things i'm grateful for: christmas 2011

the adjoining schonbrunn gardens are arranged in french style. as we visited right smack in the start of winter, the shades were either in brown or grey. however i got enthralled of this seemingly sad combination of colors.

beautiful.

the gardens were arranged according to a grid and a star-shaped system.

guarding the gardens is the majestic gloriette.

gloriette offers the most amazing view of vienna.i was bursting with gratitude and love just by looking out at this vast horizon.for this wonderful view. for this opportunity. for the beauty in the world.and to be able to share this moment with my husband and daughter.amazing.i cannot say thank you to the universe enough.

well all these walking called for three hungry stomachs. we had coffee and  at a cafe by the entrance of the castle.yum!

i dont know who this lady is, but i think she is a bit exposed noh? hee.

to cap off our christmas day celebration we headed off to the prater - the home of the riesenrad (ferris wheel) and amusement parks.

the giant ferris wheel is basically a viennese institution. we simply could not let the opportunity to ride it to pass us by!

there was a mini-museum called panorama at the ground floor where you can browse around while you wait for your turn to ride the ferris wheel.

cant wait to get in! even baby was super excited!

the view! fantastic!

the ferris wheel was built in 1887 by an englishman.

the whole ride took about 20 minutes. it was one of the best 20 minutes of our holiday.

one of the scarier rides at the amusement park.

prater at night...

a christmas japanese dinner in vienna. you can see a lot of contradictions in that phrase alone.haha.

next...more beautiful houses and palaces!