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  • Day 3

    All things Austrian

    August 11, 2017 in Austria ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    Today was our very own trip through Austrian history. We headed off to the summer palace bright and early. The one we visited yesterday was the winter one and the originally the Summer palace was located outside the city. Now, however, due to the city expansion it has been encompassed. Thankfully though they have preserved all the wonderful grounds surrounding it as well as the palace building itself.

    Schonbrunn palace is a sight to behold from the moment you lay eyes on it. A wonderful throwback to the Europe empires of old. It is so easy to imagine the lords and ladies arriving in a carriage for a magnificent ball or event being held in the palace. We had a couple of hours to pass before our 3pm guided tour so after the most expensive (and disgusting) cup of tea ever we headed off to explore the gardens. Wow is the only the only word to describe them. They were spectacular. The colour and vibrancy of the flowers and their designs were breathtaking. The expanse of the gardens was phenomenal. This was not your sterotypical back garden. They are 186ha in size and contain a zoo, a riding school, a maze and other wall gardens of different varieties. It is very easy to spend the day wandering around the various aspects. At the rear of the estate we were able to climb a hill with an imposing monument and got a breathtaking view of not only the palace but of the city itself. The photos don't do it justice, it needs to be seen in person!!

    After the gardens it was in for the guided tour. We had a fantastic tourguide, witty, informative and very engaging. We learned all about the Hapsburg family who ruled the Austrian-Hungarian empire and the badass Empress Marie Therese who was so far ahead of her time and lead the empire for forty years during a period where men ruled all. She was some lady. One of the key things she brought to Austria was compulsory education for all!! She had sixteen children and was pregnant twenty one times in her lifetime!! As she was pregnant for so much of her life she couldnt go on trecherous journeys to visit foreign rulers so she made them come to her! The quote of the day comes from the tourguide who refered to her as being 'highly pregnant' on a number of occasions. The glory and opulance within the palace was unrivaled. We werent allowed take any photos in order to protect the surroundings but it is worth visiting the inside of the palace for sure!

    Tonight then was our very first trip to the orchestra. You can't come to Vienna without experiencing an opera or classical music seeing it is the city of Mozart and Beethovan. We went to see the Mozart Orchestra in the Golden Hall. The hall itself was mesmerizing. The ornate decoration was another throwback to another time....they just don't build them like that anymore! The audience was 90% Asian so we felt a little out of place at times! The performance itself was amazing. I had never experienced any form of live classical music before, but I definitely will be again.

    As we were on a high from the performance we decided to get a drink afterwards and stumbled on the Imperial Hotel which was located across from the venue. It was clearly out of our pricerange in terms of accommodation but who doesn't like a bit of luxury now and again. Of course we blended in perfectly with the other patrons as we ordered our cocktails and took a few sneaky snaps of the decor. It was peaceful and luxurious and when we win the euromillions or marry a millionaire we will stay there next time!!haha The perfect end to the day!
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