Austria 2010!

A family reunion in the Czech Republic called for some exploring around Austria first! We left LAX late Friday night and arrived into London the next morning. We enjoyed a much needed Starbucks coffee and muffin while people watching and walked around all the amazing shops. We then boarded a plane for Vienna and arrived at 10pm, just in time to walk across the street to our hotel for a long shower and good nights' rest!

We woke up bright and early (jet-lag) and went to Struck for breakfast... the best pastry/coffee shop EVER. We both agreed that the horrendous 20 hour travel time was all worth it to have this breakfast!

After a good breakfast, we got our car rental and drove about an hour and half south of Vienna to a beautiful town called Stegersbach- known for their thermal baths and spa. We checked into our gorgeous hotel, walked around the stunning grounds and were excited to get to spend 3 days here.

After lunch, we quickly changed into our suits and robes and spent the afternoon spa'ing it up! The water was so warm and relaxing... they had an indoor and outdoor pool, lots of different saunas and steam rooms, a huge indoor water park complex with slides and lazy rivers... amazing!

Our hotel rate included breakfast, lunch and dinner so after our spa time we had drinks in the bar and played Sorry! on their built-in game table. We then had a delicious 5-course dinner where we were treated like royalty... the Austrians are so hospitable!

The following day, we had a breakfast fit for Kings (with Champagne and all), we spent the morning at the spa and then after lunch we decided to head to Graz for some sight-seeing. Graz is a charming city... perfect blend of old world and modern architecture. We had delicious pastries and Chai tea at a coffeeshop and then explored the Graz castle.

We took a lift up to the castle because the stairs looked never ending but after getting to the top we figured the stairs didn't look as bad going down so we did it! So fun to explore new cities.

After three of the most relaxing days ever, we took off for our next adventure. We said good by to the beautiful Larimar Resort and headed back up towards Vienna to a little town called Mayerling where we said hello to another jewel of a resort... Hotel Hanner. We checked out our beautiful room and decided to spend our day in Vienna.

We started off exploring the main drag of glitzy shops and accidentally fell into another pastry shop for an Austrian specialty... apple strudel in a warm vanilla-rum sauce, delish!

After licking our dish clean, we went and saw the famous St. Stephan's Church and then wondered around until we found Vienna's castle. It was a lot of walking but we managed to get a perfect tour of one of our favorite cities!

We went back to Hotel Hanner for a soak in their jetted hot tub and went to bed early for our trip to the Czech Republic in the morning to see my family. In the morning we packed up and were greeted with yet another breakfast... this one seriously topped the charts.. why can't we have breakfast spreads like this every morning?! So relaxing to eat breakfast for TWO hours while being presented with anything our hearts desire... we were officially fueled to hit the road for Czech :)