Vienna == $$$$$

Vienna, a cool place, but no cheapies found here!

I'm starting to feel better after going through countless Kleenex's; hopefully by the time we head to Budapest, I'll be past the worst of it. Vienna has a lot to see in a very small area - the city is quite big with ~1.6 million people, but all the "must see" items are all within an 10 block radius. We've found some interesting shops, architecture, cathedrals, and people watching, but everything is pricey. Compared to Prague where we'd hunt to find a beer for under $2 and meals for under $7, here we're hunting for beer under $10 and meals under $16. The shops here really through me off, window after window of the biggest fashion brands, countless watches (no pun intended) ranging from 200 euro to 5000+ euro. Even found a nice MontBlanc pen for around 1400 euro. It is store after store after store of this stuff! All of it leads, like spokes on a wheel, directly to St. Stephen's cathedral. So, on the way to church, within a block, you could pick up a nice pair of Pradas, and a Rolex so you're sure to be on time.

I visited Schonbrunn Palace (only approx. $43 for the bus tour!), another great example of Baroque/Roccoco architecture like the previous post on Sanssouci. A beautiful place that is so over-adorned on the interior, amazing. See here for more.

We also visited the KunstHaus Wien museum featuring work from the artist Hundertwasser. See here. It was a really fun place; fun paintings, prints, graphic work, and architecture. But, like the others, quite pricey for all we were able to see.

The best are some of the Art Noveau buildings in town, hope to be posting some pics of those when I'm at a more accessible computer.

Off to Budapest tomorrow - hope I feel better, hope it stops raining and warms up!