A Day of Exploring Vienna

Brandon planned us a full day in Vienna to explore the city and do some rock climbing. I got to just come along for the ride, kind of like a blind date. It was a fabulous day. 

We took a tram to Schönbrunn Palace and explored the grounds

Tree-lined walkways in the palace park

A random fountain in a clearing

The Neptune Fountain in the backyard of the palace

The backside of the palace

A side view to show the size 

The front of Schönbrunn Palace. Apparently the photo made this kid stop in his tracks. 

We then took the U-line or subway from the palace to another part of town 

We went to this other part of town so that Brandon could have tacos for lunch 

The menu was in Spanish and German. We ordered in a mixture of Spanish and English. Such is the strangeness of ordering Mexican tacos in Austria. 

Despite the al pastor tacos not being available for lunch, Brandon enjoyed his tacos. 

In the same neighborhood we came across the Parliament building 

That's quite the statue out front 

We're not in Holland, Michigan anymore, but we can't escape the tulips 

We found a park with this Grecian Temple

There was a lovely fountain and paths lined with benches where people were enjoying the sun and nearly 70 degree day

A random sculpture of a man's floating head. He must be important. 

A beautiful cathedral 

An expo was being set up in the park in front of the cathedral. We think it was a home and garden expo. 

Many of the buildings had intricately designed arched ceilings, even outdoors 

This theater is probably famous. The architecture is certainly detailed. 

We returned to the subway and rode to Kletterhalle Wien, a Vienna climbing gym

It was an impressive facility with very tall walls 

Much better than our Madrid climbing gym experience. Our only complaint was there were quite a few routes without top ropes available, even in the non overhung areas. Luckily we still had plenty to climb. 

There was climbing on a upper level as well 

Look at the angle of this slab wall 

There were definitely some quality routes to climb  

In addition to indoor top rope and bouldering there was an outdoor boulder area. There were artificial holds and real rock boulders to climb! The yard also had a slack line course. 

The covered outdoor bouldering area had hammocks hanging from the ceiling for climbers to relax in. You can see Brandon climbing behind me as I hang out. 

Brandon making some cool moves

Reaching the top 

Me climbing away with Brandon watching from the hammocks 

The boulder area angles became more and more difficult 

Working through an endurance route

Admiring the scenery as we cross the river on the U-line returning from the climbing gym 

After making dinner we decided to roam the palace grounds in hopes of seeing the fountains lit up at night. Alas, the grounds closed at 8 pm. We couldn't see the fountains, but we were able to see the palace lit up through the locked gates. Unlike Madrid, Vienna seems to be a very quiet city after dark. 

We only came to Vienna because it was a cheapest way to get a ticket from the Chicago to Madrid. Though we weren't seeking this city out, we've really loved our time in Vienna, Austria.