Wednesday - more Vienna and overnight train to Venice, Italy!

Here was our itinerary for Wednesday, our final day in Austria:

* European breakfast at Pension Suzanne.

* Drew's presentation on the Monument Against War and Fascism.

* Back to Hofburg Palace to view the Habsburg Crown Jewels - very cool to see!

* Viewing the Habsburg family royal art collection at the Kunsthistorisches (Art History) Museum.

* Scott's presentation on Brugehel's famous painting, "Peasant Wedding and Dance".

* Lunch at Naschmarkt.

* Free time to explore more of Vienna.

* Dinner at the traditional Viennese restaurant Reinthaler's Beisl.

* Overnight train to Venice, Italy - journaling, playing games and chatting, and adjusting to sleeping in small 6-person "cabins" on the train.

Here are some pictures from our day:

Drew presenting on the Monument Against War and Fascism in Vienna.

One of the many, many treasures in the Habsburg Crown Jewels collection. This particular piece is said to hold one of the nails that held Jesus to the cross at His crucifixtion. You can see the nail in the center of the egg shaped glass enclosure. 

Scott's presentation on Brueghel's famous painting, "Peasant Wedding and Dance".

Some of the gals from our group at the art museum. We have a good group of kids and everyone is getting along well!

Dinner with the group - it's been fun to have authentic regional dishes at meals. It seems like everyone is being a bit adventurous with their food choices, enjoying new flavors, and sometimes even trying to order in the native language. As a German speaker and liking their foods myself, I've been very happy to see that.

On the overnight train to Venice. We all mingled a bit between our (very small and cramped) cabins, and then it was off to bed to try to get some sleep on the train before our full day in Venice. 

I asked these three to try and show in a picture of how small the 6-sleeper cabin on the train really was, but it's hard to see.  There were the two red beds on the top that Sophie and Emma are on, then Tyler is standing on two other beds below, and then there are two more beds that fold down at his hip level - tiny and cramped!

The concensus in the morning is that no one was very comfortable, but everyone got at least some sleep in varying amounts. We were all excited for our amazing morning and afternoon in Venice, so we were able to push through the groggy morning waking up on the train.

Sending this from Florence Thursday night, we're all enjoying gelato at a cafe at the moment - fun!  More updates about our fabulous day in Venice tomorrow.  :)