Vienna Unveiled

Schönbrunn (meaning “fair spring”) Palace was given its name by Emperor Matthias who came across a spring of water on the palace grounds while he was out hunting in 1612. Although the estate dates back to the Middle Ages, it is more commonly known for being the residence of Austrian’s emperors for centuries (source).

front view at night — An evening view of the front of Schönbrunn.

back — The other side of Schönbrunn, where the gardens begin.

We were able to tour 40 of the palace’s 1,441 rooms, however, we weren’t allowed to take any pictures so, unfortunately, we only have photos from the outside.

The Gloriette (in featured photo as well) was built in 1568 and sits at the top of the hill behind Schönbrunn.

Presently, Schönbrunn Palace is a great place to go for a walk or run in the gardens, as many people regularly do. Over our 3 month stay in Vienna, we visited the palace several times.

overlookingthepalace — Hiking up to The Gloriette; the view from halfway up the hill.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral is another prominent place and is located in the center of Old Town Vienna. It was originally constructed in 1137, but has since then expanded. Some sections have been rebuilt after fires and WWII damaged the old church. Even so, it has maintained a very Romanesque and Gothic architectural style (source).

climbingststephens — Climbing the 343 steps up the tower of St. Stephen’s. This very narrow and dark stairway felt pretty medieval.

The view from the top of St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

In addition to the history and old buildings, Vienna is unique in that there are many narrow pathways/oddly shaped streets, romantic vine covered buildings, secret corners, and hidden courtyards for people like us to find. On occasion, we intentionally went out just to locate some of these more concealed corners of Vienna.

narrow-5 — Be there or be square…or rectangle.

BeFunky-collage — Narrow streets and tall buildings gave us the feeling of being inside, even though we weren’t.

narrow-8 — A tiny shop, hidden in a courtyard surrounded by apartments.

narrow-6 — We encountered many places like this: open areas enveloped by buildings, walls, or landscape.

Besides finding unique areas of Vienna, we also sought out nature. About 1 hour north of Vienna were many vineyards that we traveled to at least 3 different times.

grapes — We may or may not have stolen a grape or two during these visits.

Not far from the vineyards was a small village near the town of Klosterneuburg, which we quickly fell in love with for its authentic styles, pizza, and chiming bell towers.

cute town — There was a homey feel about this town.

vineyards3 — A quaint restaurant near Klosterneuburg.

Although we were mostly interested in the touristic aspects of Vienna, it also had a very modern side once we left the Old Town.

modernvienna — On a walk through Vienna’s modern side, a great view of The Danube River can be seen.

The city is pretty big with a population of nearly 2 million, so it is probably important to have a little bit of everything. I suppose this is one of the reasons it is considered the most liveable city in the world.

narrow-7 — Not necessarily the “modern side” of Vienna, but there’s botanical gardens and farmers’ markets to the left, with one of Vienna’s many parks to the right.

We made some of our favorite international memories in Vienna, the city of dreams, music, and coffee, and we definitely hope to go back again someday soon.