In the summer (July 12^th to July 20^th), we were so fortunate to go to Austria. Prior to leaving to this country, where it is well-known for classical music from Ludwig van Beethoven to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, I was on cloud nine because I’ve never been there before. A couple of weeks before going to Austria, I purchased some travel books and started my research on what we should do when we are there and where we should eat. To be honest with you, there are so many things to do when you are there. On July 12^th, we had departed Los Angeles at around 2:00pm in the afternoon and was on our way to Vienna, Austria. Instead of sitting in a public airplane, where there are many screaming babies and random people, we went on a private plane (World Airways). We had watched several movies on the plane: The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons, Marley & Me and He’s Just Not That into You. After a long 11 hours on the airplane, we finally landed in Vienna International Airport on July 13^th.

Upon arriving at the airport, we walked to the baggage claim to get our luggage. We then made our way to the bus stop in which it was going to take us to our hotel, Hilton Vienna. When we got to Hilton Vienna, we put our things in our room and walked to the local shopping square. There were so many shops there; it reminded me of Times Square in New York. We then walked around and saw Stephansdom Cathedral.

After walking around for about an hour, we decided to stop at Sparky’s for dinner. The food was mouth-watering and dele ctable. What we had was: fish soup, potato wedges, chicken wings, Coca-Cola and a glass of chardonnay. Every day in the morning, we had continental breakfast and I’ve got to say that there were so many things to eat. The next day (Tuesday), it was going to be the longest day of all because we were going to go on a city tour around Vienna and have a casual dinner at Weingut Fuhrgassl Huber. The day started off at Schonbrunn Palace and that historic landma rk has so many gold items, architecture and artwork.

We then went back to our hotel and that is where we ate pizza and vegetarian falafel. At around 7:00pm, we disembarked at Weingut Fuhrgassl Huber.

What we ate at that restaurant was: fried chicken in bread crumbs, weiner schnitzel, apple strudel and much more yummy foods. We also enjoyed some fine Austrian red/white wine and beer. Wednesday came and we all got up at around 5:30am in the morning because we were going to go to Salzburg. Salzburg is best known for its music. It was the birthplace and home of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. On the way to Salzburg, we had stopped at Lake Traunsee.

We then went shopping in Salzburg and that is when it rained for like 30 minutes. After shopping in Salzburg, we had lunch at Nagano Japanese Restaurant. What we had for lunch was: tempura udon. I didn’t know that udon noodles in Salzburg were that expensive; just a bowl of udon costs about $10 dollars.

By the time we got back to Hilton Vienna, it was already 8:30pm. We had just realized that we were in Salzburg for 12 hours, practically there the whole day because it took 4 hours to get there and 4 hours to come back. Thursday (July 16^th), we went to Haus der Musik at around 2:00pm in the afternoon.

At that museum, there were a lot of things that was hands-on and we interacted with so many musical instruments. After 2 hours at Haus der Musik, we went to Wiener Riesenrad (a theme park in Vienna). We were so stoked to go because we were going to on a giant ferris wheel that is more than 100 years old.

Can you believe that this theme park actually has a casino? After spending the rest of the day at Wiener Riesenrad, we went to dinner at Marco Polo Chinese Restaurant (we would go to this restaurant every night because they have the best Chinese food). We ordered" roasted duck with noodles, teriyaki chicken with rice and pork/pineapple fried rice.

We then boarded the cruise ship that was going to take us along the Danube River. We had a buffet style lunch and boy, the foods were all so good! While sailing along the Danube River, they made an announcement saying that we will stop at Krems.

We then landed at Krems and Krems is well-known for its apricots. After a long day at Stift Melk and Krems, we went back to our hotel and decided that we were going to eat at Marco Polo Chinese Restaurant for dinner again. This time we ordered: mixed sushi and sashimi, teriyaki chicken with rice. The weekend came (Saturday) and we decided to take the local subway to Pilgramgasse and Chinatown.

What we had for lunch there was salmon and we also went to an espresso bar. The weather then was gloomy because it looked like as if it was going to rain. Yes, for dinner we went to Marco Polo Chinese Restaurant AGAIN!! This time, we had: sushi, chicken breast with rice, chicken and mushroom soup, salmon maki and fried rice with chicken/vegetables.

Next day came Friday and we were going to go on a cruise along the Danube River. We first went to Stift Melk and had a tour around that historic landmark. Stift Melk has over 1000 windows and 500 rooms!!

All in all, our trip to Austria was so worth it because we had visited many historic landmarks, tried many Austrian foods and drinks, learned German and so much more. If I had the chance to visit this country, I definitely would go again!