Schönbrunn Palace

Schönbrunn is a beautiful palace in Vienna with vast property and seemingly endless gardens. The palace was constructed in the 1600's and opened in the final year of the century. Vienna was our final European vacation, and Schönbrunn was our final palace tour. Luckily, we were not disappointed.

Pictures were not allowed inside, a lot of the items were original and they did not want to put their preservation at risk. We took the self guided audio tour, lasting about an hour, before hitting up the gift shop on our way out.

We walked through the gardens after the palace tour. They were icy and all leaves and flowers had long since gone. All the ice and snow really added to the beauty and mystique of such a grand space.

From the ground level we walked up a snow covered path to get a better look of the grounds. My riding boots gave me a real battle as I hiked up, at times sliding and losing whatever ground I had just gained! The view was fantastic. Beyond the palace, you could see Vienna beautifully on display in the background. 

From Schönbrunn we took the bus back through the city to have a home cooked meal with some friends before heading to the airport. Vienna was a fantastically relaxing weekend. I loved the coffee shops, the cakes, and some of the most beautiful scenery in all of Europe. I even bought some artwork I look forward to framing soon and hanging up at home in Chicago.

Vienna from the Sky

We spent our last official European vacation in Vienna, Austria. Vienna is held in high regard internationally and domestically. Their quality of life, standards of living, and natives such as Freud are literally award winning. Vienna is also exceedingly beautiful, even when covered in ice and snow. We were very fortunate in Vienna and had some friends who planned our weekend and showed us around the city.

Saturday morning we got an early start, eating brunch by the university before walking through the city. We walked through the museum quarter before heading to the Rathausplatz, where their government building is located. There was an expansive winter market set up in the area. The largest, and most intricate, ice rink I have ever seen snaked between trees and along buildings. Behind the pretzel, beer, and hot chocolate stands was an attraction which allowed you to see Vienna from above. My dislike of heights and I were not initially thrilled to get on board, but I went for it.

Votivkirche - Votive Church

Vienna Opera

The view was outstanding and made for some excellent pictures. To recover from such an epic and nerve wracking adventure, we grabbed some drinks afterward. We walked through the shopping strip and I saw THE Julius Meinl. Julius Meinl is my favorite brunch spot back home, there are only two in the States, and it was nice to pay tribute to the original.

We spent our afternoon warming up at Cafe Diglas where we had cake and drinks. I had a mint tea and chocolate truffle cake. While apple strudel is what Vienna is really known for, I had to go with chocolate. The chandelier was my favorite, espresso mugs hung from the lights. While this made me slightly apprehensive the whole thing may fall on me due to the added weight, I want an espresso chandelier of my own.

Post cake, we took the train to dinner where we had schnitzel larger than our faces. Literally. Two people split one order, paired with the local Grüner Veltliner wine. Before calling it a night, we got a round or two of Moscow mules at a local bar with a balcony overlooking the city. We went to bed full and content we managed to fit so much adventure into one day.

Brunch at Chipps

Back in Chicago, brunch is an Olympic sport. A sport I sorely miss and excelled at nearly every weekend. While Germany is overflowing with bakeries and grab and go breakfast sandwiches, this was not filling the pancake and bacon sized hole in my heart. Before leaving Berlin on Sunday morning, we found a brunch restaurant walking distance to our hotel.

Chipps is a well known, and well rated, restaurant not far from Museum Island. The inside space was small, and we were fortunate to get a table! You could easily watch your food being freshly made, a reassuring concept and entertaining to watch.

While I was tempted to order a latte, I decided to live dangerously and order a mint green tea. I was pleasantly surprised when a cup of piping hot green tea arrived stuffed to the brim with fresh mint leaves. I didn't use the honey they brought, but it made for an adorable display! It gave me the genius idea to add fresh mint leaves to my green tea to switch things up. How I failed to think of this myself, I don't know.

Our food was beyond my expectations. Tom ordered french toast and I chose the pancakes.  There is truly an art in cooking such basic dishes and having them turn out so brilliantly. My only complaint was they brought us appropriate, European portions of the amazing brunch options. I wish I had an American sized plate piled high with those pancakes, but it makes you appreciate it all the more! I'm not saying I would totally drive the six hours to Berlin just to brunch at Chipps, but the thought had crossed my mind.

The Wall

History is so easily forgotten and dismissed. Even the historical events occurring within our own lifetime. The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 and demolished from 1989 to 1992. While I was a toddler when the dismantling began, I associate the wall with a much different time period. Until recently, I also failed to fully comprehend the heart break, betrayal, and often times death associated with the division of East and West Berlin while the east was occupied by the Soviet Union.

We took the train out to the Berlin Wall Memorial and were able to walk through a free exhibition detailing its history and the lives of those affected by the division.

We arrived after dark. The shadows projected by the wall's remains created an ominous feeling as we walked along both sides. In the exhibition, we read stories of families and best friends who were eating together one day and hopelessly divided the next. A number of secret escape channels had been created for those in East Berlin to escape to the west, but often those participants were exposed and jailed, or sometimes worse. A number of people were shot trying to escape while their deaths were covered up for years. Family members sometimes didn't live long enough to hear the truth about what occurred to their loved ones. 

Forgetting how free we truly are in our everyday lives is easy to do. Visiting the memorial and seeing the stories, pictures, and videos of those who risked it all to escape or be with those they love serves as a powerful reminder. A reminder for us to never take life and our freedom for granted.

Walking Through Berlin

Our hotel in Berlin was located by Museum Island. While I had researched various hotels in a multitude of locations for days, Tom searched for about five minutes and came up with the perfect one. Go figure. We drove the six hours to Berlin on a Friday afternoon and settled into our hotel. Hangry and unsure of where to go in the area, we ate at the Indian restaurant next door. The food was flavorful and the servings were huge. This created a perfect equation for a full night of sleep before getting off to an early start Saturday morning.

Believe it or not, we enjoyed our first rain free weekend in quite some time. We were able to take advantage of the weather and walk the thirty minutes to the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag Building just five minutes beyond that.

Brandenburg Gate

Reichstag Building

From the Reichstag we walked about twenty minutes to the Deutsches Historisches Museum, or the German History Museum. Before going inside, a nearby market caught our eye. As we walked through the tents, we glanced across the river and caught a glimpse of the Berliner Dom, the Berlin Cathedral. The Cathedral wasn't even on our list to see and made for a happy surprise as we realized it was a short walk across the bridge.

Berliner Dom and Fernsehturm

The Fernsehturm, the silver tower you can see beyond the cathedral roof, is a television tower in central Berlin. It is also an iconic landmark, I consider this picture to be quite a two for one view.

We finally made our way into the history museum where they give you a sticker as proof of entry instead of a ticket stub. While this method did not bode well for me, I lost mine halfway through and had to get another, I liked the idea. It seemed more environmentally friendly.

I have, understandably, learned a great deal about European history since arriving here. This museum was particularly awesome. Displays began in the 500's, but there was an animated map to show the shifting country lines throughout the preceding centuries.

"Discord in Marriage"

Art work was featured throughout a number of exhibits and I consider the above piece to be my favorite by far. The marriage piece is humorous and descriptive. I may consider requesting a replica for my own decor.

The museum spanned two floors, I lost my sticker after floor one, and concluded with a glimpse into the lives of East/West Berlin residents. We spent a significant portion of time walking through that display. We left the museum around three and I was beyond starving. I had yet to eat and all of that walking and education was draining me quickly.

Fortunately we were just up the road from a long strip of restaurants. We perused some menu choices before settling on one advertising more traditional German fare.

By now, I like to believe I know my way around a menu. I knew I ordered something with pork, potatoes, and vegetables. I thought it would be a slab of pork with everything else on the side. Then, they brought out the above contraption. I devoured nearly the entire thing, and it tasted like a fusion of Mexican and American style cooking. From the restaurant we took the train out to the Berlin Wall, but that experience is for another post. 

Munich on New Year's Day

Our New Year kicked off with a trip to Munich. Technically, we had been to Munich before, but as participants and eager observers of Oktoberfest. I expected this visit might have a bit more culture. We stayed at the Hotel Cristal, awesome because of it's central location, not awesome due to the amount of wandering we had to do in order to access and escape the parking garage. 

We began exploring the city after we arrived midday. There weren't snow or rainstorms following us throughout the day, for once, but the sidewalks were deathly slippery and lead to me slowing everyone down with my unsure shuffle.

There were remnants of the local Christmas market just outside of Marienplatz. We saw one very unfortunate fellow drop a fresh order of fries, I wanted to cry for his loss but the local pigeons were able to indulge in a serious feast. Going off of a recommendation, we went to Augustiner, a very famous beer hall, for lunch. It is the second largest beer hall in Munich and their beer recipe goes all the way back to the 1300's when the Augustinian monks began crafting it in their monastery.

Baskets of pretzels welcomed us to the table. They were decent, though slightly stale and not free! I ordered a venison goulash and only made it half way through. I forgot how heavy carbs, beer, and meat can be.

After lunch we walked just across the way to St. Michael's church. The inside was beautiful and the sunlight shone through in a magnificent way. From there we walked by the Neues Rathaus. Rathaus means government building, our Rathaus in Stuttgart is nothing special and the ones in Munich, the old and the new, put ours to shame.

Neues Rathaus

Altes Rathaus

Given that is was New Year's Day, museums and other points of interest were closed. Luckily, we were able to take in all of the major sites of the city without having to set foot inside a building. For dinner we ate at a small German style restaurant where I balanced out my lunch with a salad and ice cream. I figured I would need to keep my strength up for the treacherous walk back to the hotel along a large sheet of ice.

I loved the accessibility of Munich. To have all the must sees all in one place with a never ending selection of great food and beer was ideal. 

An Explosive New Year's Eve

How does Stuttgart prefer to bring in a New Year? By blowing up an assortment of fireworks in the city square of Schloßplatz. While many cities admire and enjoy fireworks over the holidays, it is required they are done by professionals to avoid risk of injury. Those in Germany feel no such pressure for an orchestrated, well managed show.

After arriving home from Trier and doing some festive drinking at our apartment, we hopped on the U-Bahn downtown. As we approached Schloßplatz, the crowd went from nonexistent to throngs of people clumped together for warmth, and possibly safety. The four of us set up base under a tree, we figured if something went flying and sparked overhead we would have decent coverage!

The age of the attendees were mostly college through those in their thirties, although to one side of us there was a family of elementary aged children setting off Roman candles as quickly as they could manage! Many of the fireworks were small, items that twirled on the ground, or emitted sparks ten or so feet into the air. However, a number of participants took their firework celebration much more seriously! We had the perfect view of high arcing fireworks exploding over the crowd and lighting up the night. Truth be told, there was one point of concern where a rouge firework shot directly at us and exploded so closely we could feel the warmth on our faces. 

As midnight approached things began going off like crazy. The sky went from clear to overwhelmed with smoke and lights. The crowds were cheering, drinking, and having the best of times as they set their own stash aflame and into the air.

While the exact stroke of midnight was lost in luminous chaos, the ten minutes preceding and after the start of 2015 were filled with intense celebration by everyone in the square. 2015 easily goes down as the most memorable New Year's Eve of all time.