VIENNA AND PRAGUE- DAD'S VISIT!

This past weekend I took my very last trip abroad :(  Trip number 10!  Anyway, I went to Vienna with my dad!  I got there on Friday morning even though he was getting there Saturday, so that I could be with my USC friends who were there for the weekend.  Let me tell you, staying in a nice hotel, that was clean, had good food, and good service, was like a dream for me.  I am feeling particularly dirty these days..Prague is just not treating me well in terms of smell (I don't know if they know what deodorant is here) and air.  Basically, I have been sick for over 3 weeks now, and I have a feeling I won't be perfectly fine until I am home.

This is our hotel, Hotel Sacher.  They are famous for their Tortes, chocolate cakes, which were to die for...they kept putting them in my room which was deadly for me!

When I got there on Friday, I met up with my friends, and we went to the Museum Quarter and saw two very bizarre museums.  We could have seen anything, and we chose the death and murder-ish picture one, to say the least, I did not like it!

That night, I went over to their hostel (and then said "phew" that I didn't have to stay in one of those ever again), and we went to dinner at this cute little Italian place with a mean waiter.  But then I was feeling sick from gas inhalation the night before (stove got left on...but everyone and everything is fine), so I went back to my grand room to get a great night of sleep!!
The next day I met up with the girls for breakfast and then wandered around the city waiting for dad to get there.  I walked through some really pretty gardens.  Vienna is an absolutely beautiful city, it is very imperial as our tour guide put it.

As soon as dad got there, we went for lunch at Palmenhaus, a cafe that looked over the gardens.  And then, we were off to shopping!  It was a very successful day, I guess when you have someone buying it for you, you have luck!  Make sense.    
Vienna is known for its cakes and afternoon pastries.  Around 2 or 3 everyday, the people head to one of the bakeshop type places (this one is called Emel) and has a coffee and piece of cake...and somehow they are not fat...we didn't understand.  
Then, we walked around the city some more, took a million pictures because you know how dad is...must have a picture of everything with me in it.

That night we went to dinner, and for the first time ever, the surrounding tables were trying to figure out if I was his daughter or a gold digger.  It was weird and really funny to watch people stare and talk about it.  But, at some point dad said very loudly something about me being his daughter, and I think they got the clue.  By the way, this continued every night thereafter...again, werid!  


This is the Vienna Opera House which was right next to our hotel.
On Sunday morning we went to see the Vienna Boys Choir at this church.  Little did we know we were actually going to church services that they were a part of.  It was amazing though, the boys sound like girls, I could not believe it.  As soon as the church part started though, we headed out, to the shock of the people sitting around us.

Then, on Sunday, we had a tour guide, Chris.  Christ was a genius who showed us everything and taught us the history of Europe basically.  But, every time he said MAria Teresa (I hope everyone knows who that is), dad thought he meant Mother Teresa.  Too bad Mother Teresa wasn't alive hundreds of years ago.  I had to explain to him that it was two different people.  

Our first stop was the Spanigh riding school.  i have never seen a more beautiful barn in my life.  Each horse had its own groomer and care taker and basically lived in a mansion.  Interestingly, the horses all had to be a shade of white.  No other colors are allowed...strict!
Afterward, we headed to eh Hapsburg Castle and went into their Library.  Again, dad had never heard of the Hapsburg Dynasty.  No surprise here, he must not have gone to history classes haha!  Sorry to oust you dad, but it's just too funny!  But, this was a five floor library with books covering every square inch of every wall, all the way up.  
This is the Parliament building.
Here is the holocaust memorial, that seemed to just be in a random courtyard.  You can't tell in this picture, but it is a box-shaped structure, and the walls that are facing out are books.  It is what the other side of a library would look like.  So if you were to go inside, which you can't, the regular spines of the books would be showing.  
Then, after the obligatory sites, we went up to this town called, Grizing, about 25 minutes outside of Vienna.  It is the wine country, and all the little store owners have their own vineyards, and it was so cute.  On the drive up, there were people having picnics and barbecuing in the forest areas.  And once at the top, we saw the most amazing view ever of all of Vienna and the Danube, and it just never ended! 

Afterward, we went to see the famous ferris wheel, and the fair that surrounded it.  It was basically an exact replica of Coney Island in NY.  I felt like I was in America again...until I realized how many Europeans were surrounding me.  

Then, we went to see the Schonbrunn Palace and Belvedere Palace.  Basically, within a 4 hour tour, I felt like I had seen more in Vienna than I would have ever seen on my own in one weekend.  

On Monday, we decided to wake up and shop!  Surprisingly, Vienna has some great shopping!  After a morning of shopping and site seeing along the way (below: church), we went back up to Grinzing to have lunch at one of the millions of little places we had passed the day before.  

Monday night we headed back to Prague!  Once we got there we decided to grab a quick dinner since it was getting late.  We went to this place that I have been before, but I didn't want to order what I knew I liked, so I decided to try sea bass for the first time.  That was a huge mistake!  I got very sick that night, and poor sea bass that I loved in the moment, will never be on a plate in front of me again!

The next day, once I was done with class, I took dad around town a little bit.  We went to lunch at a famous cafe, Cafe Savoy, and then headed over to Petrin Hill.  Petrin Hill is where the big Eiffel Tower building is.  We went all the way to the top to see the view of Prague.

Along the way, we went into the mirror maze.  It lasted about 5 minutes, I was expected bigger and better things there.
After taking the tram up the hill (highest point in Prague), we walked down, through the nice surrounding castle neighborhoods.  
On Tuesday night, dad took my friends and I to a delicious dinner, and became best friends with the boys.  After dinner, we took him to Chapeau Rouge, our favorite bar, to show him what life is like in Prague.  I think he was a little disgusted by the place to say the least.
On Wednesday, I had class until pretty late, so dad had a tour guide that took him everywhere, took him to eat goulash, and taught everything that I was too lazy to teach him about the city.  But, once I was done with class I brought him up to Vysehrad, which is where I go to school, and below which I live.  Here is the view from school, and then my "school house," as dad called it.

I mean, it is a school house, it is a joke.
For our last dinner, we went to Kampa Park, a restaurant right below the Charles Bridge that is so pretty!  I had two finals on Thursday, so we called it an early night.  
I sent dad home with two bags, which means I am coming home soon!  8 days until you all get to see my pretty face again, aren't you excited?!  See you all so soon.  I am taking advantage of my last days in Prague, so I have lots of things to go do now....bye! xox