. Then we had to return the last time to the parking garage. We were in a rush, because we wanted to check in at 8pm. But on our way we had to stop to fill some gas into the car. Thirty minutes later we finally reached Willi’s Bauernhof, our hotel for tonight in Aichau.