The Other Vienna

We used to live about 20 minutes from Vienna, Virginia.  Now we live less than 2 hours from Vienna, Austria. On Friday morning we left for Vienna, capital of Austria -- our first two day excursion with the students and our kids. 

First stop was Mass at Stift Heiligenkreuz, not far from Vienna. 

When we arrived in Vienna we went on a walking tour. *Some of our family members did more walking than others. 

We had a traditional Austrian lunch of schnitzel at Zwölf-Apostelkeller. (Ellie had a nontraditional hair style to keep the top of her mullet out of her eyes. *No I did not cut her hair; she's never had a haircut and probably won't for another 2 years.)

Then we checked into our hostel. It was surprisingly very nice and clean. Our family had our own room and bathroom.  There were 2 twin beds and the bunk bed set (and we brought our new "Dream & Play" for Francis).  The downsides were it being really hot at night and not wanting to sleep with the windows open due to the noise, and Ellie being too excited about the bunk bed to sleep. In the end, Brian ended up on the bottom bunk and Ellie was with me (except for the times I was with Francis during the night...so yeah not a lot of sleep for anyone.)  But all things considered, it's pretty awesome to be able to travel to a European city and stay their with your family. 

That night, we ate outside at a restaurant in between St. Stephen's and St. Peter's. Then we went on a horse carriage ride. The weather was perfect out and we all loved it. 

We ended our evening with eis (ice cream...eis is pronounced 'ice' so it's an easy German word to remember :) in front of St. Stephan's. 

After breakfast at the hostel (which brings back many memories of doing so when I was a student!), we went to Mass at Minoritenkirche.  The two priests and the four Sisters serving at the University this year accompany us on the trips - so the priests celebrate Mass when we fill these beautiful churches. *All of the churches we've been able to have Mass in or just visit are absolutely breathtaking. Their age, their artwork, their architecture and knowing how many people have prayed there before you is stunning...it's hard to capture all or any of this in my pictures though. 

After Mass we went to Haus des Meeres, aka the aquarium!  Two students joined us, which was great fun especially as we climbed up all 10 floors - seeing tons of sea creatures you don't find in the U.S. aquariums and a few monkeys. 

The view of Vienna at the top was great!

We had lunch at a festival in front of the Imperial Palace and Ellie got to play with some toy trucks (check out the man in the traditional outfit playing with his son). 

Our last big stop was the Imperial Treasury (Kaiserliche Schatzkammer Wien)  at the Hofburg Palace. It houses many royal items and holy relics received during the time when Vienna was the capital of the Roman Empire. 

Nail from Christ's Crucifixion

Veronica's Veil

Reliquary containing (1) piece of tablecloth from The Last Supper, (2) piece of the loincloth of Christ, (3) tooth of John the Baptist, (4) fragment of the robe of John the Evangelist, and (5) piece of wood from Christ's manger. 

(1) Holy Lance, (2) Imperial Cross, and (3) Particle of The True Cross

We do miss our family and friends in Northern Virginia, but when it comes to our favorite Vienna to visit - the one here in Austria wins :)