April 15, 2012
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Schönbrunn Palace
One day, I decided to pull out my Vienna guidebook and see what we hadn’t seen. I came up with a list of about 15 things. “Wow, that’s a lot.” I thought we should try another trip to Vienna, and the #1 destination on my list was Schönbrunn Palace.
What is this place, you may ask? Well, it’s a big, yellow palace. (Oh, those wacky Habsburgs and their love of yellow…) It was where a lot of the Austrian ruling family lived in the summer including Maria Theresa (about whom I am reading a biography).
It’s where Marie Antoinette (of France) grew up. She was Maria Theresa’s daughter.
Also, Empress Elizabeth (known as Sisi) lived there. She’s an interesting duck for sure.
“Schönbrunn” means “beautiful spring” as in “there’s a well of water in the front yard, and it is awfully pretty” sort of spring.
They had fountains, but I don’t think they were the spring.
How many rooms would you guess are in this palace? (That’s the family by the first set of steps!)
If you guessed 1,441, you are RIGHT!
The palace was laid out with the palace and walking area. (This is the back of the palace. The “ruin” are the statues along the sides.)
I am not sure where the “Roman Ruin” was (something they built to look like a Roman ruin, but was not at all.) This is a picture from the internet.
Off to the right of the “ruin” was a maze. Then, you’d hit a fountain, a small, steep hill, and then the Gloriette.
We had a royally good time!
