Vienna

On New Year's Eve we attended the Imperial Ball at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. It was incredible! They also offered a dancing lesson for the Viennese Waltz earlier in the day that was really fun, but I have to say that we appreciated our friends, the Ponds, teaching us some dancing moves and wish we could have had a few more lessons before we came here! The ball was packed but we had fun dancing the night away, and the few times we were able to get it down we did feel like we were floating on air.

Feeling very regal

On the red carpet, arriving at the ball

"I could have danced all night" -Eliza Doolittle

My very own prince charming

Outside the Hofburg, the winter palace for the Habsburgs in Vienna. What a wonderful evening! We will always remember it!

Sunday morning, passing the statue of Mozart on our way to go see the Vienna Boy's Choir--also amazing!!! We got tickets for 5 euros each but were still able to have a perfect view of the choir from the second balcony. Score!

St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. It was way too dark to take pictures--this just doesn't do it justice (obviously). The details of the Gothic architecture were stunning--both inside and out.

Outside the gates at the Schonbrunn Palace (the summer residence) at sunset (4:15). This was our favorite palace so far. We were able to take the "grand tour," eat a traditional Viennese dinner, and see a concert here.

In the back of the frozen gardens at the palace they had this amazing Romanesque monument up high on the hill (this is only the middle section). We decided to hike up the large hill to it which helped us keep warm before going to dinner. If you look closely you can see Carlos at the bottom, on the left.

Vienna was an amazing (and very expensive) city. We enjoyed going to the "Oper" there, touring around the city, seeing some beautiful cathedrals, and eating some amazing food. We also got to go to church there and made some new friends. They have an English ward and I was thrilled to be able to go and actually understand the lessons in church, but we forgot to account for the time change for church with the new year, so we ended up attending the German ward instead. We are really glad we did though. The missionaries and one of the members there translated for us, and we had a great experience. The entire ward was so welcoming and kind. One brother even offered do Carlos' genealogy for his family in Hungary. I love going to church in different parts of the world. I think that is my favorite part of traveling. Seeing how genuine and kind so many people are in welcoming us and being able to make many new friends has taught me how I want and need to be no matter where I am. One sweet older Hungarian lady was so excited that Carlos' family was from Hungary she kept hugging and kissing both of us and holding our hands. She didn't know a bit of English but talked to us non-stop in German and Hungarian for a while. It's amazing how Christlike love can transcend all languages and cultures and unite us--those really were our brothers and sisters. We also loved how unique the culture is there--in the ward there were a few retired opera singers, several music teachers, and even a violin maker. We loved Vienna. It was the highlight of our trip! I'm so glad I have a husband who loves to plan such fun trips and spoils me. (I've been so excited to go there for months, I felt just like a kid waiting to go to Disneyland).