Austria is Awesome!

Well guys, Austria was AWESOME! I really loved my visit there and don't even know where to start with my travelogue! I feel like we fit so much in to those few days! So I will let my pictures tell most of the story! 

My last two stopwaffels before departing my beloved Holland! 

After a bit of travel communication trouble, Sameer found me! We dropped my stuff off at my hostel and then walked around the city! First stop was this gorgeous church!

We stopped for dinner at an Italian place with freaky fast service (quite the adjustment from Holland!) and then afterwards we walked the streets and found this delicious desert place that was still open late at night. Apparetnly this tort thing that I'm eating is a Vienna classic

The streets downtime are all lit up for Christmas! 

Sameer and I walked awhile through the city. Finally when we decided to go home, it turns out that the metro was closed for the night! (It was like 2 in the morning). We had fun walking along the shady graffitied banks of the Danube where someone "psstd" at me from the darkness presumably trying to sell us drugs. Eventually, we just took a taxi back. I hung out in my hipster hostel for a little while which is what the picture is. Isn't this place cool? Probably the best hostel I've ever stayed at. It would have better if some drunk American girls hadn't woken me up by coming in to the dorm room in the middle of the night and turning all the lights on but, you know... nothing's perfect.

The next morning, I HIT THE TOWN!

Starting with the Naschmarkt which is an old market right outside my hostel

I got an amazing pastry which I'm told is a rural Austrian favorite with poppies on the inside.
This was not the only one I got.

Just a normal street in the area

I needed to change metro trains around here and had some time. This little ally called me and I went exploring

Pretty cool, huh?

This church was beautiful! And it was open! I got to go inside and poke around. It was practically deserted but these big guys in the lobby were putting together a very dainty christmas tree which made me happy

After that, I met up with Sameer at his work and got A TOUR OF THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE IN VIENNA!!!

me in front of the flags!

going to the atomic energy agency thingy area inside the VERY large building

This was taken on a whim and I like it because my smile reminds me of my niece Ellie's smile

Future employee!! 

A pair of bureaucrats! 

Me looking confused at the NASA logo on the space expedition stuff.
Me: "Isn't that American?"
Sameer: "Other countries have been to space Jenny"
Guys, it was a NASA logo. NASA is American.

This is a sign for where Sameer works! 

After walking around for awhile (by the way my feet hurt SO bad) we stopped for a pizza in the UN cafeteria

On the way out we couldn't resist taking a few more pictures

Da Da Da DA!

After that Sameer took me to his office which is in a building nearby.

 Since it was still a work day, I left Sameer to finish up being an adult and I went and explored the city more. The midnight tour with Sameer the night before really helped me to know where to go. Everything was quite different in the light of the day!

I went back to Stefan's Cathedral! There were lots of people there lighting candles! I took a moment to sit down and read the first part of the nativity story which was quite peaceful

Sweet staircase inside the cathedral

Happy Birthday to the Savior! 

Outside the cathedral they have lots of horse-drawn carriages

Cute little Christmas market outside the cathedral

Same big shopping street in the day time

They had the most incredible lights up everywhere!

Check it out! These are made out of candy! This is the most famous chochoclate store in Vienna and it was very fancy on the inside too! 

Outside the old Hapsburg palace- there is a Christmas Market in front of it of course! 

Inside the courtyard of the castle 

Bubblr art outside!

I made my way to the museum quarter where, of course, there was another Christmas Market!

I really wanted to see the famous Klimt paintings and so I went to the art museum.
Turns out it was the wrong one.
But there was still some cool stuff there!

The Tower of Babel

I just thought this was a cool portrait- I want to write a novel about her!

They also had an exhibit on Joseph Cornell who was a cool artist of the last century. He didn't draw or paint or sculpt or anything- he made shadowboxes and collages. Some pretty interesting stuff, but unfortunately no photos were allowed. Look him up though!

I continued to walk along outside- this is some important building

And then I made it to
THE CHRISTMAS MARKET TO END ALL CHRISTMAS MARKETS
It was incredible! And the building in the background is the Vienna Town Hall.
Who has a town hall that cool?
VIENNA. That's who

I was so happy to be there that I asked strangers to take pictures of me since I was by myself

AHH! 

I just couldn't stop with the pictures!

It was SO beautiful.
I got a hotdog and a gingerbread heart

On the way to meet Sameer I saw this poster which tickled me cause it's like- especially in Vienna would cellos be sexy

Finally I met up with Sameer and we caught a train!
It took us two hours but we got to...SALZBURG!

But that's a story for another day :)