Vienna, Danube Island Festival, and Krems

Our last big city in Austria was our destination - Vienna.  Vienna is C's home, and we stayed with him for several nights while we toured the area.  There is so much to see and Vienna is such a large place that we barely touched the surface!

 Marktplatz in Vienna, our first stop!  Of course it had to be a big flea market/farmer's market!

 Neat painted building.

 Strawberries and donut peaches!  :)

 A farmer's market is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

 White asparagus is a delicacy in Europe (and across much of the world).  It is the same species as green asparagus, but as the plant grows it is continuously buried by the farmer so that it is never exposed to sunlight, and therefore never uses its chloroplasts nor makes chlorophyll (thus staying white and not turning green).

 Turkish hummus stall at the Marktplatz.  Vienna has a large population of Turkish immigrants, which means lots of kebabs, souvlaki, etc.!  YUM!

 Homemade brined pickles!  I want to learn how to make this!

 Homemade sauerkraut!  One of my most favorite things... Yummy!

 Mmm, beautiful cheese!

 St. Stephen's Cathedral

 Love the staircase!

 The organ in St. Stephen's Cathedral.

 Post-restoration and pre-restoration of the cathedral.

 OUR FIRST INVADER!!!  Just outside St. Stephen's Cathedral.

 The Austrian eagle in tile on the roof of the Cathedral.  We climbed the 466 very steep stairs to the top of the tower... Whew!

 OUR SECOND INVADER!!  And it's on MY street, too!!!  :) :) :)

 Karlskirche.

 Another view of the gorgeous Baroque Karlskirche (Karl's Church) in Vienna, by the Karlsplatz.

 Heading into the chaos of the Danube Island Festival, the largest free music festival in the world.

 DANCING!

 We met four really great people from Poland who shared our table.  We didn't speak the same language in any way and we couldn't communicate at all, but we all danced together and had a blast!

 Schönbrunn Palace just outside Vienna, the former home of the Emperor Franz Josef.

 Vienna cafe for some hot chocolate and lunch!

 Mushroom risotto for me, dumplings for C, and a burger with a farm egg on top for D!  Yummy!

 Leopold Museum in Vienna.

 Painting by Gustav Klimt.  He's one of my favorite artists!  This is the main reason why we visited this museum!

 Haha!  Cloud installation!  Just about every kid I know (and every kid-at-heart) would love to crawl up inside this and look down on the world!

 Museum Quartier in Vienna.  Nice and convenient that all the major museums are on one small block!

 Back during WWII, Hitler himself gave a speech from the balcony of this building.  Wild.

 Memorial in the park.

 Rose gardens.

 The greatest lion I've seen in any city.  Love this statue!

 OUR THIRD INVADER!!!  D was bummed that *I* found it and he didn't!  HAHA!

 D's ridiculous schnitzel plate.  Just about everything fry-able was fried and included here.

 My breading-less pork and garlic schnitzel plate.  Delicious, but potent!

 We found a Polish church!  Yay Poland!  C and I are dancing in the rain!

 A very proud, proud Blackhawks fan!  GOOO BLACKHAWKS!

 We found a Vietnamese restaurant!  Score.

 Happy man eating his tendon, tripe, and meatball pho.

 My very safe, easy beef pho.  Haha.

 Dessert!

 Short visit to Krems, where we met C's friend I.

 Three gentlemen:  C, D, and I.

 Krems is a university town and very neat.  Small, quiet, and picturesque!

 I took us to a delicious restaurant by the university that had GLUTEN FREE OPTIONS ON THE MENU!  YAY!!!

 We met such wonderful people and had so much fun on this trip!

Thank you for taking us around your country and your lovely city, C!  You are a wonderful guy and a great friend, and D and I are lucky to have you in our life!  :)  We'll be friends when we're old and gray!