Vienna day II

Hi guys!
We've had a lovely and sunny day in Vienna today, but a bit windy. The Internet connection here is S L O W and I'm loosing my mind uploading pix, so there won't be as many as I'd liked today. Our first stop today was Schloss Schönbrunn. It was hunting castle for the Habsburgers once upon a time. It's got a big, beautiful garden where we spent most of the time, but here's a shot of the castle itself:
We can actually see the castle from our hostel, which is really cool.

Then we went downtown and found the Hundertwasserhaus. If you do not already know of Hundertwasser you might check him out on Wikipedia or something - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedensreich_Hundertwasser. I think he's made some really cool houses and paintings, too.
It really isn't your everyday property... Tee hee... I love how you can see it from a distance because from one side it's almost covered in trees and plants.

Then we went to my favourite ice cream restaurant! I actually don't know if I know anyone else that qualifies.. But still. It's great. Raspberry mousse and a (really tasty) piece of strawberry on top covering a sharp raspberry sauce within the dome of chocolat (I make them substitute it for vanilla) and strawberry ice cream covered in crushed marengue pieces. Then we went on a guided tour by bus and on to St. Stephans.
Some detail on one of the walls.
This miniature stands next to it, making it able to fit the entire ting in one picture, hehehe...
Inside it - a bit blurry since I couldn't use the flash. We also took a guided tour of the crypts underneath seeing, among other things, the graves of the cardinals and bishops and a mass grave from the Black Plague.

And here's a shot of the hostel where we're staying. Our room faces this way, and has a lovely view of the park area and down towards the city.

Tomorrow is another day in Vienna. It's nice to be somewhere for more than two nights - and since I've been here a few times before it's also nice to be somewhere I know where I'm going..

Ane

And today: Vienna

Early this afternoon we hopped on a train to Vienna. I tried to capture the abundance of poppies... but they all turned out blurry.. sigh..
This time our hostel is a bit outside the city - but on a hill with a beautiful view towards the city!

..and with a lovely park area to relax in if you want to.
Instead of more buildings - here are a couple of close-up flower shots. :)

Now I'm off to bed ;)

Ane

Prague day II

So this is our main day in Prague. We got up early to avoid the masses. Good plan.
Took a tram for a while and then started climbing the hill up to the Prague Castle... These are the castle steps, the last bit.


Pretty great views when we arrived on the top, though!


This (smaller) copy of the Eiffel tower was on an opposite hill.


The gate. Remnants of the Church of the Virgin Mary.

I believe this is the Basilika of St.George.
On our way out we heard someone singing "The Old Rover".. hehe.. And these guys were hiding under a gate singing.
Charles Bridge from a distance.
It's been raining today..
Lunch. Yum.
Hehe... Sometimes I wonder why these guys find work EVERYWHERE?
The old town.. lots of pretty buildings, of course... And narrow streets.

The Astronomical Clock on the Old City Square. We were there at one to see the skeleton (do you find him?) pull on the chain and the 12 apostles paraded by the two small windows.

Tomorrow we move on to Vienna. I'm looking forwards to ice cream from my favourite ice cream restaurant. ;)

Ane

We're in Prague!

l
o

Finding our hostel was no stress and a very helpful lady showed us our room across the street. We're in a "dorm" here, but only 5 beds per room, and no bunk beds. And what a nicely decorated wall. The entire hostel is really cool design wise: Mine is the one with all the junk and a towel hung up to dry.. LOL...

Table and chairs in the middle of the room and two large windows. And free wi fi that's working great. Kitchen and tv (and plenty of DVDs) downstairs, but have not checked it out yet.
Equally cool bathroom - rough cement finish, but dyed a little (I think) and with some sort of varnish so it's not rough. Big shower here, and then a separate shower/wash room where you have a few steps up to get into the shower, but that didn't photograph well. It's a bit hard to see - but there is a shower behind this sink:


The street outside - we're headed out to dinner.

Hehehe... Look at my large beer and PA's tiny Sprite...

I had Gnocchi in a DELICIOUS tomato-cream sauce with basil and I'm suspecting pine nuts and other goodies in there.
Two cute little terrors.
Pretty, pretty...
Nice park area right by.

Now I need to do some laundry. Hope you're all well. And that the picture overload isn't boring you all to death..

A

Berlin - day III

So it's Thursday and time for us to continue to Prague. But first we've got to take some pictures of the area we've stayed in.


It's not called the riverside for nothing, this river is like a hundred meters away.


Just in there to the right and you're there.


Swans and river boat


Lunch - crispy duck with pepper&coriander sauce and rice. Yummy.


The Berlin TV tower remind me of the CN tower in Toronto. Only smaller. And probably without a funny glass floor to jump around on...


I thought this one was funny..

Some sight seeing pix from yesterday:


On the second floor of the double decker bus


The Reichstag


Just a short walk across this park area..


..we find Brandenburger Tor.

I was, however, more focussed on:

...the hot air balloon that would NOT come above the building as long as I had my camera ready..

or..


..that there was a Québec flag on the building next to it. (almost impossible to see it on the stamp sized pix on photobucket..)


a little detail from the pillars of Brandenburger Tor


The statue on top seen from the front.

Oh well.. Hope your're all doing GREAT. The WiFi here is rather slow and it's much more comfortable here in the room rather than going outside to the main area of the hostel where the reception is better.. So not so much blog visiting for me, at least not from here.

Ane