June 16th- Wien

June 16th- Wien

Happy 8th Anniversary to US!  Yeah!  Today is Cole and I's wedding
anniversary, and what better way to spend it then here in Vienna.  We
had a great day.  We started out the day with a VERY fancy breakfast
here at the Marriott- complete with some contention regarding the
price of our breakfast between an employee and my Dad, but after that
all got taken care of, we enjoyed a very lovely breakfast!  After
that, we met the Stake President and his family here in Wien- the
Helmut and Julia Wondra (I think?) and they gave us a guided tour of
the city while my Mom and Dad met with a missionary that is struggling
a little bit.  It actually took them a lot longer than planned, so we
had a really nice tour with them.  They were SOO nice and they had
their 2 little boys with them so it helped us to think about our
cuties at home for a bit.  They showed us a whole bunch of things!  We
saw St. Stephens Cathedral which was so beautiful, some Crypts where
the Hapsburg (royal family) was buried, we also saw the church where
their insides were all buried ! Why they are buried in two different
places, I dont' know!  We saw the royal palace, the old one and then
newer one.  We saw some really neat old Roman Ruins that were built
over 2000 years ago!  Randomly, we were walking the streets and we
heard some music, and a cool marching band made up of really old men
came walking by and we listened to them for a minute.  It was so cool!
We saw a memorial to the Austrians that were killed in the
concentration camps- very humbling and interesting to hear about!  We
also walked along the major street of Wien for a while, and saw alot
of really nice places to shop!  It was really fun!  Then, my parents
called, and it was time for lunch, so we went to the restaurant that
Helmut and Julia (and apparently everyone else too!) said that had the
best Schnitzel in Austria!  And it was SO delicious!  Wow!  HUGE too!
I got the Chicken Cordon Bleu, which was SO yummy, and Cole shared the
schnitzel with my dad, and we loved them both.  It was SOOO hot in the
restaurant, that I couldn't even stay in there to feed the baby, so
after we ate, we headed back to the St. Stephens Cathedral to feed him
because he was so grouchy that it was so hot!  I don't blame the poor
fella!  After, we went to the Wondra's favorite Ice Cream shop, and
BOY was it delicious!  Of course, I couldn't have anything milk based,
but they had the BEST Sorbet EVER!  I had the grapefruit and lime, and
it totally hit the spot. Cole got the Strawberry (probably the best
either of us has ever had! and the Mozart (a chocolate ice cream with
martzipan and pistachios..mmmmmm) So we were both very pleased. :)
After that, we parted ways with that cute family and walked back to
the hotel- on the way walking past a building that we wanted to see-
RIGHT into the heart of the BIGGEST gay parade I've ever seen!  YIKES!
Alot of things that I did NOT need to see today!  There are alot of
naked things here in Europe that I did NOT need to see, but what can
you do.  When we finally made it back to our hotel- after a LONG walk-
we decided to just take a bit of a rest.  We were all very tired,
because it was SOOO hot today.  So, we got back and the boys all went
down to the swimming pool for a dip, and Stockton and I stayed in the
room and had a little snooze. Much needed, might I add!  When we got
up, everyone was still just kind of hangin around, so Cole and I
decided to go out and take a stroll through town again.  We weren't
out long, because Stockton blew out of his pants and we had to go back
early!  Silly boy.  We got back and everyone was still just kind of
hangin- so we didn't head out for dinner until about 8 again.  We have
been eating SO late every night!  No wonder i am so chubby!  :)
Dinner was pretty good, but we had an apple strudel for dessert and
it was SO delicious!
    For our anniversary, Cole and I were going to take a carriage ride
through the city, but it was too expensive, so we just headed back to
the hotel gift shop- didn't end up getting anything because we
couldn't find anything!  So, we headed back up to our room to a
grouchy baby boy that took us about 30-45 minutes to put to bed.  Ah
nuts.  Off to bed now, big day ahead of us tomorrow!

This 05 symbol was everywhere all over Austria- apparently- and Helmut told us it was a sign of the Resistance during WWII.  I thought it was so cool to see that it was all over the place!

Some cool ruins RIGHT in the middle of the city!  So cool!  Cole thought these were really neat.

Helmut and Julia giving us some cool info.  It was SO neat to have these guys give us the tour! 

St. Stephens Cathederal.  Helmut said they are ALWAYS cleaning it up!  That is a big job!

Cool marching band dude

Most random thing ever!  we never did actually figure out why they were marching and/or playing!

Best schnitzel we had (and they say there is anywhere!) in Germany.  It was SOOO delicious!

Their two boys were so cute, and reminded us lots of our own crazy boys!

"The King"- he was upset because I had some cheese, or something.  SO sad.  But he sure enjoyed hangin with Grandma for a minute while Cole and I enjoyed our Anniversary Dessert- which was absolutely delicious- by the way!