Vienna

After 8 months of traveling together, Alex and I went our separate ways on our first day in Vienna. While he was in the southwest part of the city enjoying a day at the skatepark, I was looking at porcelain and fabric patterns. 

A view from the top of St. Stephen's Cathedral. Gorgeous colored tiles...like in Beaune!

The Hofburg Imperial Palace. Inside I toured the imperial apartments, the Sisi Museum (detailing the life and times of empress Elizabeth, wife of Franz Joseph I), and the imperial china collection. Alex is going to be soooo bummed he missed this!

The china collection was really fascinating. All of the porcelain, silver and gold flatware, and copper cookware was on display. Over the top! Some pieces really had amazing histories though....designed by Louis XVI as a gift to the emperor after his coronation. So cool to see objects with such history and such craftsmanship.

A view of the Rathaus (seat of the Mayor's office) from the Hofsburg.

I stumbled upon a cool basement museum showing textile designs from the Wiener Werkstätte, founded in 1897 as an artists' cooperative encouraging the renewal of the arts. I had studied this in design school but it wa great to get a refresher.

The basement archives! This vault survived both World Wars. A treasure trove of textiles!

The Belvedere Castle and Museum. I had been here about 10 years ago with my pals Mason and Megan. Awesome museum. Gorgeous palace. And home to Gustav Klimt's The Kiss.

Just one tiny example of the amazing architecture seen all over Vienna. I loved these female figures.

We spent Sunday morning at the Naschmarkt looking through amazing prepared food, fresh produce and...more junk. We finally found something small enough and light enough to make the trip home...a funky little red wall sconce from the 1950s. Can't wait to get that baby up!

After a major marital compromise, Alex and I spent the first half of our last evening in Vienna hearing the Vienna symphony orchestra at the acoustically perfect Musikverein and the second half at an outdoor pub watching the US-Ghana football World Cup match. We strolled home down one of Vienna's pedestrian streets past wiener schnitzel and sausage stands, and through chanting fans and more bachelorettes than we have ever seen.