Vienna, Austria

We left Italy completely fed and rested. Ok, well we were completely fed. The kids fell asleep in the car as we made our way from Venice to Wein (Vienna). I was deathly afraid that the drive would be another eight hour doozie, but was pleasantly surprised by the five hour journey ahead. I was sad to leave Italy, but excited for our adventure to continue.

Like I previously mentioned, the kids were exhausted and knocked out twenty minutes after we left Venice. I snuck up to the front seat and enjoyed a little me and Mr. Johnson time. We talked about how the trip was going and laughed at all of our blunders the day before. We talked about our dreams and about the book he wanted to write. Have I mentioned I love Leon Johnson's mind. He has a great mind. It is always so fun to talk about things with him.

I also did a lot of looking out the window during our drive. The peace and quiet of two beautiful sleeping children gave me the opportunity to have some "me" time. As I sat in the passengers seat, looking out at the beautiful rolling Austrian hills, I couldn't help but be reminded of my Nana's favorite movie, The Sound of Music. I imagined I was Maria and I was singing at the top of my lungs on these rolling hills. This place was beautiful. How could you want to go back to your convent when you could be out singing on these hills?

He thought this was funny, obviously

I made him stop more than once to take in the views

The drive to Vienna was my favorite part of the day. I couldn't get enough of the rolling hills. We even decided if we ever do Vienna again we will just rent a cottage in the mountains and spend all our time running around in the grass and eating streusel.

And then came time to get gas.  We noticed that this restraunt we passed had an amazing playground and it was time to stretch our legs, so we piled out of the silver stallion and went to check it out. And we never expected what we found. This place was all about kids. I mean, they even had a slide to go down instead of stairs. I dreamed that dream a million times as a kid and Austria made it come true. Leon may or may not have hopped on the slide before the kids ever got a chance. At the bottom of the slide there was an arcade and the changing room supplied you with diapers and wipes for baby. Free things always win my heart.

Then we went outside. We found an enormous pirate ship playground. This was really exciting considering Ellie was obsessed with Jake and the Neverland Pirates ALL summer long. She loved to pretend she was Izzy and Jet was Cubby. Leon and I would trade off being Jake or Capt Hook. The playground even had a big horse and a "crazy swing" (zip line). We played for a while and then when we felt like our skin might melt off our bones we headed back to the car.

Why ever take the stairs?

Stairs are for the weak

She loves horses too 

I wish a picture could capture the Austrian beauty that we were overdosing on

So we grabbed some gas, some schnitzel, and some water and headed off on towards Wein. The gas station schnitzel was great. bytheway. We headed through tunnel after tunnel as we made our way under mountains and through the rolling hills. At one point I think we were in a tunnel for 10 miles. Can't make a wish holding your breath with a tunnel that long.

After handling some potty issues and hitting a traffic cone with the mirror of our rented car (they still haven't charged us for that one), we were ready to be done with our drive. Vienna looked like a thriving metropolis or basically any city you would find in the states at first glance. But as we strolled the streets we definitely appreciated its authentic charm.

Our first stop was Prater. Prater is one of the oldest amusement parks in the world. It was full of over priced rides and food. We decided to spend twenty euros there and ride whatever Ellie was itching to ride. Our ideology on traveling is make sure the kids do things that make the experience fun so they want to travel and learn and experience new things. Ellie loved the rides, but we were all melting in the heat. We rode on a ferris wheel that over looked the city. Ellie kept calling it the London Eye. It made me smile. I hope she always calls all ferris wheels the London Eye.

Vienna

I love him.

He loves me.

Vienna

Ellsie picked out a few kind of weird rides. One was a fairy tale ride that had the little mermaid being caught by a fisherman and creepy german kid music. I don't think she liked it very much either because she kept asking me why Ariel was screaming. Kind of traumatic. The other ride she picked out, with help from Leon was the big toboggan slide. She got her mat and headed up to the top fearlessly. She was comfortable with it because she had ridden one similar in Brighton at the beginning of the summer. I could hear them yelling from the top of the slide and waving at me. And then I could hear Leon screaming like a baby on the way down and Ellie laughing her head off. They had a blast.

The fairy tale ride

Getting ready with her mats

The toboggan ride

After the slide, Ellie decided she wanted to ride a pony, so we found her a pony to ride. She loved it and I loved watching her face light up as she rode around on her little horsey.

For the last portion of our time at Prater, we just played at the bouncy house. Ellie loves to go down blow up slides and Jet loves to climb on anything he is allowed (and not allowed) to climb on, so they had a good time. Leon and I just needed some shade and we had a good time too. 

After we left the amusement park, it was time for the city tour. All I wanted to do was take a carriage ride around the city and cuddle my main squeeze. So, Leon and I walked from our hotel to the old city and got to enjoy all the amazing architecture and statues along the way. It really was too bad that we didn't have more time and a babysitter because the museums and concerts looked so appealing.

For those of you who don't know, Vienna is famous for its connection to Mozart and its classical music. There are literally classical street performers on every corner and they are dressed the part. It is unlike anywhere else I have ever been. Quite classy. Mozart apparently played his first concert on a balcony in Vienna and spent a good portion of his life in the court there.

Statue of Maria Theresa, empress of Austria and mother to 16 including Marie Antoinette 

Maria Theresia

Museum Row

Don't worry we are still having fun

 We took pictures of things we didn't know and played in the mist machine and basically just goofed off until the kids woke up. Unfortunately, neither Leon or I did our homework on Vienna, so we were a little behind the game. We didn't know what we were looking at or what we should be looking at. All we knew was that we were in Vienna and we were going to see the city. And thats why I was glad we took the carriage guided tour. We learned about Maria Theresa, the old gothic church, and Mozart. We hit all the main points and did it feeling like Cinderella.

Of course I got a picture by the Black Plague memorial

Ok, I got two

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Carriage ride

She didn't want to ride in the carriage. She wanted to ride the horses, silly girl.

St Stephen's cathedral was so pretty at night. After the carriage ride we had the opportunity to go inside and appreciate all of the amazing work put into building this structure. I couldn't believe it was build in the 1100s. It was older than Norte Dame and seemed huge.

We ate gelatto, played in bubbles and went back to our amazing hotel. Did I mention that all of our hotel rooms after Paris were just perfect and pristine. Leon did such a good job.