Wien (Vienna) Austria

So we had a long weekend at the end of January!  Yes, my work schedule here in Grafenwoehr has been so nice! With no further ado, here are the highlights of Vienna, Austria and  little bit of the history!

We stayed at the Falkensteiner Hotel.  It was decorated so cute that Whitney took a photo to remember it.  It also had a really nice breakfast smorgasbord!!

St. Stephen's Cathedral.  It is right down town Vienna.  We did a tour of the catacombs.  It was interesting because they had the royalty tums here.  In Vienna, they removed the organs from the bodies and placed the heart in one urn and the other organs in another and then sealed the bodies in their coffin.  The organs were then taken to another church's catacomb and the heart was taken to a third church.  In that way, royalty could be remembered at three churches in the city. 

Hofburg palace home to the Habsburg family.  It is now converted into museums and classical concert halls.

The Palace in the background as we walked the shopping area!

The World Famous Demel Chocolate shop.

A little bit of America here in Europe!!!

Figlmuller- the best Schnitzel I have ever had!!!

An Almdudler is a soda that is made here in Vienna.  Tastes like a ginger-ale with a herbal after taste.  Not Bad, but not amazing!

Sacher Tort: World Famous and really good.  It has a chocolate apricot flavor.  Me saying it is good says a lot because I (Jake) do not like apricot anything.

These chocolate hazelnut wafer cookies are amazing and addicting!! A must try in Vienna!

Whitney using the guide book to figure out where to go next!!  I love that she loves guide books and helps me discover a new city!!

Um... So we are definitely a couple.  You know those couples that dress the same but you know they didn't coordinate their outfits, well after 5 years of marriage that is Whitney and me!!  And if you couldn't pick out the tourist traveling through your city,  just look for the bright red couple in the midst of all the other people wearing black!! lol

The sign says "Freedom!" It is made out of the tubing that is on the industrial car vacuum cleaners at the car wash.  Traveling for me is freedom!!

Monument against war and fascism

 

The pictures above are in the Austrian Parliament building.  It was completed in 1883 the neo-Greek style popular during that time.  The fountain in front of the building is the Athene Fountain, or the Athena Fountain.

  

The monument to Empress Maria Theresia in Maria-Theresien-Platz.

 Another view of the monument with the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Art) in the background, which was built in the neo-Renassiance style.

Some statues we spotted along the Ringstrasse.

Oh what did I find Whitney standing by?  A Defender 90!! Still my dream car!!

Just a sticker that was stuck to a bench, but I love the saying.  So many times we get stuck behind the camera that we forget where we are, and why we are at that place and time.  This just reminded me to follow my passion!!  Love, life, family, travel, and good times!

Christmas Markets and Christmas day 2014

Frohe Weihnachten = Merry Christmas,  December 2014 in Grafenwoehr Germany.  So the thing to do in Germany is to go to the Weihnachtsmarkt (Winter market/ Christmas market). We were able to see 4 Christmas markets.  The First was in Wroclaw Poland, then we went to Guteneck German, a local one in Weiden Germany, and finally a larger one in Nuremberg Germany.

A German Christmas Tradition Lebkuchen Cookies.  They Taste like a dense raisin cake thing.   

Kinderpunch is the non-alcoholic version of the Gluhwein which is the hot Mulled wine that everyone drinks at the market.  The kinderpunch was really sweet, like grape juice with a Christmas spice.

 

Whitney eating Bratwurst and liking them.  Germany has the best Brawts.

 Defender 90

CHRISTMAS AT THE WILDING'S APT!

 We gave each other our favorite Cologne and perfume

 Whitney got the mother load with books this year!!!

A Christmas Hike!

Our Travel Book Collection is getting bigger and better!!

Merry Christmas 2014

Boleslawiec and Wroclaw Poland

Over Thanksgiving weekend Jake and I decided to head to Boleslawiec, Poland to do a little Polish pottery shopping and then we headed onward to Wroclaw to get more of a taste of Poland.

In front of one of the shops.  This one gave us a tour of the pottery making process!

Pieces during the drying stage.

So many beautiful pieces just stacked up on the floor! I love the way they all look together.

Shelves and shelves of pottery.

After touring and spending too much money in Boleslawiec we drove to Wroclaw to tour and sight see this charming little city.

Getting my bearings. :-)

 

It was SO cold the weekend we were there.  I think this is the coldest I have felt in Europe so far.

Something that is unique about the city is that there are little dwarfs throughout the entire city, so we tried to spot as many as we could.

We did find more than two, but I'll spare you from seeing a picture of every single one.

Wroclaw had a Christmas market going on while we were there.  The market was right in the center of town, so we ended up walking through it multiple times during our visit there.

Jake may have mentioned this before in a previous blog post, but something that we enjoy doing when we visit a new city, is to pay the 1 or 2 euros to climb the stairs up the top of the church tower in the center of town to get a view of the city.

On my way up.

 In front of the church tower.

City view.

Some Soviet Era cement apartment buildings.

Jake wanted to take a tour of the Raclawicka Panorama, which depicts the Battle of Raclawice during the Kosciuszko Uprising.  Although the Polish succeeded in the Battle of Raclawice, the uprising ultimately failed.

 

We had some great food while we were in Poland.  I was particularly excited to try Central Cafe which I found on Yelp.  It worked out fabulously as it was right down the street from our hotel and had excellent food, a good combo!

Doing a little research for last minute sight seeing before heading back to Graf.