Adventures in Vienna: Schonbrunn Palace & Sigmund Freud Museum

Back in December I jetted off to Vienna on my own for a bit of an adventure/soul searching whatever you may call it. It was bitterly cold - the majority of the time I was there it was below zero. I experienced a new kind of cold though a month or so later when I visited New York!

So whilst in Vienna, I made it my mission to do various different things; shopping being the number one priority of course! However to also take in the culture and do some exploring was something that was high on my list. I did the cultural stuff more towards the end of the trip, one because I wanted to get a feel for the city and feel comfortable in my surroundings before venturing into the complete unknown and two, well because by the end of the week I had filled my suitcase to the brim and spent a lot of money therefore shopping was no longer on the cards unfortunately!!

When I went to sixth form I studied (attempted) to delve into the world of Psychology, but it turns it is wasn't for me! I may or may not have got a U in my AS Level exam...gutted. Anyway, a huge topic of discussion in both my Psychology classes and my English Language classes also actually was the famous Sigmund Freud - a psychologist with all sorts of weird and wonderful theories. So, before world war 2 he actually lived in Austria and his family home was based in Vienna until they fled from the Nazi's. Anyway, so since then they have now opened up his old apartment into a Museum where you can visit the whole place and see where he worked. The place is filled with literature and examples of his work and there is a very in depth audio tour which I found very interesting! Apart from the place being an absolute nightmare to find (I must have asked at least 10 people for directions) but once you get there it is so worth it and I would definitely recommend to visit if you're in the area. It is within walking distance from the city centre, perhaps about 15 minutes away - although to be truthful I can't be entirely sure as I walked in all sorts of different directions before actually finding my way there.

The next day I decided to visit Schonbrunn Palace, and honestly I'm so glad I did. It's such a beautiful building with an even more beautiful interior. I imagine the Palace and Grounds look amazing when it snows because it is just so pretty and well kept. As I went in December there was a lovely Christmas Market going on and lots of people about, which I found quite nice really having been on my own all week, it was just good to have company and feel part of something. Even if nobody actually spoke to me!! I believe there are several different ticket options you can get but I went for the one where you go on an audio tour and visit 22 rooms in the palace. There is also a Zoo close by which I didn't go to but I think you can get a combined ticket for both.

I made my way to Schonbrunn Palace via a taxi ride which took about 15 mins and cost me 17 euros. However I discovered on the way back there is an underground station about 200 metres away where you can hope on a tube to St Stephanplatz (the city centre).