Vienna

We met up in the paris airport where we flew to vienna and were so excited to see Nicole and Amanda waiting for us at the end of customs. We took the metro to the area our hostel was located and proceeded to get lost with our heavy backpacks for about twenty minutes... we finally found out that we'd been trekking in the wrong direction and turned around. After retracing our steps we finally found our hostel. We lucked out because we got a new room with a private bathroom. It's a great hostel for an excellent price! We then sat around to catch up for awhile before heading out for a night on the town in honor of Amanda's birthday. We ateat a fabulous restaraunt, on their 7th floor outdoor balcony overlooking the Stephansplatz cathedral. We then stolled the streets before taking a tour via horse and buggy. We enjoyed coffee and hot chocolate at the oldest cafe in Vienna before calling it a night and headed back to the hostel. We played euchre while catching up on some much needed and much missed cousin time.

Amanda and Nicole woke us up at 9 in the morning to start Amanda's birthday day. We went to the market near our hostel and picked up some bread, cheese, and fruit for breakfast. We then headed into town for some birthday cake at a cute pastry shop, were we surprised Amanda with a singing candle and sang happy birthday. Then we caught the metro to Shönbrunn, a castle where different royal families lived. We began our tour in the castle grounds, walking through the gardens and visiting the various ponds and statues. (Don't worry Mommy I took lots of pictures for you in the gardens - Franki) After that we went into the castle and took a guided audio tour. It was very pretty and we've decided that it's a perfect place for a wedding! Amanda and Franki served as our musical entertainment as we made our way to the modern art museum, which was... well interesting. We are now wasting some time before the Motzart Pub opens so we can get our hostel special on some weinerschnitzel! Tonight we plan to have a festive birthday celebration before awaking for tomorrow's train ride to Munich, Germany.

* Franki * A * N * Denise *