You will be glad to hear that our boiler is fixed and we officially have hot water! I spent far too long standing in the shower appreciating this fact and so our day began a little later than expected but by 11am we had negotiated the Subway and were at our first stop of the day – the Schloss Schonbrunn, or imperial summer palace to you and me. One of the most important architectural, cultural and historical monuments in Austria, the land was purchase in 1569 and the palace was built, extended, destroyed, rebuilt and renovated numerous times during Habsburg reign.
As it currently stands there are 1,441 room and our Grand Tour took us through 40 of these. The first few rooms belonged to Fraz Josef and Sisi so they were pretty similar to the Sisi Museum but as you continued through the palace the influence of Maria Theresa was increasingly felt. It’s hard to describe just how rich and powerful the Habsburgs were but the palace gives a pretty good visual representation. Each room is richly decorated, features all the luxuries of the day and is just ridiculously beautiful. It’s also hard to overemphasise how noteworthy this place is – we walked through a room where the six year old Mozart played his first royal concert. You see the room where Napoleon slept and you can even see the bed in which his son died. Modern history gets a mention too as it was here that JFK and Khrushchev met for the Vienna Summit in 1961. Once again I was impressed by the audio guide and the interesting information it provided. Unfortunately the palace also has a no photo policy so I can’t show you the elaborate rooms, chandeliers and gold gilded ceilings but you should come and see for yourself!
After we’d seen the inside of the palace we headed up the hill to Gloriette, climbed the stairs to the very top and looked out over Vienna. Weather wise it was a bit overcast which meant that we couldn’t fully appreciate the view but it was still definitely worth a look.
From here we ventured to the Tiergarten, which was founded in 1752 and is the oldest zoo in the world! Despite its age, I think the zoo is looking pretty well. The original cages have been updated or are no longer in use and there are plenty of newly built enclosures for the 750 animals to enjoy. Some particular highlights were watching the polar bear and tigers being fed and just walking around a beautiful zoo. I couldn’t help but think what it would have been like all those years ago when it was first built. Most people, even royalty, wouldn’t have seen lions and tigers and bears. What did they think when the animals first arrived? Were the adults as fascinated as the children by these exotic creatures? How long did the animals survive? I doubt very much was known about animal dietary requirements back in 1752!
After our trip to the zoo we walked back to the paflace for one final view and even stood on the balcony, looking out across the gardens and up to the Gloriette. Despite not knowing very much about the Habsburgs, I really enjoyed the day. When we were back on the train, heading towards the apartment I actually felt a little bit sad for the loss of the imperial family. The way of life I saw today is completely different to anything I will ever experience. If only they could invent a time machine, I would genuinely love to have a chat with the old Habsburgs but for now Wikipedia will have to do!
We decided to finish the night with a trip to a local restaurant, Prinz Ferdinand, which gets some very good reviews on TripAdvisor. I went for the roast beef and just imagine my delight when a massive steak, topped with onions, lathered in sauce and accompanied by potatoes came out. It was literally perfection on a plate! When you have a meal that delicious there is nothing else for it but to get in to bed, watch some Peaky Blinders and stuff yourself with niceys! As far as days go, this has been a pretty perfect one!
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