Girl In The Pretty Dress

Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden has to be one of the more breathtakingly beautiful places I've ever visited. It is a little of the beaten track (just outside of Ripon) but it was well worth the trek. The Abbey itself was built almost 900 years ago, and having survived Henry VIII's closure of the monasteries is one of the most complete abbey remains in the country. A truly historic place. The water garden that surrounds it was created in the early 18th century and is an equally tranquil place of beauty. They gardens themselves are peppered with a number of building's known as follys (each of which is currently filled with a unique piece of artwork). I took far too many pictures so here are just a few of my favourites to give you a taste...

This is my final post on Vienna, but I saved the best for last. We were staying a little way out from the city centre, but the upside to this was that we were within walking distance of the Schonbrunn Palace . This was formerly the summer palace of the royal family but is now a museum and park. The park and gardens are free to visit - but there is an entry charge for the rooms inside the palace as well as some other parts of the grounds, including a zoo. I've never seen anything like this before. The gardens took hours to explore and there were surprises round every corner, but the palace itself completely took my breath away. We loved it so much that on our last day when we had a couple of hours spare before we had to be at the airport, we went back for more.  I wanted to experience a classical concert whilst I was in Vienna so I opted to go to one of the nightly concerts held at the Schonbrunn in the Orangerie - where Mozart himself once performed. It was a little pricey,...