It was 99 degrees and humid the day we went to the Schonbrunn Palace! This was the summer palace of Empress Maria Theresa and all those that followed her. The inspiration for this palace was the magnificent Versailles in France, but in MHO as beautiful as Schonbrunn is….nothing compares to Versailles. I think what surprised me most was how formal the “summer” residence was. I guess when you are corseted within an inch of your life and the fashion of the day required layers of crinolines and yards of fabric…..relaxed doesn’t have the same meaning it has today……it must have been torture. The men didn’t have it much easier….with their high button shirts and their leather boots and long frock coats. Unfortunately, photos of the interiors are not allowed in any of the palaces. Like the others, Schonbrunn was very ornate, with lots of damask covered walls, and white and gold furniture. The photos above show the front of the palace and the rear gardens. The small photo, just below the water buffaloes, is a small building at the top of the gardens where Maria Theresa would sometimes have breakfast or lunch. The palace is only a 15 to 20 minute cab ride from down town Vienna, but I guess in the 1800s it took a lot longer by horse and carriage, and I’m sure there must have been much more forest surrounding the palace. You can see in one of the photos just how close Vienna is in the background. On the property of Shonbrunn is located the oldest and largest zoo in Europe. There is a trolley car, which for a small fee, you can take around the acres and acres of property. The good thing is you can get off where ever you like, and when you are ready catch the next trolley. It is a beautiful zoo with many exhibits, but for Jac and myself, zoos are always a little sad. Many of the animals were standing in, sitting in, or lying in what ever water was avail. I have to say I was very jealous of the water buffalo in their deep pool. There were many many tourists and locals at the zoo, and everyone was in T-shirts, tanks, tube tops, shorts and sandals…..all except the Arab women. They were covered from head to toe in Black, while their husbands walked next to them in T-shirts, shorts and sandals. I don’t know how the women didn’t faint. All in all, even with the heat, it was a fun day at the palace.
Beautiful Schonbrunn!!! From what I have read, Maria Theresa was pretty tight with her money and didn’t want to spend on Schonbrunn what had been spent on Versailles! There is also a furniture museum in Vienna which holds the many, many extra pieces of furniture which traveled around from schloss to schloss. I don’t think I would want that many homes to keep up with :-). One of the highlights for me of our stay in Vienna is that we were there during the annual Marine Ball which the members of the delegation were invited to. It was held in the ballroom of Schonbrunn and was a glorious affair! All the young Marine officers were given dancing lessons so that they would be able to waltz with aplomb. OG hadn’t had such lessons and is not a fan of dancing in any event, so I waltzed the night away with the young officers. Glorious!!!!
Re my previous post on the Vienna Philharmonic under “Vienna Cont’d.” The show will be televised from the gardens of Schonbrunn Palace. How apropos.
Check your local PBS station.
‘Vienna Philharmonic
Summer Night Concert’
The PBS “Great Performances” series brings us what looks to be a lovely capper to a Friday evening. From the gardens of Austria’s Imperial Schonbrunn Palace, Gustavo Dudamel conducts works by Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Richard Strauss in celebration of the world of dance. The Vienna Ballet dancers are also featured. 10 p.m. Friday on KCTS (seattletimes.com/tvlistings).
I’ll be watching while I pack, Maria!
Oh, Barbara, I wish I were going with you. Stopped at Salzburg on a whirlwind European tour in 1974 and thought Austria was enchanting. (And I always favor southern Europe. Greece and Italy are my weakness, and I just don’t change.) The posted photos from Louis and your discussions, in addition to those of others, have given me a real hunger to visit Austria again. I barely saw anything — just had an instant attraction to it. The bucket list gets longer. We Linea Ladies will watch/listen to the concert tonight and then flip to “The Lisa Robertson Show” to see what’s going on with Louis’s fashions there. In my neck of the woods, the concert will be at 9:00 and Lisa goes on at 10:00. Enjoy the concert and your trip. I look forward to hearing a bit about your adventure.
Now that you and Jac have cleared the 99 degree heat stamina test you are invited and encouraged to come visit us in Texas! 🙂 Thank you both for all the wonderful pictures and stories. As beautiful and chic as Jac always looks I like her best in her cargo shorts and Chuck Taylors. Who but Jac could pull that look off? She looks like a beautiful, healthy, vibrant, college coed. You are a lucky man LDO!!!
That I am a million times over! That’s the way Jac usually looks.
Dear Cathy….that was exactly our impression. Where are the beautiful alley of trees going up the cobble drive to the “summer” place? There was a surprising lack of trees and flowers through out the city. Of course there are many parks but the interior of the city is pretty much stone. We really noticed it when we went back to London and many houses and hotels have wonderful flower boxes and trees lining the streets. Of course there are parks everywhere.
Louis and Cathy, This kind of heat in Vienna is a recent phenomenon. It wasn’t this way at all until fairly recently. The Vienna Woods the next trip, Louis! It is beautiful with many well developed walking trails. And the Prater used to be the emperor’s hunting grounds. There is also a very large wooded park in the 18th District attached to a “shloss” or palace, which is also open on some days. The park is in the English Landscape style which was very much in vogue at the time it was developed. There is a restaurant there I want to go to! Several of the more outlying districts also run into the Vienna Woods, which are part of that district.
Thanks again, Louis and Jac; so kind of you to share all this with your faithful armchair travelers LOL. Love that baby elephant! As lovely as all this is in and out of Vienna, the one thing that particularly strikes me is … lots of pavement, cobblestones etc., formal gardens and … NO SHADE anywhere! The thought of all those petticoats and corsets in the old days, or even our contemporary ladies from other cultures … makes me dizzy to even think about. You and Jac were real troopers to do so much in 99 degree heat; you have my admiration. We were in DisneyWorld with our family in May in that kind of heat … daunting.
Thanks so much, Cathy in PA