The Belvedere Palace

Sunday was beautiful--sunny and a little warm with a slight breeze. I taught Georg the word "mosey" (to saunter or stroll) and told him we should go mosey around the Belvedere palace. The Belvedere palace is in the 3rd district and is one of my more favorite places to walk in Vienna. It was built in the 16 and 1700s at first to serve as a residence for entertainment, and was then expanded to serve as a main summer residence for one Prince Eugene. One of the more important things that happened here was the signing of the Austrian State Treaty in 1955--a document which formed modern Austria. I remember when I first visited the Belvedere in 2005 it was the 50th anniversary of this occasion and there were all sorts of commemorative events and decorations.

When Spring is in full swing I think the Belvedere has the prettiest gardens and there are tons of sculptures of sphinxes all around the grounds of the gardens. I love sphinxes for some reason--you'll see, I took lots of pictures of them which I've posted below.