I'm still sort of getting used to not having school work to do on a daily basis. This semester was unlike the previous two in that everything was due before the end of the semester, so there are no papers left to finish after classes ended, and really no school work left to do at all. Not that there isn't plenty to do...I'm working on getting everything organized for the summer, finally getting to some things on my to do list that I had been putting off while school was so busy...but there is thankfully also time for just wandering around enjoying these beautiful summer days. One day last week was ridiculously gorgeous, and turned into a bit of an impromptu park tour. A friend and I walked all over town, basically from one park to the next, just enjoying being outdoors in this gorgeous city.
Starting off in the Augarten which is a giant park home to both the Vienna Boys Choir and the Augarten Porcelain Manufacturer (this tour is now added to my things to do).
The park also still has two of these flak towers left over from World War II which provide an odd contrast to the beautifully manicured English gardens and tree lined paths there.
There's no way to really capture how huge these are, an artifact of a much different Vienna than I enjoy now.
From there we wandered to the Rathaus for some lunch. During the summer months the square in front of the Rathaus hosts an array of international food stands, and displays free movies at night. The movies are generally recordings of concerts, operas, musicals etc.
Even just walking through the streets of town is breathtaking on days like this.
Next up...Stadtpark...I took fewer pictures in here because I tend to find reasons to be in Stadtpark multiple times per week.
One place I hadn't been since the first week I lived here (with the exception of the Christmas Market here) is Belvedere. It is absolutely gorgeous in the summer, with all of its topiaries and fountains.
Being a nice clear day, you can see all the way across town to Kahlenberg in the distance.
On to Karlsplatz, still haven't been inside here yet, hoping to remedy that tomorrow actually.
And a perfect end to the day in one of the restaurants along the Danube Canal.
I am glad I decided to stay here this summer, although I did miss my normal 4th of July celebrations, my sweet friends here celebrated with me...turns out this holiday is a lot more difficult to replicate than Thanksgiving, but we did our best. We're in this weird time between the semester ending and graduation the end of next week, so we still have a few school celebrations to enjoy. It's a bit hard to believe that next year I will be counting down towards my graduation!
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