Vienna (the official German name Wine) was our last stop. It is the capital of Austria and it is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic and political center.
First stop is the Schönbrunn Palace which is a former imperial summer residence built by Maria Theresa. It is one of the most important cultural monuments in the country, since the 1960s it has been one of the major tourist attractions in Vienna. The palace and gardens illustrate the tastes, interests, and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs. The sculpted garden space between the palace and the Neptune Well is called the Great Parterre ("Great Ground Floor").
Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria was born there spent the majority of his life there. Through the course of his 68-years reign, Schönbrunn Palace was seen as a Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art) and remodeled in accordance with its history. Franz Josef I's wife is the famous Sisi which we heard a lot of story about her during the tour. We were not allowed to take any pictures inside the palace therefore we are not having any pictures to share. However, we were able to take lots of pictures in the Great Parterre. It is a gorgeous and well-maintained garden with a lot of beautiful flowers.
After tour the city on bus, we stopped at the St. Stephen’s cathedral (Stephansplatz). It is in the heart of the city adjacent to pedestrian stretch of shops. The Cathedral had major construction project going on when we visited. However, there were still tourists riding on horse carriages.
We had free time for lunch and shopping this afternoon. Several of us went to a seafood restaurant and some of us went to tour the Hofburg Imperial Palace that is served as the official residence of the President of Austria. It was the Habsburg's principal winter residence. Later in the afternoon, we all ended up in front of Sacher store for the world's famous sachertorte, a dry chocolate cake with apricot jam created by the Sacher Hotel.
Then we visited the last attraction off this trip, the Belvedere. It is a baroque palace complex built by Prince Eugene of Savoy in the 3rd district of Vienna, south-east of the city centre. It houses the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere museum. It has a beautiful well-groomed garden. However, when you compare this with the Great Parterre, then it is not that impressive.
Due to schedule conflict, Li had to leave us 1 day early. However, she was sweet enough by buying a sachertorte cake for us. Everyone got the chance of enjoying the world famous sachertorte cake.
This was our last night in Europe and we stayed at Hilton Danube Hotel that is next to the Danube. We had a 2:30AM wake up call schedule. However, some of us still got a chance to walk behind the hotel along the Danube to enjoy the night scene of the Danube.
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