Schönbrunn Palace
Vienna, Austria
September 9, 2008
Vienna, Austria
September 9, 2008
Upon reaching the end of the tour of Schönbrunn Palace I felt like I’d sat through a particularly well-done, 40-hour BBC costume drama on the last generations of the great Hapsburg dynasty. I’d lived through the unhappy marriages, family feuds, assassinations, suicides, childhood tragedies, misguided bouts of redecorating and courtly intrigues. Only I hadn’t sat through it. I’d walked through it – all 40+ rooms of painstakingly preserved splendor accompanied by a respectfully narrated and thoroughly absorbing audio-tour. The palace as museum is a remarkable homage to the House of Hapsburg. Inevitably, the Palace is only half of it. The one kilometer square grounds house a botanic garden, zoo, carriage museum, Orangery, Roman ruin, maze, palm house, multiple fountains and, of course, the original spring water well (“Schöner Brunnen”) after which the palace is named.
I made it as far as the Gloriette viewing terrace (see photo) and collapsed into the cafe to enjoy an overpriced sandwich and coffee.
