Vienna Day 3

Beethoven's Final Resting Place

After another great night's sleep, we again ate a yummy breakfast downstairs.

Our first stop today was the Zentralfriedhof cemetery, the 2nd largest cemetery in Europe.  I have a thing for cemeteries and always want to go to a major city's largest.  The large on in Paris was pretty neat, the one in downtown Hong Kong was cool too.  Of course there is Arlington, perhaps my favorite in many ways.  Even small town cemeteries I find fascinating because you can learn so much about the population.

Zentralfriedhof didn't disappoint.  It may be my new favorite cemetery.  We didn't have a map but knew there were some famous people interned here.  We actually stumbled upon the headstones of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Strauss.  All of these men were actually buried somewhere else, exhumed for research purposes, then reburied in this cemetery all next to one another.  There were some also some of the strangest headstones you'll ever see.  Some indescribable as you'll just have to look at the photos.

We took the tram and metro back to the city center and ate lunch at a busy sandwich shop.  Next up was the Rathaus city hall; however it was closed because it was sunday.  An impressive building but what came next was a highlight of the trip.  Just outside the building, they had built a winter carnival, complete with food stands, an ice skating rink, a separate one for toddlers and young ones, and a "track."  Music was playing, food was eaten, and beverages were consumed.  Very fun!  It apparently only runs during the last week of January through the 1st week of March, so we caught it perfectly.

We then headed over to check out the fine arts museum which is located in the Museum Quarter, a several block area that has the Natural History Museum as well as others.  The kids were exhausted, so we didn't spend too much time there but was delighted at the architecture.

We quickly made it back to the hotel because it had started to rain.  Luckily, we used the metro to stay out of the rain and then walk was only a few blocks in drizzle.  We were back snuggly at 6:00 where everyone was asleep by 8:00.  Jamie was able to finish her Baileys and I worked on my Jack.

I'm placing Vienna at the top of the list for my favorite European city.  I love the architecture, history, and city planning.  Everything seems to run smoothly here.  I would love to live here.