Summer vacation part 6, a quick waltz through Vienna

The next stop on our tour of Eastern Europe was Vienna, the capital of Austria.  Vienna would be the only official "Western" European city on this trip and it is a city that I had always wanted to visit since my post University European backpacking/Eurail days.  Vienna will always hold a special place in my heart as it was featured in one of my all-time favorite movies, "Before Sunrise".  Vienna is known as the capital of classical music of the entire world.  Mozart, grand coffee shops, elegant buildings and tourist shops are lurking around every corner. We would only have about 30 hours in Vienna, so we had to plan our days with laser like precision.  The first day we arrived in the afternoon and after checking in to the hotel and orientating ourselves, we journeyed by metro to the downtown to stroll around and later visit the Music museum (Haus der musik).  The museum was a "hands on" treat and featured several interactive exhibits as well as information on everything to do with classical music and classical composers.  We started the second day in the downtown and made our way to a classic cafe for some Austrian sweets.  Soon afterwards we ventured over to the famous Prater amusement park which features a classic Ferris wheel built back in 1897.  Of course we "had to" take the Ferris wheel up and enjoyed the amazing views of the city from the top.  Later the kids did some carnival style rides and then a bit later we went to see the gardens of the famous Schonbrunn palace.  This grand palace is known as one of the main highlights of Vienna.  We enjoyed strolling through the gardens and going through the human maze with the children.  After literally racing through Schonbrunn, we walked to the nearby Vienna Zoo.  The Tiegarten Schonbrunn is known as the oldest zoo currently in existence and was originally established in 1752.  Although we barely had time to scratch the surface of Austria's grand capital, we really enjoyed the sites and sounds of the city.  Vienna is a charming city and another capital city that I can thoroughly recommend.  Just make sure to give this city at least 3 days or you also will be racing through like our family.

Gardens outside Schonbrunn palace

Schonbrunn garden's maze

Schonbrunn Palace

Inside the Vienna Opera house

Ferris wheel circa 1897

Ice sculpting at the Helsinki Zoo

Last weekend on Sunday our family went to the Korkeasaari Zoo in Helsinki.   People living in sunny California might be thinking, Zoo in the middle of winter in Finland, really?  Yes, the Korkeasaari Zoo in Helsinki is open year round, even in the coldest of winter days when the barometer is -20 Celsius or less.  We happened to go on a balmy 19 F (-7 Celsius) day, which actually wasn't all that bad.  We had been to the Zoo many times before and enjoy watching the animals, but the main reason for this trip was to see the Ice Sculpting contest, "Art meets Ice".


This International ice sculpting contest featured ice sculptors from all over the world.  They had both a solo and couples competition over two weekends.   The 12 competitors in the solo competition hailed from India, Mongolia, Finland, Latvia, Spain, Slovenia, Germany, UK, Portugal and Russia.  The 24 teams from the couples competition featured a couple from Norway and France as well as some of the solo competitors mixed with their fellow countrymen.  The solo competition challenged the competitors to commemorate the declaration of Helsinki as the capital of the Finnish Grand Duchy.  Its elevation to capital status occurred 200 years ago and represented the most significant turning point in the city's history.  In the couples competition international and mixed teams carved ice in celebration of the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012.  Nature itself is a design incubator that has thoroughly polished processes and innovative end products

Since I have never lived in a Nordic country before, this was the first time I had seen a unique event as this one.  We first looked at all the amazing finished pieces sculpted from the prior weekend.  There were all sorts of interesting shapes and colors, including yellow and clear ice.  Later, we ventured over to the couples competition where we saw them creating their teamwork inspired masterpieces.  They were about half way into the process when we arrived.  The artists used chainsaws, chisels, hand saws, and all sort of other tools to establish their creations. They even melded some pieces together to form certain types of objects. It was quite amazing watching them turn inanimate blocks of ice into wonderful pieces of art.

Later the kids had their chance to be little artists in the Zoo's snow sculpting workshop.  Snow is a raw material that can be used in many ways.  I have been told it can be used to build playgrounds, slides or beautiful artwork to decorate your garden.  The kids had a blast carving away in the snow.  It was a very memorable day at the Zoo in the middle of Winter.