Saturday in Vienna

We spent another Saturday in Vienna since the forecast called for rain. We've been wanting to get to the alps for weeks now. But we had a really fun and relaxed day. We visited a church we've never been to before and it was really incredible. This is the Votivkirche. Amazing right? I wish I could have gotten some images of the inside that show you the granduer of the arched ceilings and stain glass windows from floor to ceiling.

The colors of the stained glass were intense and the images were interesting. This was Eden's favorite, for obvious reasons.




Of course the kids were more excited about the small playground outside the church than the beauty of a neogothic architechtural masterpiece complete with gargoyles and flying buttresses.
Andrew makes me put these pictures of myself on here. After the Votivkirche, we took a stroll through one of the rose gardens outside of the Hofburg Palace. As you can see, every rose was in bloom.
Then we headed down to the Rathaus and Parliament buildings and ate lunch near a fountain there. They were getting ready for a music festival at the square later.
Then, after a visit to the Vienna Opera House...
...and a tasty treat to cool us off...
...we sat back to watch a parade of marching bands from towns and cities all around Austria. The kids really enjoyed this.

We spent the evening at a nearby park until the thunder and rain began. We made it home just before the hail storm. Andrew and Eden made it home but Fox and I had to duck into the neighbors patio. He came back for me holding coats above us. We wrapped Fox up and Andrew darted home with him while I followed close behind. I couldn't believe how badly it hurt to get pelted with hail on my bare legs and feet (I had sandals on). This video is from our back patio window. I've never seen so much hail in my life or seen it come pouring down as it did.