Today’s agenda started with a visit to Maria Theresa’s modest 1,441 room summer palace, the Schönbrunn Palace – which was originally the location of a hunting lodge dating back to the Middle Ages. The literal translation is Beautiful Fountain Palace. The palace was spared from the Allied forces’ blanket bombing raids in WWII. It took only one hit, but the bomb never exploded. It was imbedded in the ceiling of the ballroom, which was easily repaired. This was the same room where, in 1961, President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev met. No photographs were allowed, but we learned some interesting things. One very large painting depicted a wedding dinner in the palace. There was only one very long table in the dining hall. The royals sat at the table and enjoyed their elaborate meal. The wedding guests, standing, filled the rest of the room, but were not offered any food. Their ‘honor’ was to watch the royals eat! The room was lit with candle chandeliers. The dinner or party would end when the candles burned down, darkening the room. So the hostess would predetermine how long the party should last, and select the appropriate candle (type of wax and length). Dinner guests could then ‘see’ how long they would be standing, watching the royals eat. An adjacent room served as the palace theater – the setting for many concerts by Haydn and Mozart.
Schönbrunn Castle
Celebrating Maria Theresa’s 300th birthday
The palace’s ‘backyard’ includes a small lake and a striking Neptune’s Fountain, framed by a long arcaded structure, a gloriette, situated on a small hill behind the fountain. The grounds were segmented into different areas, offering different themes or serving specific functions. One is a zoo, with a selection of exotic animals from around the world.
Schöbrunn Castle’s back yard
Neptune’s Fountain with the glorieste in the background
Neptune’s Fountain
Walking in a peaceful side garden
Returning to District 1, we were ready for lunch and the hunt for a wienerschnitzel was on. We discovered a wonderful garden restaurant overlooking the Burggarten with its Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart statue. The white spargel (asparagus) is in season and is highly revered as a delicacy in both Germany and Austria. Chefs become very creative in preparing special spargel dishes. Today, I had white spargel soup – absolutely delicious. I could have eaten two or three bowls and called it lunch. However, the schnitzel could not be denied. It was truly delicious.
Famous Mozart statue in the Burggarten
A short walk later we entered the Maria-Theresien-Platz, with a statue of Maria Theresa in the center. On two sides of the square sit two architecturally beautiful buildings. One was the Natural History Museum, which we selected not to visit because of time constraints, and the other was the world renowned History of Art Museum, which we did visit. It was built at the end of nineteenth century to house the imperial family’s art collection. As is the case with most museums, it contains may different collections including Egyptian and Eastern items. We narrowed our focus to the European masters’ painting gallery – Raphael, Rembrandt, van Dyck, Velazques, to name just a few. A wonderful collection.
Maria Theresa statue in the center of her square
History of Art Museum
The interior of the History of Art Museum is a piece of art in itself
One of our favorites: Samson and Delilah by Anton van Dyck
One block behind the Maria-Theresien-Platz, we went in search of the Leopold Museum with its collection of Austrian masterpieces. Specifically, we were in search of Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss, which he painted in 1907, and the subject of the 1988 horror movie by the same name. Unfortunately, the museum was closed today. As an alternative, we returned to the Albertina Museum to see Egon Schiele’s work. Klimt was a contemporary of Schiele, as well as his friend and mentor. Both artists were intense and prolific in their work, sharing a focus on erotic images as well as an insatiable appetite for sex. While Klimt did not produce self portraits, Schiele used himself in much of his art.
Saturated with art, it was time to experience the last of our guide’s highlights: the coffee cafes. Coffee has been a passion in Austria since the Turkish siege of Vienna in the 17th century. The best known and oldest cafes are in Vienna and Salzburg – each will argue they are the best. The tradition is to order your coffee, and spending as much time as you choose to talk with friends, people watch, or read. There is no hurry – waiters expect everyone to spend a lot of time. They won’t bother you. In fact, it is sometime a challenge to get your check. The coffee is served on a small silver plate, along with a glass of water to cleanse your palate, and a biscuit or piece of chocolate. The little treat is no substitute for a scrumptious pastry like strudel. Most important, ordering coffee is an art, with a complexity equivalent to ordering a custom drink at Starbucks. It is important to order the exact, right coffee. Our guide had given us a card of instructions, listing more than 12 variations. I got about half way down, lost patience, and stopped reading. A mistake.
Ice coffee!!
Since it was hot outside, I ordered an ice coffee and a piece of rhubarb strudel. I couldn’t believe what they delivered – a tall glass, filled with vanilla ice cream, a couple of shots of espresso coffee, and topped with chocolate and whipped cream! So much for a low-calorie, cold drink. It was delicious… reminded me of an affogatto in Italy. The strudel put me over the top. Waddling back to the ship, I reached for a medicinal shot of Hungarian Pálinka. Much better! Just in time for dinner.
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