Vienna con't:

Sunday morning, we woke up, checked out of The A&O Hostel (we only stayed for Friday and Saturday nights), and headed out for The Palace Hostel, our hostel for Sunday night. It was located about twenty-five minutes outside of the central downtown district, on a large hill overlooking the city. I thought that it would be nice to spend one of our nights in Vienna here; it would provide a unique perspective of the city, and give us a nice mental break from two days of intense travel.

We took the metro to the last stop on the western side of the city, then boarded a bus, which had a stop at the new hostel. We headed uphill for almost the whole ride, and were rewarded when we got to the top and found the hostel; the view of the city was spectacular:

When we checked in and went to our room (another 4-bed private room with shower and toilet), we discovered that it had a double french door that opened up to the view over the city. It was beyond cool. We could just walk right outside and take it all in. It was a cloudy, grey, foggy, and cold day (as always), but the view was still humbling.

After settleing in for a few minutes, snacking a bit, and putting our day bags together, we headed out, back on the bus down the hill towards the city and the metro. Our goals for the day included a good lunch and a visit to the Natural History Museum and the Fine Arts Museum (they are on the same property, facing each other, with a large monument in between), and then getting dinner somewhere before retiring to the hostel for a quiet evening.

We found a very nice little cafe right near the museums, and settled in for a good lunch. I ordered a Turkey, Bacon, Tomato, and Lettuce sandwich, as well as a big ol' Eggenberger Bier.

After polishing it all off, we decided to head to the Fine Arts Museum first, because it closed thirty minutes before the Natural History Museum. We had an hour and a half in each one, which turned out to be the perfect amount of time.

At the Museum of the Fine Arts, I saw paintings, sculpture, jewelrey, and pottery, ranging from all periods of history. Here are a few of the items that stood out, to me, in the Museum of the Fine Arts:

The first thing that stood out was the building itself, with the monument to Maria Teresa in the foreground, as well as Laura-Nelle, Ginnie, and Rima (L to R). It was incredible, and we hadn't even gone inside yet...

When we did walk in the front door, though, we were blown away. It was the most spectacular entry that I have ever seen, quite fitting for the Museum of the Fine Arts (here is the entry and ceiling):

So after we had gotten over "entry shock" we split up and agreed to meet up in an hour and a half. Here are pictures of my favorite items:

So that was the first part of the day, spent leaving our first hostel, metro/bus to our second hostel (overlooking the city), heading back into the city, eating lunch, and going to the Museum of the Fine Arts.

We walked out of the Museuem of the Fine Arts, checked out the monument to Maria Teresa, then headed accross the couryard towards the Natural History Museum...