Vienna is big. Vienna has buildings of such great historical and architectural significance crammed so closely to one another that one’s eyes and brain begin to glaze over while the jaw is still dropped open. We had a small taste last night when we skipped dinner on board and went out to a recommended local restaurant, first exploring a small corner of this great city. There was a park I wished I could have wandered around much longer.
Parks in Vienna seem to think it perfectly natural to have buildings like this lying around.
It was the evening of our anniversary when we went out with Karen and Sam to Plachutta.
The famous dinner was…boiled meat and bones, using the marrow to spread like butter on bread. And it was all delicious!
I skipped this morning’s city tour to sleep, and Dwayne put away the camera quickly when he realized he wouldn’t be able to keep up with all that Vienna had to boast of. But we were both tickled by this beautiful city building that is used as a barn for the famous Spanish stallions. Can you see the head peeking out of the window?
I wouldn’t show you any other pictures of Vienna except Dwayne and I did the optional tour of Schönbrunn Palace, the summer palace for Maria Theresa, the Habsburg empress, powerful and famous on her own, but also known at the mother of Maria Antoinette—and 15 other children.
Built in the late 1600s, it is a very impressive building which only pales in comparison to the grounds.
The palace itself has 1441 rooms, though only a few were on the tour. I can’t imagine every room looking this opulent, but until they allow me to roam unfettered, I can’t be sure.
Outside was even more fun. It was one of those tours that, after being guided through a fraction of the interior, we got kicked outside and told be to be back on the bus in 30 minutes. The entire grounds cover over 400 acres, so we ignored the world’s oldest (and supposedly one of the best) zoos, Roman follies, labyrinths, side gardens, and cafes to hoof it up to the Gloriette.
It would have been delightful to have a chocolate croissant at the cafe up there (the same place Maria Theresa like to have her breakfast every morning, although she had a coach bring her up!), but we only had time to take a few pictures of the remarkable view and be the last ones to return to the bus. Stupid schedules.
Any chance Dwayne won’t want to build that? Good thing we didn’t have time to see the follies!
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