Vienna Day 1! Wienerschnitzel is funner to say than it is to eat

Our first stop today was at the Belvedere museum. I have been very museumed out, but this one kind of revived me! We got to see a lot of Gustav Klimt's works, who is a super famous Austrian painter, they had Monet, other impressionist works (which we know are my fav), and a lot of it just spoke to me haha so I was feeling good.

After the museum we all walked more towards the center of town and were set free for lunch. Rob and MaryAnn's recommendation was a kasekrainer (cheese sausage) hot dog style, so a ton of us headed to a sausage stand, and it did not disappoint! The cheese was like throughout the sausage and there was a super yummy mustard sauce. Yum! Then some of us stopped at Billa, which is an Austrian grocery store that is pretty wonderful. I just wanted some chocolate, but then I found the best thing ever... Dr Pepper Zero. I almost shed tears right there in the store. So of course I got some of that and then some nutella biscuits for dessert. We headed to a park to enjoy the rest of our free time and it was wonderful to just lay in the sun and soak in the city. Also have I mentioned the walking lights here yet?? They have two people holding hands and it is the cutest thing I've ever seen. I literally take pictures of all of them haha.

Our next group plan was a tour of the city hall, so we headed that direction and met up with everybody else. The city hall was so beautiful! So many beautiful arches and chandeliers and we also got to see the ballroom where they still have balls! The tour guide was telling us how they have a school ball, which kind of sounds like prom, and I am so jealous of all the teenagers that get to have their dance here. There was also a Paternoster, which directly translates to "Our Father." Basically, it is a doorless elevator that circulates in a loop and never stops. So you just step in, it takes you up, and then at the top it transfers over to the other side and goes back down. I guess that Rob and MaryAnn have never gotten to do it on any of their other tours, but our guide let us all ride it! It was actually so fun. There's a couple reasons it might be called Paternoster, but the most popular is that people would say the prayer "Our Father who art in heaven, etc." before they got on because it was scary haha. We also got to see the room where they make decisions and hold councils, which was really cool. Our tour guide was so nice and super funny, so luckily most of us stayed awake for this one...

After the tour, Rob and MaryAnn had planned an exploring activity for us where we were assigned groups and then each group had a church that they were assigned to go to and learn about. Me, Ellie, Sienna, and Caroline headed to St Michael's church and saw some lovely Gothic and Romanesque architecture haha.

We had an hour or two of free time (which I spent at the hotel... lame I know), and then we headed to our group dinner at an authentic Austrian restaurant! It was right across from BYU's housing for professors abroad, where Rob and MaryAnn used to live, so it is one of their favorites. Speaking of the lovebirds, their anniversary is in 2 days. We got split into two groups on the way to the restaurant because of limited tram space, and there was a flower shop by the restaurant, so MaryAnn bought Rob some flowers to give him when his group caught up. We were waiting in the restaurant, and when Rob and the rest of the people got there, Rob was totally holding flowers for MaryAnn from the exact same place!! Seriously the cutest thing ever. 

For dinner, I got a really yummy asparagus salad, a pretzel roll, and wienerschnitzel with fries. I was really excited to try wienerschnitzel for the first time, and unfortunately I was slightly disappointed. It kind of just tasted like a very large, dry, flat chicken nugget. But it wasn't actually chicken it was pork haha. After we were basically done, we did finally ask for ketchup, but by then it was kind of just too late haha. It definitely wasn't bad, but I just wished that there was a sauce or something to go with it. Dessert was phenomenal though. Crepes with chocolate mousse inside and whipped cream and ice cream on the side. Overall it was a very good meal, and a good end to the night!