We somehow managed to wake up without the aid of an alarm or a wake up call in time to catch our train from Prague to Vienna (we had no clocks, working phones, or watches. We told time via digital camera).
We visited Schönbrunn Palace, which houses on its grounds the oldest zoo in the world, called Tiergarten. It is one of three, I think, zoos in Europe with giant pandas, and it definitely had some of the best habitats for the animals that I've ever seen. Besides the Tiergarten, Schönbrunn had a hedge maze and two hedge labyrinths - this place is massive - and acres and acres of grounds and gardens to walk through, every inch complete with fountains and statues and flowers. The pathways are all topped with clean-looking white stones. I don't think we made it through even half of the grounds, although we
might have if you include the enormous zoo and the patch of hedge mazes.
Vienna also had quite a bit of art to offer, of which we only scratched the surface while we were there. Even at Karlskirche, a baroque-style cathedral, there was a small gallery exhibiting Christian-themed art from the 70s and 80s (some of it had a sense of humor). My favorite place, though, was St. Stephen's, a beautiful gothic cathedral with catacombs underneath, which we took a short tour of. We also visited the Museum Der Stadt Wien (Museum of the City of Vienna) where there was art on display that dated from the beginning of the city's history up until pretty recently - I saw a blown glass hand grenade from Austria's struggle with the Ottoman Empire and also some Gustav Klimt up a few flights of stairs. We didn't even make it to the gigantic museums quarter because there was so much else to see.
The rest of my photos can be found
here.
We visited Schönbrunn Palace, which houses on its grounds the oldest zoo in the world, called Tiergarten. It is one of three, I think, zoos in Europe with giant pandas, and it definitely had some of the best habitats for the animals that I've ever seen. Besides the Tiergarten, Schönbrunn had a hedge maze and two hedge labyrinths - this place is massive - and acres and acres of grounds and gardens to walk through, every inch complete with fountains and statues and flowers. The pathways are all topped with clean-looking white stones. I don't think we made it through even half of the grounds, although we might have if you include the enormous zoo and the patch of hedge mazes.
Vienna also had quite a bit of art to offer, of which we only scratched the surface while we were there. Even at Karlskirche, a baroque-style cathedral, there was a small gallery exhibiting Christian-themed art from the 70s and 80s (some of it had a sense of humor). My favorite place, though, was St. Stephen's, a beautiful gothic cathedral with catacombs underneath, which we took a short tour of. We also visited the Museum Der Stadt Wien (Museum of the City of Vienna) where there was art on display that dated from the beginning of the city's history up until pretty recently - I saw a blown glass hand grenade from Austria's struggle with the Ottoman Empire and also some Gustav Klimt up a few flights of stairs. We didn't even make it to the gigantic museums quarter because there was so much else to see.
The rest of my photos can be found here.
oh I visited giant pandas twice as well. they are so lovely as well!
ReplyDeleteHere I bought a cuddly panda bag (L) that I can hardly put it down!
I believe it is a GREAT find for every panda fanatic!
hkpanda.freetzi.com
Flor (floreshayes@gmail.com)