I order tickets for Schönbrunn Palace online. There are many options, with and without this, with and without that. I get lost in the offers and trust that I will find a happy medium. In the hope of being able to book something extra if necessary.
At 9 o'clock on the dot, we are at the gates of the manor house of past monarchs. Emperor Matthias is said to have discovered an artesian spring here while hunting in 1619 and exclaimed enthusiastically: "What a beautiful fountain!" Aha. This is how Schönbrunn came into being.
Unfortunately, we are not allowed to take photos in the castle. We don't know why not. Nevertheless, we secretly took a few mobile phone photos because we just felt like it. And there are tiny little rebels inside us.
Besides all the pomp, I realise that we are big fans of patterns. We are particularly fond of the many different parquet floors! I can already see new knitting patterns, Gerd just parquet! That's him, my love.
The time has finally come to tell Gerd about my little love affair with Sissi. Somewhere and sometime many years ago, I read that she had her hair combed for two hours (!) every day! Two hours! Yessss! I imagine that and start dreaming. Others might dream of winning the lottery or of a desert island. For me, it's a dream: to have my hair combed for two hours every day. With a sideways glance at Gerd, I realise that I can hardly harbour any hope in my current life constellation. All right, I'm happy with 5 minutes. You shouldn't be greedy!
The palace and the approximately 160-hectare palace park have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. One of the main attractions in the palace park is the oldest zoo still in existence in the world, the Schönbrunn Zoo (16 hectares). But as we don't visit zoos, we stroll for hours through the palace, from room to room (all somewhat larger and more grandiose than our south wing in Felix) and later wander through the palace park including the "Verlaufirum", as Gerd likes to call the labyrinth.
In the Gloriette, we dine sumptuously with a view of the palace and palace garden, topped off with apricot dumplings. What goes around comes around.
A gloriette is a building in the garden. It usually stands on a hill so that it is higher than the surrounding area. Gloriettes are usually only there to look beautiful. They were particularly popular between the 17th and 19th centuries. The appearance of a gloriette can vary greatly. It often looks like a small pavilion or a small temple that is open at the sides.
The small Gloriette in the palace gardens of Schönbrunn is anything but small. The catering is excellent, and we actually manage to get a table with the best view of the palace gardens on a Sunday afternoon in the best weather without a reservation.
We spend the afternoon in the garden, walking along the endlessly long paths, taking pictures of squirrels, joggers and lots of trees (almost all pictures that I will delete later). I always wonder why Gerd takes pictures of all this...).
On the way out, I remember that our tickets also include the Orangery. Uppsala, we almost forgot. So into the garden full of palm trees, herbs and, as luck would have it, a wedding fair in the orangery. All right, that doesn't interest us at all, this material and better-higher-higher battle about getting married these days is not really our thing. In the end, we stroll through the vineyard (which isn't a mountain at all, just a vineyard) and are amazed and delighted by the large garden in front of the orangery. We, who are fans of botanical gardens...
By late afternoon, we are so tired that our wish to take another stroll through Vienna's city centre remains a wish. The underground takes us to our Felix. And he: out of Vienna, on towards the Czech Republic. Because tomorrow is Monday. And for us, Monday means a working day.
Merci for "travelling with us
We are thinking about taking another break from travelling in the summer and visiting our families in Germany and Switzerland. One of the ideas is to organise a Lecture about our long journey to the Persian Gulf to prepare. If you would like to, what would interest you the most? We will also tell stories here that don't find a place here on the blog. We're thinking of the Bern and Berlin area - simply because we have family there. But other places are also conceivable. Feel free to write to us.
Do you think our travel experiences might be of interest to others? Then you can share the Share post quietly. By e-mail or however you want to do it.
In addition, if you haven't already done so, you can use our Newsletter subscribe. Here you will receive all our experiences in your mailbox whenever we publish something new or once a week on Fridays: live-pur.ch/newsletter
We are also very happy to hear your views, your tips or your questions. Just comment on the post!
