Quarantine Kids in... Vienna, Austria
Because kids all over the world have to stay home due to Covid-19, Itty Bitty Itineraries is launching Quarantine Kids. We want to show kids that even if they have to stay home, they can still explore the world and make new friends. This is our first installment. If you want to be included in Quarantine Kids, just send us an email at ittybittyitineraries@gmail.com.
Meet Goose, 4 and Squirrel, 7
Squirrel and Goose live in Austria. Austria is a country in Europe. In the west there are tall Alpine mountains that people ski in the winter and hike in the summer. Austria doesn’t have any beaches because it’s bordered by lots of countries, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and Germany, but it does have lots of beautiful mountain lakes.
Squirrel and Goose live in the city of Vienna, which is in the east part of the country. There are no mountains in Vienna, but because it was the capital of an empire, there are lots of fancy buildings. Many of the fancy buildings in Vienna are palaces. There’s the Hofburg Palace, which is where Empress Sisi and Emperor Franz Joseph lived, and Schonbrunn Palace, which is a huge palace with a maze, a zoo and lots of gardens. Goose and Squirrel like going to the children’s museum at Schonbrunn because they get to pretend they are Empress Sisi by putting on cool old costumes. Plus, there’s a big slide in the museum.
What They Miss
Squirrel and Goose haven’t been able to go to the museums because everything except grocery stores are closed. They miss playgrounds and their friends. “And guacamole!” says Goose, even though mom makes guacamole at least once a week when they have “Make Your Own Nachos” for dinner. They especially miss Ressel Park, the playground with the rainbow slide. It’s their favorite playground because it’s shady and it’s nice to play in.
When the restaurants open up again, they would like to go back to Italic, an Italian restaurant in the first district, and order Spaghetti Bolognese. They don’t like how mom makes bolognese. They also like to eat schnitzel, which is typically pork or chicken that is breaded and fried. It’s usually really really big so they split it!
Favorite Things to Do at Home
The things they like to do the most when they are at home is play Reading Eggs on their tablet, play Uno, or go outside on their terrace. They also like that every Friday is family movie night. They watch a movie and have dinner in the living room! They eat meatballs, french bread with olive oil, and veggies that their mom cuts up. Their favorite movies right now are Trolls 2 and The Princess Bride.
Favorite Places
If you come to Vienna, they think you should go to the Prater Amusement Park because it is fun. It has lots of playgrounds, roller coasters, and a chocolate museum. You can go on spinny things and even get cotton candy. Goose and Squirrel also love visiting the Haus der Musik where the stairs are a piano and make music when you walk on them. They really wish they could visit with the butterflies in the Schmetterling Haus.
Goose’s and Squirrel’s favorite place they have visited is Tenerife, Spain, which Goose calls the “Island of Palm Trees.” They climbed a volcano in Tenerife and went swimming. They also got to stay up late and see the stars with their mom and dad. They want to go back there soon.
Explore Vienna, Austria
Experience the world from home
See Lots of Cool Things Just for Kids
When everything opens again, there are a lot things for kids to do in Vienna, from visiting butterflies to exploring all the cool museums. Watch kids exploring Vienna in this video from the Vienna Office of Tourism. What would you like to do if you were in Vienna?
Learn About the Emperor and the Empress
Vienna was the capital of the Austrian Empire. The last emperor and empress of Austria were Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Sisi. Empress Sisi was said to be one of the most beautiful women in the world. But she didn’t like being an empress and would often run away from Vienna to her other palaces and castles. She liked to ride horses, play in the gardens, and she even had a toilet shaped like a dolphin. Learn more about Sisi at the Sisi Museum in the Hofburg Palace or explore her summer palace at Schonbrunn. If you live in Vienna, you can search for Sisi in the Volksgarten. Franz Joseph is in the nearby Burggarten.
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We believe that introducing kids to new places and cultures is essential to being good a global neighbor. And we want to make travel easier and fun for families, however we can. If you like us, follow us on Facebook. And if you want to contribute a story, send us an email at ittybittyitineraries @ gmail.com.
