Vienna

July 2 - 4

Brian had to go to Riyadh right after we got back from Andrew and Kate's wedding, so I planned a girls' weekend in Vienna, Austria over 4th of July weekend. My friend, Kim, and I flew to Vienna for a weekend of sightseeing and shopping! Instead of giving a play-by-play of the weekend, I'm just going to comment on the pics and talk about our weekend that way.

Vienna is a beautiful city with buildings like this. The architecture reminded me of Paris.

Apparently "Melange" is a famous coffee drink in Vienna, so we gave it a whirl! It tastes exactly like a cappuccino because it has the exact same ingredients as a cappuccino. I just looked up the difference between Melange and Cappuccino, and supposedly the difference is in trivial things like toppings (which vary depending on the cafe you're at), cups they're served in, "strength of the coffee", etc. Another person said that Melange can be served anytime of day. I don't know, they seem the exact same to me : )

The Rathaus (City Hall)

St. Charles Church - A less-traditional looking church we found. Cool reflection pool!

Inside the church pictured above. I liked how bright it was inside!

Beautiful gardens! It was quite cold while we were in Vienna (the coldest 4th of July weekend I hope I ever experience - I didn't like that very much), so it was nice to see some summery flowers.

Botanical gardens and shelter from the rain and cold for a little while : )

We went to Schloss (Castle) Schoenbrunn to learn a little about Vienna's history. It was also another indoor activity where we wouldn't freeze!

Gardens behind Schoenbrunn where Empress Elisabeth would exercise - that would be a nice backyard!

Paths in the gardens behind Schloss Schoenbrunn

Vienna plays operas and movies at the Rathaus plaza throughout the summer. It was a lot of fun because a lot of local restaurants had booths set up with all kinds of food and drinks! Here's a picture of the summer film festival.

St. Stephen's church was quite impressive! I loved the roof, which had the Austrian eagle and other elaborate patterns on it.

Inside St. Stephen's

A children's choir singing in St. Stephen's

Another view of St. Stephen's

We found this all-natural ice cream shop that had a line out the door, so we had to try some!

Vienna also had fun shops! We found a vintage dress store that had remade dresses from the 60s and 70s - SO adorable. They also had a Forever 21, which I was very excited about :)

Despite the weather, Vienna was a fun city to visit!

Dinner with Family

June 17

My cousin, Paul; his wife, Michelle; and their two kids, James and Nicole came to Frankfurt for a few hours, so Brian and I got to have dinner with them! They were on vacation and were so sweet to make a point to stop through Frankfurt on their way through Germany so that we could hang out. Unfortunately their train arrived later than expected, so we only had a couple of hours to get dinner. I love how I was able to spot them at the train station because they were decked out in A&M gear! Paul and Michelle both went to A&M and really introduced me to the school. Brian found a great little bier garden close to the main train station, so we all went there to eat schnitzle and catch up. After dinner, we took them on a very quick walking tour of Frankfurt's highlights and then walked them back to the train station. It felt so good to spend a few hours with family!