I must have taken the side entrance as when I entered into the walled area, all I could see was a straight gravel road lined with trees. After walking for about 10 minutes, the road opened up, and I found myself in the garden of the Schonbrunn Palace.
The garden was immaculately kept. Flower beds were lush and the grass was green and perfectly trimmed! I suppose even without royals, this place still employees quite a number of staff to keep its look.
Since I was alone, I found it tough to take pictures. Even though the iPad has a front camera, the quality it took would not have been satisfactory to me. The palace sat in at the end of the garden, and on the other end, some 500 metres away was a lovely fountain.
Over the fountain was a hill, on the top of the hill was a building that was built in the style of the palace, overlooking the ground. Today, the building on top of the hill has been converted to a restaurant.
I walked down the road that connects the palace to the fountain. Along the way, I took pictures of the palace but it wasn't until I came across this young couple did I ask for their assistance to get my picture taken. Thought it turned out quite nicely. The couple was from China. I did not know that until the woman asked the guy to take the picture for me in mandarin. I thanked them in Mandarin, and I think they were quite shocked by that.
Side, it has been somewhat convenient being able to speak mandarin. On this trip, I have ordered in Mandarin in Paris (at a Japanese and a Chinese Restaurant), Zurich (at a Chinese food stand where I got extra food because I was speaking Mandarin and telling her how much I've missed having chinese food), and also along the way, helping out other tourists to order food (Paris), to give directions (Krakow), and to find out there was path at the end of the road in the dark (Mykonos) when I overheard the ladies speak in Mandarin.
Anyway, the palace ground was HUGE. It must have been a few km square. I walked over to the fountain and looked back. The sight was beautiful. with the garden in the foreground, this place was quite amazing.
When I made my way up the hill, the views just kept getting better. Not only were you able to see the palace, but you can see beyond with the city in the background.
This palace was a gift to Empress Maria Theresa, who ruled the Austro-Hungarian Empire for 40 years. She loved the palace and stayed here during the summer.
I bought the ticket the visit the palace as well, but this time, unlike in St. Petersburg, pictures were not permitted. I have to say the most impressive room was probably the reception ballroom, and what was also interesting was Maria Theresa's fascination with Chinese and Japanese porcelain. Within the palace, there were rooms decorated with Chinese and Japanese art.
What was disappointing was the most amazing room of them all in the palace was under restoration work. But the amount of art work that you see on the walls, the decor of the rooms, was definitely worth visiting the palace.
Within the grounds of the palace there was also the Vienna Zoo which had Panda bears! I didn't go in, as I wasn't sure how long the zoo would have taken me. Also, there was a part of the garden where you can pay to go into the maze made of tall bushes. If you buy the master tour ticket, you could also visit the private garden in the palace (but you could see it out the window when you are in the palace), and also, you can attend a apple strudel making class.
It was quite the afternoon I spent there, and to top it off, I went shopping in Stephensplatz for a bit as well.
This was the part of the trip where we stop train-ing around and start to take advantage of the cheap flights in Europe.
Next stop, Athens Greece!
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