The Royals

The first picture is of the Hapsburgs (the royal family) winter house. I spent the day visiting that and the more famous dwelling which was their summer house called Schonbrunn Palace. They originally had plans for it to rival Versailles, but they did not have as much money as France, or cared more about the connection between their heads and bodies. It took about 15 minutes to get from one to the other, so it's a bit crazy that they have a specific time they live in each one.

The second picture is a fountain at Schonbrunn and the third is some pretend roman ruins that Maria Theresa (one of the empresses...mother of Marie Antoinette) had built. The Fourth is a dress of Elisabeth or Sisi, who was an empress that had ankle length hair and was obsessed with her small waist.

I also wandered to a carriage museum where they had a ton of random carriages including a hearst.

I got some pictures of Schonbrunn and also the gloriette, which is up on the hill in front of Schonbrunn that Maria Theresa had built and she had breakfast in it and it involved her being carried up, because she was so fat she couldn't walk and she insisted on having wild animals roam about while she was eating so they brought some up from the zoo that is the oldest zoo in the world and also on Schonbrunn grounds. I also got proof that I was there with a picture in front of Schonbrunn and I'm sporting my new glasses and shirt I got from H&M and I also got a ring from Claire's today too that is super cute. It's truly incredible how easily I can spend 20 Euro on clothes and how hard it is for me to buy a bag of noodles for 1 Euro.

My roommate is back and everyone from my group will be back tomorrow! This week was a nice break, but I have now grown a habit of talking to myself and I'm ready for some more american accents. This week I spent a lot of time on my own and seeing places and going to rehearsals and such and it is nice to have a break from being social and I feel like I have really learned how to be completely independent on this trip...not that I was really lacking in that aspect before. It's a little lonely not being able to share these experiences/places with anyone I've known before this trip, but I think I just have to take it in for myself and revel in the awesomeness of being in the same room that Mozart performed for Maria Theresa and then jumped in her lap to kiss her and I know that being here is just one more step for me to turn into a better version of myself. If all of that makes any sense at all.