Day two: Wien - Schloß Schönbrunn

The weather forecast was right: a nice, cloudless day.

Our apartment is conveniently located. It is a Straßenbahn (tram) ride to District 1 (the old town) and is a 5-min bus ride to the U4 line on the U-bahn (underground). Jocelyn overheard our landlady's description of the Ostermarkt (Easter market) at Schloß Schönbrunn yesterday, and hankered for a trip there...soon.

We took the U-bahn to Schönbrunn. The Easter market is on the ground of this great palace. It was certainly not as big as the Christmas markets that we had visited in Karlsruhe, Heidelberg, or Stuttgart last year. Unlike the German Christmas markets, where there would be stalls selling wursts and glühwein every 10 meter, there was no Würstelstand at the Easter market. When I saw a large punch bowl of himbeer-bowle (raspberry punch) at one of the stalls, I bought a glass thinking that the kids would like a refreshing treat. I took the first sip and immediately noticed the alcohol. OK, this is not kinderpunsch (children punch), and I ended up enjoying a drink before 11 am.



We entered the Schönbrunn Palace after a short stop at the Easter market (time passed quickly under the influence of alcohol). The palace is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, and is popular amongst tourists. There were not a lot of tourists today, although the ticket queue was long. The price structure for the admission fees is too complicated. If you do A, it is X €; for A+B, it is Y €; but for A+B+C and E but not D, you need to get a ticket for A+B+C+D+E. The cashiers had to explain the options to most tourists and a family vote would be taken before money changed hands.



Our first stop was the public garden and the maze. The flowers were beginning to bloom and we could only imagine how beautiful it would get when the whole garden is in full blossom. The kids spent some time at the playground there before attempting the labyrinth. I led the family into the labyrinth, and Gabriel led us out.



The kids needed a break after (literally) getting disorientated. We had lunch at the open-air cafe outside the tiergarten (zoo), which served traditional Viennese cuisine. Jocelyn and I ordered a Wiener schnitzel. Schnitzels, particularly the poorly cooked ones, are usually very dry. But the pork in this thin Wiener schnitzel that I ordered today was really juicy, and was perhaps the best schnitzel I ever had.

We hopped from room to room in the palace after lunch. Several rooms are of significant historical interest: the Große Galerie (the Great Gallery), a magnificent ballroom where John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev had their Vienna Summit; and the Napoleon room which he used as his bedroom after his conquest of Vienna. Gabriel took interests in the Spiegelzimmer (Mirror Room), where Mozart allegedly held his first performance at the age of six.

The palace ground is huge. It would be too taxing on the kids (and the parents who would have to carry them) to walk up to the Gloriette. We got tickets for the Schönbrunner Panorama Bahn, a touristy "train" (shuttle service) that goes around the ground. It was well worth the visit. Our palace ticket also allowed us to get up to the viewing terrace of the Gloriette. Here you see the Gloriette and the magnificent view from its viewing terrace.



We missed the last apfelstrudelshau (apple strudel show...don't you love how words are strung together in German) of the day at Cafe Residenz near the entrance of the palace. But we had our afternoon coffee and pastry there anyways. The pastry, shown here, were good (but expensive).


The kids spent some more time at the Easter market before we left for a Vegetasia, an Asian vegetarian restaurant in the Westbahnhof area for dinner.