Vienna, Austria: A Palace or Two

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to my palace.

You are cordially invited to my semi-weekly royal balls. Please use either stairway to enter the Grand Ballroom.

Just try to not get lost in the courtyard on your way.

Goodness, can you even imagine? Actually, it's hard not to imagine when you're visiting the Schoenbrunn Palace. The second you step foot on the grounds, you'll be dreaming of fairytales as if you were a little girl.

Unlike the secluded castle we visited in Germany, Schoenbrunn is inside the city itself and has pretty views of Vienna from every angle.

Then again, who needs views of the city when you have these gorgeous gardens all to yourself? We could have wandered around the palace forever and been perfectly happy.

Ah, but then the sun was setting and we had a concert to attend at a different palace. Much smaller but still lovely, the Palais Auersperg is located close to the city center. Mozart performed at this palace when he was only six-years-old and now his music is performed there on a regular basis.

(Above Auersperg pictures from the LA Times)

This concert featured a 40-person orchestra with opera singers and ballerinas--a sampling of Viennese culture geared toward tourists. But hey, we were tourists and the concert was amazing, so it worked like a charm.

The next morning, we hopped on an early train to the most beautiful village in the entire world. Hallstaat is coming up next, followed closely by Italy!