What a wonderful surprise Vienna has been for us! This is our first visit, but unusually for me, I had done almost no research about the city prior to the trip. I had a few highlights in mind, such as the Schonbrunn Palace but really knew very little about the city itself and its history. By the end of the day we certainly had a better insight into the fabulous wealth and power of the Hapsburg Dynasty who had made the city the glory it is today.
We joined Jo and Steve this morning on the optional excursion to the Schonbrunn, they had visited Vienna previously but had missed the palace on that trip. The drive there was through busy peak hour traffic and when we arrived there were already hordes of tourists at the gates. However the courtyard is vast so there was still plenty of room to move.
Schonbrunn Courtyard
There were several of these horse and carriages lined up ready to take people on a (very expensive) ride around the grounds.
Inside we visited about 20 of the major state rooms. It was easy to see the resemblance to the Palace of Versailles in Paris but the Schonbrunn is on a more manageable scale. Sadly, we weren’t allowed to take photos indoors but we particularly liked the Mirrored Salon. Outside we made a beeline for the gardens which were in the process of being replanted for the summer display and walked up to the Neptune fountain.
Ready to walk up to the Gloriette
The fountain
We climbed up the hill to the Gloriette, where we had a great view to the back of the palace and the city beyond. The gardens were lovely and we wandered down a couple of green paths before heading back to the cafe for a coffee pick me up. We resisted the temptation of the huge apfel strudels though. Sadly we had missed the Apple Strudel Show, no doubt with all-singing, all-dancing strudels!?
At the Top of the hill
Looking back down to the palace and gardens
In the wisteria arch
When the bus collected us we had the option of returning to the boat or being dropped in the city. On the way in we drove along a section of the Ringstrasse past some amazing architecture so we were keen to stay in town and see some more. First we dropped in to see St Stephen’s Cathedral, a gothic glory with a beautiful ceramic tiled roof.
St Stephen’s
Our jaws dropped when we turned a corner and had our first glimpse of the Hofburg, the Winter Palace of the Hapsburgs.
One small part of the Hofburg
We walked in past the entrance to the Spanish Riding School and had trouble keeping our jaws off the ground, the scale and beauty of the buildings is fantastic. In the Burggarten we stumbled on the statue of Mozart, he performed here at the age of 6!
It took about 30 minutes to stroll back to the meeting point for the shuttle buses, stopping for a light lunch on the way and we finally arrived back at the boat feeling a bit footsore but looking forward to our excursion for the evening. Dinner was a buffet served early so that we could leave the boat at 7 pm and head back into the city for a private concert of Viennese music. Gae and Greg had done a similar event on a previous visit but the rest of us dressed up and headed off.
We were very fortunate that our concert venue was a room in the gorgeous art musem, the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Emerald had only been able to secure the venue for about 3 of their concerts this season. The museum faces across a grand plaza to the Naturhistorisches Museum with a statue of Empress Maria Theresa between them. Inside it’s a Baroque glory in dark red marble and painted domed ceilings. We climbed the grand stairway and enjoyed a glass of bubbly together before heading into one of the gallery rooms for the concert.
Jo and I with Empress Maria Theresa and her Natural History Museum
What an entrance!
Enjoying the pre-concert bubbly
We were treated to an hour of wonderful music and singing by an excellent chamber orchestra and a delightful soprano and tenor. Many of our favourites from Strauss ( junior and senior) , Mozart and Liszt. It was an absolute highlight of our trip
Back on the boat, we were served a light supper of goulash soup and a little more bubbly to celebrate a wonderful evening.
