On to Vienna

Monday, June 10, 2019
Vienna, Vienna, Austria
We awakened in Vienna, capital of Austria.  It’s a holiday so the city is somewhat quieter than usual - little traffic on the roadways and most shops closed.  Our tour this morning is a combination of bus and walking to give us an overview of the city and it’s most important spots.  It was a good introduction with a knowledgeable guide. Since we will be exploring Vienna more thoroughly when we return after our cruise, we will save our photos and comments to include at that time.
Our afternoon excursion is a guided tour of Schoenbrunn Palace; built in the 1500s, it became the main summer residence of the Habsburg rulers. It has 1,441 rooms, most of which are decorated in pure Baroque opulence.  The many rooms were not just for the royal family, but they needed to house their entire entourage.  When in residence, they brought all the cooks, maids, butlers, horses, grooms, guards, and soldiers.  The palace and grand gardens has been open to tourists since the 1950s. Queen Maria Theresa would likely not be pleased to see the tourists traipsing through her private residence. However she is still a popular figure in Austria partly because she ruled during the height of the Austrian/Hungarian empire. Also any woman who had 16 children has to be a very strong person and not one to take lightly. She was also known as the Mother in Law of Europe as many of her children married into royal courts of other European countries. Some met with success and others (Marie Antoinette in France, Maximillian in Mexico) did not. Nevertheless she was a very important Monarch in European history. Photos were not allowed inside the building, but we included a couple interior examples taken from postcards.
We also toured the carriage museum to see the long line of carriages used by the Habsburgs over the years. They allowed photos in the carriage museum, so we included some. They are very fancy and impressive in terms the craftsmanship, but a tough, slow way to get around.
While the temperature was in the 80’s the day we visited, a strong breeze made it comfortable the gardens. Still being late spring the Gardens were beautiful and close to their peak color. We enjoyed some time to see the Gardens before we head back to our ship. 
Most of the people on the ship were heading to a classical music performance that night in Vienna. We opted to pass on this trip since we are returning to Vienna after the AMA tour and have a musical performance included in our return stay. With almost half the passengers gone we felt like we had the dining room to ourselves for a leisurely dinner. 
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Comments

Brad Willis
2019-06-13

Love it, thank you!

Laura
2019-06-15

Yes, You do look happy! And your updates make us happy. Thank you.

Val
2019-06-19

Beautiful!

2025-02-07

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