Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna

We have had so many weeks of work in a row, and then finally, at the beginning of October, we had finally gotten settled enough (and after coming back from London) to plan a real vacation. We had a three day weekend, and after checking out the different locations,

settled on Vienna, Austria. Having left Austria only a few months ago, I was super excited to go back - because it is super pretty, and I was also never able to find any time to make it to Vienna from Innsbruck. It may be in the same country, but it was a bit far to me to get to and back in the weekend.

We set off with some of our teacher collegues on the Thursday night, getting to the hostel super late, but enough that we had the whole day on Friday. In the morning, Josh, Steph and I set off from our hostel, grabbed a snack for breakfast along the way and made our way to Schonbrunn palace, the famous one

in Austria. It was super busy already in the morning when we met our friends. We got the ticket that let us view all the rooms inside, the garden, mazes and up to this cool viewing platform at the top of this very high hill. We had a great time inside the palace, learning more from the audioguides

about the sad story of the Austrian Royal family. It had started out as a really rubbish, cloudy looking day, but by the time we finished our tour, the sun was out and we could explore the pretty gardens. There were lots of lovely statues dotted along the paths.

We tried the maze too - and got very very lost, but it was good fun none the less! Finally we traipsed up the hill - it was a long way to be going in so many layers of clothing - but once we made it to the top, the view was really beautiful!

We Will Remember Them

We walked along the river with our Soleros, up over to the famous Tower Bridge (which we got to see open and close too!), and over to the Tower. As this year will be one hundred years since the beginning of the First World War, the Tower of London is doing something pretty impressive

and beautiful. As a way of rememebring each person who died in the way, a ceramic poppy is being planted in the moat surrounding it. They do a little bit each day, so that by the 11th of November, they will all have been planted. Afterwards, the poppies are being sold off, and the charities go to Veterans organizations. It really is a beautiful way of rememebering so many men who died fighting in a war we simply can't imagine these days.

A post Masters Solero

I was only in London for the weekend and Monday - because of my job it had been allowed that I was able to miss the Tuesday presentations. I felt great about that, because it meant I was finished, but it didn't give me enough time to spend in London! After I finished for the day, Alicia joined me on an excursion to go to the Tower of London to see the poppies they have set up there. Since it is so close, and the weather was amazing, we decided to walk it, and grab an ice cream along the way!

The Skyline of London

We were staying in a hotel close by to where I used to live, because it was also very close to where I went to University, which was right at London Bridge. As we shopped all of Saturday and Sunday, we packed up and on Monday morning I headed to university to give my presentation on my Master's

dissertation. I was super super nervous, but I was excited to see a lot of my friends who I probably hadn't seen since April or so, when we had our exams. It was good to have a catch up with them all, and then the serious stuff started. We were in a huge lecture hall which I had never been taught in, and

we got a few minutes to set up our presentations. I wasn't first, but I was third or fourth, which meant the rest of the afternoon I was able to sit calmly! I felt like my presentation went alright, although the questions were a bit obscure - but it was only 15 minutes of my life and finally it was all finished!

A full English

One of the things I have been missing most about London has been the food! I know it seems silly, but I really had missed a full English breakfast and a full Sunday Lunch. Mummy isn't a fan of Sunday lunch, so instead on Sunday morning we went to a new place called the Breakfast Club, and it was absolutely glorious!

Sunset on Southbank

We dropped all our stuff off at the hotel, and had a little rest. It was so nice to be seeing Mummy again, even though I had just seen her in Frankfurt a month ago! First we got a pumpkin spice latte at the Starbucks near my house, and then we set off shopping. We spent the day shopping, and visiting some places she wanted to. I carried my camera around all day, not really taking any photos, so I was pretty pleased that after we dropped all our bags off at the hotel, we took a stroll along the Southbank.

I used to spend a lot of time walking along the Southbank with Sonia, going to all the little festivals that were there, the Christmas market and the book stores along there. It was great to walk along there, especially at Sunset. Mummy had decided after our walk we would go to a new Mexican restuarant that had opened in Soho, which turned out to be really great!

Back Home

I was really excited to be back in London. I got into the airport at London City super early, and then hopped on the tube back to Southwark. Since I haven't been back in so long, I was pretty pleased that I rememebered where to go! I got off, as my Mum was arriving in on the train in an hour or so, and we were staying near my old apartement. I walked right past it, and it was

super nostalgic. It was lovely to be back there, and just in London. I met up with Mummy at Waterloo, and we started off a great weekend!