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Vienna

After leaving Budapest we headed north to Austria's capital city, Vienna. Two years ago we visited some small towns in the west so we were excited to go back to Austria and see a big city. I've always wanted to go to Vienna so I was excited about this stop. We started off by walking in the completely wrong direction to our AirBnB but another kind stranger helped us find the proper subway to get to our home for the next few days. Once we settled in we were ready to head out for some sightseeing.

We met CJ and Jen at Karlsplatz to see the huge church and to let the girls play in the park for a while. Together we walked to Belvedere Castle because we wanted to see Klimt's The Kiss. The art collection was impressive, yet manageable, and we really enjoyed walking the grounds with the beautifully landscaped gardens and fountains. The castle was great, the girls had fun posing with some art and then we headed home to get some rest for our trip to Slovakia the next day.

Once we were back in Austria and ready to explore more of Vienna, we had some castles and other famous buildings to check out. We had the morning to explore as a family and had plans to meet Jen and CJ in the afternoon at Schonbrunn Palace. We headed out to see Parliament, which was mostly covered because of construction and restoration. Our next stop was City Hall. We also walked through the grounds of Hofburg Castle and then went to St. Stephen's Cathedral.

We arrived at Schonbrunn Palace to meet CJ and Jen to see The Magic Flute at the famous Marionette Theater. We saw Jen and CJ sitting outside the theatre and had some time to hang out before the show. And then CJ and Jen shared their exciting news - they are engaged!!! CJ got down on one knee at Belvedere Palace by the fountain earlier in the day and we are so excited to welcome Jen into our family! Her ring is beautiful and the girls are now practicing calling her "Aunt Jen."

After some time talking about weddings it was time to go into the theater. Marionette Theater has a long history at the castle, starting in the 1700's. Today the marionettes are still made by hand and the famous opera, The Magic Flute, by Mozart is performed year round. While the show was in German, we had an English summary to read to the girls. It was fascinating to see how expressive a marionette can be when operated by a professional. After the show we were all invited backstage to see the puppets up close and to see the stage.

After the show we wanted to walk around the gardens of the Palace and check out the labyrinth and maze. The sky was ominous and it was clear a storm was coming, but we thought we could get in a few minutes in the gardens. The garden maze and labyrinth was very fun. The girls enjoyed running through it and then had some time to play in the playground. The thunder was getting louder and the lightening was starting so we had to choose to either try to get the train before we got soaked our wait out the storm at the Palace. We took the risk to get the train back to our AirBnB and luckily we made it without getting drenched!

The next day we had one more morning to do something in Vienna before we had to catch a train to Prague. Since Vienna is known as a musical city we decided to check out the Haus Der Musik, an interactive music museum. This was a great stop for the girls and we had a lot of fun. From the moment we entered the girls had a great time. There is a keyboard staircase to get to the first floor of the exhibits and I'm pretty sure the girls could have spent all day on the stairs if we let them. Upstairs there was a dice rolling game that produced a unique symphony, opportunities to conduct orchestras, and lots of different exhibits on how sound works. There were also exhibits about many classical composers. This museum was well worth the stop and a great way to end our trip to Vienna.

We met CJ and Jen on the platform for the train to Prague and bid farewell to Austria! Next stop, Czech Republic!

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