Momma, Lemsy, and Jenny Come to Europe!

Although I ventured to Vienna at the beginning of May with my group, my mother asked me to kindly return for the second leg of their trip. Since they were traveling all this way to see me, I guess I could travel all that way to see them. So then it was planned, Vienna Round Two.

The bus was fine until they dropped me off in Bruno, Czech Republic for an hour where most of that hour was spent figuring out if I was in the Czech or in Austria, I eventually recognized a familiar “Dobredan” (hello in Czech) and saw people using Crowns (Czech currency). I eventually made it to Vienna and navigated my way to the hotel that was in the boonies of Vienna. Our hotel was called the SCHLOSS WILHELMINENBERG. If that’s not a tongue twister I do not know what is. Originally a hunting palace dating back to 1781 throughout history it served many purposed, the most interesting to me was in 1945-1946 it served as an asylum for children and concentration camp victims in need of recovery. We spent the evening seeing the Hasburg Palace where there was a convention for neurologists. Walking through we found a little party that we stepped in, Mom and Jenny were rather interested while Lauren and I took a nice little taste tester of their hors d'oeuvres. My mom called me a crook, I figured they weren’t gunna eat it all anyways! We adventured through the streets of Stephensplatz and eventually stumbled upon an adorable Italian restaurant where we dined and enjoyed delicious food and wine.

The next day we had a busy agenda. Obviously this begun with a very early wakeup call, a nice big breakfast, then making ourselves sandwiches from the included breakfast meal. Pretty thrifty if you ask me! On the schedule was the Belvedere Palace, the Schönbrunn Palace, the Naschmarket, and the Grinzing Winery.

On my previous trip I did not enter the fantastic Belvedere so I was very happy to have done so this time around. Inside was an art exhibit featuring impressionist artists and my new favorite artist Gustav Klimt (1862-1918). My absolute favorite painting by him was titled Judith I, she is so interesting with her very realistic face and body but impressionistic surroundings. The palace had a huge entrance way where a sign read “SCREAM AS LOUD AS YOU CAN, NOW!” and once you did the lights flickered and the entire room made a breathing noise like it was inhabited by ghosts, really creepy but funny. Afterwards we headed over to the Schönbrunn Palace which literally took a 180 from when I went.

The grass was green, the Easter festival had begun, and the gardens were magnificent.

Once we finished we sat down for a cup of coffee and my mom and Jenny were persuaded to buy scarves from “Sharon Stone’s Choice,” a charming Greek man who Sharon Stone bought one scarf from and he thought he was an A-lister.

When I was last in Vienna I went to the Naschmarket on a Saturday at 7 am when they were just setting up the weekend market, full of the most random stuff from leather bags to dolls to antique cameras to fur. Unfortunately it was a Wednesday so only the open markets were open, but fret not for this was equally as fabulous.

The freshest fruits and vegetables and taste testers galore. Jenny said she had the best olive of her life there. Lauren and I bought a falafel ball for .20 euro dipped in hummus that was divine! Finally we were at the last stop on our agenda, the Grinzing Winery.

Unfortunately the winery was closed so we ventured over to a little authentic Viennese restaurant where things took an interesting turn. Jenny and my mother are both very health conscious people and never in my life would I imagine either of them sipping on brews, eating the mixed platter of potatoes, sausages, and every other type of meat. They also downed a bottle of red wine that left my mother rather tipsy if you ask me. The metro ride home was one of the funnier moments I’ve spent with my mother considering she was cackling like a hyena and crossing her legs so that she didn’t pee her pants from laughing too hard. The Spanish boys behind me asked, “Is that your mother? She is the coolest mom in the world!” then preceded to ask me what she was smoking because she was laughing that hard! When people say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree I suppose an evening like that is what they are referring to. Austria in the springtime sure is a Wein-er though!

The next morning was not easy for my mom, or any of us to be quite honest, but we checked out of the Wilhelminenberg, said goodbye to Wein, and got on the train to Praha. Once on the train, two buff Australian men asked my mom if she had a bottle opener, which she obviously did because she has everything, and it started out the hourly bothering of my mom and Jenny by the Aussies. Eventually they gave in and played a couple hands of poker.
Prague still is and always will be my favorite European city. It has undeniable charm and history that trumps anywhere and everywhere, and if you were to visit I can almost guarantee you would feel the same. Jenny fell in love the second she walked into Old Town Square. We went out to dinner with my one of my amazingly lovely best friends Robyn where we ate HUGE chicken, meat, and seafood skewers.

Jenny in front of John Lennon Wall

On Friday we went on a tour of the Jewish Quarter where we saw a Jewish memorial of over 90,000 individuals murdered in the Holocaust. Sometimes it’s very hard to be in Eastern Europe because of how reminiscent everything is to those horrible times. I want to block it out and pretend it doesn’t exist, but it is impossible nor do I feel it is right to forget. It angers me and makes me so terribly sad that something so horrible happened less than a century ago. On the tour we also visited Franz Kafka’s birthplace and his coffee shop. Jenny bought a copy of “The Metamorphosis” one of Kaftka’s most well known novels.

My baby sissy

On Saturday, we went to Karlstejn 40 minutes outside of Praha to see Charles' Karlstejn castle.

It was a very charming little town and I absolutely adore the countryside of Prague. Its so quaint and adorable. In the evening we went to Petrin Hill at sunset and sat down for some beer and cheese. Afterwards we walked to Prague Castle and saw the incredible view of the city from the top. We topped off our great day with a delicious dinner at Pravda. The ladies came to the JZP to see my little apartment and meet my Ukranian roommate before their early morning flight back to the states.

I was sad to see them go but we had a great time together. Next on the schedule is Budapest and Morocco for spring break. I leave on Wednesday!!