Austria, Day 5 - Monday, August 27

Monday, August 27

We slept a little longer and breakfasted again in the little hostel apartment kitchen, then packed up, cleaned up, loaded the car, and headed to towards Schloss Schönbrunn with its sprawling gardens and grounds. Schönbrunn was the summer residence of the Imperial Royal Habsburg-Lorraine family that ruled over the Austrian Hungarian empire until World War I.

For a little more background and history check out House of Habsburg (Wikipedia):
"The new successor house styled itself formally as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine (German: Habsburg-Lothringen), and because it was often confusingly still referred to as the House of Habsburg, historians use the unofficial appellation of the Habsburg Monarchy for the countries and provinces that were ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg between 1521 and 1780 and then by the successor branch of Habsburg-Lorraine until 1918."

The rooms are sumptuously reconstructed and restored. We took the "Grand" tour which featured 40 rooms that were used by Franz Josef, his wife Elisabeth ("Sisi"), and/or Maria Theresa at some time during their residence in the Schloss. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures outside. The audio guide was quite interesting and kept the girls moving steadily through the tour. I felt like I needed a time line and a family tree to keep track of all the intricacies! I may need to do some reading up on my European history pre-WWI to sort it all out...

After the tour of the rooms in the palace, we wandered outside through the gardens, past the Neptune fountain, and up to the Gloriette at the top of the hill opposite the palace. On the way through the gardens I challenged the girls to try to study and mimic the classical form of the statues!

The ornate sculpture on top of the Neptune fountain.

The girls wanted to find the Labyrinth and puzzle garden. This was really fun! The girls dashed in and out of the pathways trying to find the way to the inner platform. They made it before J and I did, so then they got to call out helpful instructions! "Turn left!" "Keep going!" and so on...

Searching for the way through!

 

GE decided to try it again and still got lost! This time I got to help her through the last bit.

Then we climbed the hill and paused at the Gloriette to survey the view. I couldn't help trying to recreate some of the photos I took of the girls when we were traveling in France the last time we were living in Germany.

 

A lilac for Grandma K.

After walking back down to the Schloss it was time to get our picnic lunch from the car which we enjoyed in a side-street park before loading up for the drive home. This time the Alps were clear of clouds and haze and we could see the snow caps as we drove. Too bad we couldn't stop for pictures! I guess we'll have to make sure we go back...

Austria Day 4 - Sunday, August 26

Sunday, August 26

Got up and breakfasted in our sweet apartment, then took the U-bahn to the Stephanskirche, the Vienna Dom. We wanted to attend the High Mass featuring a mass composed by Fauré and his student, Messager, Messe des pêcheurs de Villerville, which was to start at 9:30 a.m. It was early--only a little after 8 a.m., so we scouted the cafés and found a coffee house open. The girls each selected a different Viennese delicacy: ME a brioche, GE a Schaumrolle, and HR picked something we couldn't recognize...

We took lots of photos of the exquisite architecture as we strolled.

Inside St. Stephans.

St. Stephan's famous tiled roof.

At 9:15 the bells began to toll and we made our way back to find seats. The music was gorgeous--well worth sitting through the rest of the mass. I even managed to understand a fair amount of the priest's Austrian dialect as he gave the sermon, but the Littles (HR and GE) both fell asleep! 

Afterwards, we went to the Haus der Musik, which includes the museum of the Vienna Philharmoniker. We spent a couple of hours in the exhibits--lots of cool music/sound demonstrations and explanations, also a history of Vienna Philharmonic and the associated composers, conductors, and musicians. Kids got to conduct the Philharmonic in the final exhibit room. Hilarious!

For lunch we grabbed food from a street truck, then took U-bahn to the Prater amusement park for ride on the giant Ferris wheel. The kids also wanted to ride a rollercoaster, so we rode a traditional Achter Bahn and wooped and hollered!

From there we hopped on the U-bahn again to go stroll along the Donau (Danube) river before heading back to Ruthensteiner Hostel for late afternoon naps and a light supper. We are TIRED. 😁
Tomorrow: Schönbrunn palace and museums.