The weekend after my birthday I had the opportunity to spend the whole weekend with my best friend here in Austria, Ana. Friday night we just had a typical girly sleepover party that included lots of pizza, ice cream, laughing etc.. The next day we went into the city to meet the sister Missionaries for lunch. Sister Chun and Sister Achiu have been like substitute grandmas for Ana and me during our time here away from our families. :) After our delicious chinese meal, Ana surprised me with a birthday cake so we took it back to the empty institute center where we had a mini birthday party complete with cake, pictures, and card games. :) After a couple of fun-filled hours of getting our butts kicked in every game by Sister Achiu, Ana and I went on to do something we've wanted to do since we got here... ride the famous Prater Ferris Wheel! Prater is a huge tourist attraction and from the top you can look out and see a breathtaking view of the entire city of Vienna. Then a little later we headed to another part of the city to visit the Schoenbrunn gardens. Shoenbrunn was the first major thing that I saw when I came to Vienna, but I didn't remember it very well because I was super tired the first time. So it was good to finally go back and really enjoy the beauty of it... just before my 1-year anniversary with the city. :) Then for a good ending to the weekend, we went back to Ana's for more junk-food and laughs that kept us up for most of the night.
Built in 1775, it stands up on a hill behind the Schoenbrunn palace as a focal point and lookout point for the gardens. Franz Joseph I used it as a dining hall, festival hall, and breakfast room. Today the dining area is a cafe. In the 2nd world war, the Gloriette was destroyed but was completely restored by 1947.
Schönbrunn palace and a very small portion of the gardens...all of the gardens together are like a big beautiful forest thats probably bigger than the whole town of Hamilton.
Schönbrunn: "beautiful spring"
The palace is a former imperial summer residence and is one of Vienna's most important cultural monuments. In its early history, the area was used as a hunting lodge but after being destroyed by the turks, Leopold I asked Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach to design a grand Baroque residence in 1965 but was only completed after Maria Theresa hired Nikolaus Pacassi to finish the project. Within the gardens there are fountains, an orangery, a public swimming pool, and even a zoo... among many other things.
Sister Achiu
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