Vienna

Wednesday, April 3rd

This morning we woke to 34 degree weather and SNOW!!!! It would have been pretty if we didn't have to go out in it.


We had a short bus tour around the city and then walked to St. Stephan's Cathedral. Thank God for all the warm clothes we bought. We really were pretty comfortable.

















Yes...that is snow and it's cold


Spire of St. Stephen's Cathedral





Had to stop for a pastry and coffee at a Vienna Coffee Shop.....





Rich standing outside Schonbrunn Palace in the cold....

The palace and zoo at Schonbrunn is the city’s and perhaps Austria’s most popular tourist attraction. Schönbrunn Palace with its magnificne grand façade of distinctive yellow and connected buildings and huge formal gardens and park and the nearby zoo, taking up the space of a small city on its own became a UNESCO World Hertiage site in 1996. Schönbrunn Palace, its name meaning “beatiful spring” has been the primary summer palace of the Habsburg dynasty since Holy Roman Emperor Maximlian II first aquired the property as a game preserve along the Wien River.

Emperor Leopold I built the original palace on the grounds beginning in 1696 with a design intended to outshine France’s Versailles, but Schonbrunn is probably most associated with the Empress Maria Theresa who took the improvement of the palace as a personal project, reconstructing much of it in late Baroque and Rococco style with the original furnishing and decorations in the palace mostly from Maria Teresa's time. Napoleon Bonaparte occupied the palace from 1805 to 1809. After Napoleon's defeat and abdication from France, his Austrian second wife Empress Marie Louise brought their son to live at Schonbrunn. Emperor Franz Josef I was born at the palace, lived there for much of his life and died the Emperor's Sleeping Room. The garden park first opened to the public in 1779. The Baroque era formal design of the gardens, emphasising symetry and balance, with diagonal avenues of intersecting walks and vistas, leading to the dominace of the palace as the cental focal point intended as a symbol of imperial power, together with the building additions made toward the end of Maria Theresa's rule with her husband Emperor Franz I Stephan make up the majority of the shape of the palace as seen today, passing into public hands in 1918 following the end of the monachy after World War I.

Following the downfall of the monarchy in 1918 the newly founded Austrian Republic became the owner of Schönbrunn Palace and preserved, as a museum, the rooms and chambers.
After World War II and during the Allied Occupation of Austria (1945–1955) Schönbrunn Palace, which was empty at the time, was requisitioned to provide offices for both the British Delegation to the Allied Commission for Austria and for the Headquarters for the small British Military Garrison present in Vienna.
Later it was used for important events such as the meeting between John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev in 1961.
UNESCO catalogued Schönbrunn Palace on the World Heritage List in 1996, together with its gardens, as a remarkable Baroque ensemble and example of synthesis of the arts.

The following pictures are of postcards of Schonbrunn...no photography is allowed.....





Vieux Laque Room


Great Gallery


Rich Bedchamber State Bed with paneled silk wall-hangings and curtains completed in 1737 for Maria Theresa and Franz Stephan.


Zipfer beer....real "bubbly"...so clear you can see the person sitting at the table behind the glass.

In the evening, we went to a concert at the Palais Auersperg performed by the Vienna Residence Orchestra.

The Vienna Residence Orchestra, a chamber orchestra with a long tradition, was established by pianist and conductor Paul Moser in order to present the Viennese classics in full. The numerous ranges of events in recent decades were presented in Vienna’s most beautiful palace. The orchestra plays pieces from Mozart to Johann Strauss with between 10 and 40 musicians. In 1991 the orchestra was the official Austrian representative at Mozart’s anniversary celebrations.





No photographs were allowed during the performance......some people really enjoyed the performance. It really isn't my favorite. In fact, I find myself just waiting for it to be over!!!..but when in Vienna, this is something you MUST do!!

Long but good day. It is unfortunate the weather isn't cooperating but we are still enjoying the cruise...