Day 7: Bratislava & Vienna

Today was our last day in Vienna, and some of us spent the morning in Bratislava, Slovakia!

Hey everybody! On our last full day in beautiful Vienna, the shining sun and the burning heat greeted us joyously. We had the option of either staying in Vienna and going to the Schönbrunn, exploring the palace and the gardens both, or of venturing out about an hour and a half to the sister city of Vienna; Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. I chose to do this, and was super happy to discover Bratislava was a quaint, beautifully decorated medieval town. We hiked up to a palace on a hill, which was quite the trek, but the view made it worth it. After, we explored the city, got lunch, and headed back to Vienna. After, we had the option of either going to the Hofburg palace or the natural history museum, and both of them had their unique appeals to different people. Some also chose to go to the modern art museum. Finally, we rounded off our day with a delicious dinner of some schniztel, shopping, and Viennese desert. Vienna was absolutely beautiful, and I'm so excited to go on to the next city! 

-Eleina N.

Hey everybody! On our last full day in beautiful Vienna, the shining sun and the burning heat greeted us joyously. We had the option of either staying in Vienna and going to the Schönbrunn, exploring the palace and the gardens both, or of venturing out about an hour and a half to the sister city of Vienna; Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. I chose to do this, and was super happy to discover Bratislava was a quaint, beautifully decorated medieval town. We hiked up to a palace on a hill, which was quite the trek, but the view made it worth it. After, we explored the city, got lunch, and headed back to Vienna. After, we had the option of either going to the Hoffburg palace or the natural history museum, and both of them had their unique appeals to different people. Some also chose to go to the modern art museum. Finally, we rounded off our day with a delicious dinner of some schniztel, shopping, and Viennese desert. Vienna was absolutely beautiful, and I'm so excited to go on to the next city! 

-Katherine D.

Today was our last full day in Vienna, and it definitely was spent well! While the rest of the group traveled to Bratislava, my friends and I took the metro to Karlsplatz and then to the Schönbrunn Palace, a breathtakingly beautiful summer building that housed the royal Austrian Hapsburg family, complete with a garden, the Imperial Zoo, and their victory monument. Firstly, we visited the gardens, which provided much needed shade, but also included locations like the Star Pool and the Orange Garden. After that was a ten minute trek up a large hill to the palace's victory monument overlooking the city. Inside the monument, we bought some drinks and rested before we were back on our feet to meet up with our chaperone and visit the Imperial Zoo. While most animals were quite drowsy in the summer heat, exhibits like the tigers and the koalas captured our attention the most. We ate lunch at the zoo (where a bird pooped on our table!) and spent a little more of the afternoon there. We met with our chaperone once again, took the metro back the way we came, and were given time to recharge while the other group returned from Bratislava. After, we split into smaller groups, and I went to the Hofbrun Palace, the Hapsburgs' winter palace. Finally, it was time for dinner, where we ate delicious schnitzel, and then traveled to the main square near our hotel to do some shopping and eat dessert. Then, we began our journey back to the hotel and rest up for another exciting day!

-Alyssa C.