After 3 days in Budapest, it was time to drive back west and turn our explorin’ sights on Vienna, Austria.

I’d been to Vienna once before – during the summer before my senior year at UCLA – and L O V E D everything about it. So, I couldn’t wait to see how things stacked up 3 years later.

Mark and I started with a g’bye breakfast, as you do. Turns out we had complementary breakfast every morning courtesy of the hotel restaurant, but didn’t actually think to take advantage of it until the last day. Of course.

Thanks to the Four Seasons for a wonderful, Christmassy stay.

After checking out, it was time to hit the road.

Believe it or not, this was the extent of the border crossing between Austria and Hungary. Run down, abandoned, creepy.

And here we are, not 15 minutes from the city center. How cute is that baby red car!? Everything’s cuter in Europe. Actual fact.

Case in point: that building on the right has a big fat BOW on it.

Hotel Sacher Wien – our Viennese home for the weekend. It’s one of the oldest establishments in Vienna, smack dab in the city center. The Vienna State Opera is right across the street, and the Hofburg Palace, St. Stephan’s Cathedral, the Museum Quarter and the Rathaus (parliament) are all within walking distance.

It basically screams old money. Both the clientele and the decor — like Downton Abbey meets Mr. Darcy meets…Austria?

Our room even had its own name placard.

The inside was fifty shades of maroon.

The view – fabulous. Maybe not quite as fabulous as the Four Seasons in Budapest, but definitely not half bad.

xoxo