Finally the rain has stopped.  It is still cold and windy but no rain makes site seeing so much better.  William and I headed out for a tour of Schönbrunn Palace which was the main summer residence of the Habsburg rulers.  We thought it would be like Versailles but it was not.  It had its gold but it was not decorated with the same opulence as the Chateau in France.

There were no photos allowed inside but somehow I found this on William’s iPhone.  This was the ceramic stoves used in the Palace.  The wood was loaded from the back so as to keep the smoke away from the Emperor.

The Palace had 1,441 rooms for the Emperor Franz Joseph and his beloved wife “Sisi”.    We toured only 21 rooms today.  Here is a portrait of Sisi that I found on William’s iPhone as well.

Her hair was ankle length and it took 3 to 4 hours a day for the servants to take care of it.  Sisi would often skip family meals because she was so concerned about keeping her tiny waistline.

When Mozart was only 6 years old he performed here in the Palace for the Emperor and his wife.  So after leaving the Palace tour we headed out to find the monument for Mozart located in Burggarten Park.

And no trip to Vienna would be complete without going to Stadpark for the most frequently photographed monument in Vienna – Johann Strauss.

My sister Tammy always reminds me that my day is always better if I keep my husband well fed so at this point in our day I thought a trip over the Naschmarkt, a vast market with 16th-century origins, with more than 100 food & vintage stalls, plus restaurants should be our next stop.  William found this kind lady that fixed him a hot and ready to eat Bratwurst.

Just look at that smile.  My Sis is so very smart when it comes down to taking care of your Man!

As for me, I was quite happy with the falafel I found from one of the Vendors.

We had heard so much about the European Markets and were quite impressed with the one here at Naschmarkt in Vienna.  You could get everything from fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh coconut, fresh fish and crab legs and squid, olive oils and balsamic vinegars, pastas, fresh meats, olives, fresh cut flowers, and even desserts including Vegan options.

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It was here at the Market that we met the Patterson’s from Utah who were also touring around Europe.  How nice to have a conversation with Americans today.

After our visit to the Market we hopped on the Ringstrasse which is a circular grand boulevard that serves as a ring road around the historic district of Vienna, Austria.  Our first stop was at The Belvedere which is a historic building complex in Vienna consisting of two Baroque palaces, the Orangery, and the Palace Stables.

We really loved the gardens here with all the monuments and water features.

After touring around Belevedere we jumped back on the Ringstrasse and headed back down to St. Stephan’s Cathedral.  We passed by the Imperial Hofburg Palace and many other impressive buildings.  This City really is beautiful and in a way reminded us a bit of Cuba.  In Cuba everywhere we turned we saw beautiful architecture, except in Cuba the buildings had not been maintained as they were here in Vienna.

This is Maria Theresa, the only female ruler of the Habsburg.

And here are more photos of our walk through Vienna today.

This is the State Opera House.

We decided to take a coffee break before going back to St. Stephan’s Cathedral.  We selected the Vienna Restaurant where we had Cafe Melange and the famous Chocolate Cake.

With this renewed energy we had one more Photo to take.  Yesterday when I showed the tiled roof of St. Stephan’s Cathedral I told you that it had the coats of arms of the city of Vienna and the Republic of Austria but I did not really capture the shot because of all the rain.  Here today I was able to get a good view of the roof so that I could share it with you.

It was a very long day, eleven miles to be exact, so we captured lots of photos of Vienna to share with you.  It would take more than a week to see all of Vienna but we feel that we got a pretty good view of the most beautiful city in Europe.   We leave for Krakow tomorrow morning in hopes to visit Auschwitz.  When we made our Airbnb reservations last night we decided to check on getting tickets for the Concentration Camp there.  We found that you need to make reservations months in advance but there are “a few” admissions the day of your visit.  We are hoping to make it inside the Camp to show our respects to all that perished there.