Vienna

From Budapest, it took us 2 hours to drive to Vienna where we had a wonderful lunch with Grigo's Austrian relatives. We were lucky that it was a national holiday so we could all spend the afternoon together.

The girls really hit it off with their big cousins.

After lunch, we went back to Margit and Diether's apartment where we were staying for dessert. Unfortunately, Margit wasn't in Vienna at the time but she would catch up with us in Zurich.

Lia had a great time with her cousin, Kristof.

The next day, Kristof took us on a tour of Vienna. Unfortunately, it was rainy but we didn't let that stop us. Our first visit was to the Hundertwasserhaus and the Hundertwasser Museum. Friedensreich Hundertwasser was a painter who turned to architecture. Like Gaudi, he thought conventional architecture was boring. The apartments in this building are colorful with uneven surfaces and "tree tenants" sticking out of openings in the building made just for them.

Here we are clowning around with Kristof. . .

 The girls had loads of fun being silly with his hat.

We ate lunch at a restaurant that just happened to have a real lion mask as part of its decor. The girls were fascinated, as you can imagine and the very nice waiter let them try it on.

After lunch, the girls got a special ride . . .

We then walked around the buildings of the Hofburg Palace. Here's the obligatory family photo.

The girls liked all of the larger-than-life statues in the Hofburg Palace. Rica was especially drawn to the "Power on Land" fountain.