to Vienna, day 1

Today we boarded a train to Vienna from Germany . . . a very long 5 hours 47 minutes later we arrived! We did a lot of this . . .

It wasn't too bad and the train was fairly new and very empty so that helped. I did our hotel reservation the night before we left . . . last minute and a good deal . . . very centrally located. Colin proclaimed, "this is the bestest hotel EVER!" I have to agree! From the minute we checked in everything was so easy and everyone so friendly! I love this place and so don't want to leave. The cold pool and hot pool are both very nice at the end of a long day too. Where are we staying? Le Meridien . . . of course everything is over priced as far as breakfast and such but with my frequent traveler card we got free drinks in the mini bar and it is restocked daily!



We quickly dropped our bag at the room and headed out. I found a great place outside for us since we had been stuck on a train all day . . . Schonbrunn Palace! First I had to stop by the Tourist Information Office to try and book a trip for tomorrow . . . we did stroll by the impressive Opera House on the walk there and saw about a dozen men and women dressed as Mozart trying to sell us tickets; seriously for a six year old? Back to the Schonbrunn . . . it is open later during the summer months so it fit the bill. The outside was just amazing . . . the landscaping is just not justifiable with words!




A very hot boy trying to be silly . . .

The best part was getting lost in the mazes . . .

. . . I cheated and asked for a map just in case but Colin found our way out!


. . . and the playground was pretty cool too!

. . . we both had fun even though it was hot . . . someone was good about finding shade.
Speaking of hot . . . the one thing I was so looking forward to was the cooler summer temperatures but apparently they have followed us from Texas. There are some days it is cooler in Texas than Europe but at least in Texas you have air conditioning which is not very likely in Europe. Anyway, back on target. We spent an hour or so exploring the outside of Schonbrunn. We hopped back on the U-bahn to find dinner. We were not having much luck so grabbed McDonald's. Hmmmm, sure seems like we are eating there often doesn't it? A swim was the perfect end to a long day . . . tomorrow will be a long one!

***The big news story was happening in Vienna . . . the Russian spies were transferred at the airport . . . we had no clue until we watched the news, LOL.