Austria - Vienna - Schloss Belvedere

The smartest thing I did the entire trip was visit Schloss Belvedere. Irina met her counsins from the night before who were also partying in Vienna on a Romanian group tour. They all decided to spend the day at Europe's largest outlet mall somewhere on the outskirsts of the city.

I imagined a day of full terror with thousands of shoppers pushing and shoving for crap they probably didn't need so I slipped out the back door to explore this stunning palatial complex. Belvedere is a baroque palace complex built by Prince Eugene of Savoy. One of the great generals of European history, Eugene set out from France and ended up serving Habsburgs in their endless wars with the Ottomans for control of the Balkans. At his death, Eugene was one of the wealthiest men in Europe as his masterpiece palace demonstrates.

The art gallery in the lower section of the palace was fantastic. The art gallery in the upper section was even more stunning.
In a tribute to his military skill he was named by Napoleon as one of the seven generals whose campaigns were worthy of study. This is the classic painting of Napolean crossing the Alps.
Outside in the gardens it snowed. Heavily...