A Visit to Schönbrunn with Dana

My sister Dana is here, with two friends from Florida. She is here for a week, until Friday. When she leaves, Marisa's mom, Ingrid (who was born in Vienna), sister Ula, husband Phil and two boys, Max and Fletch arrive for a week as well. Whew!!!

We have actually been putting off some of the more spectacular sites in Vienna until Dana got here; knowing we were going to seen them with her. Schönbrunn Palace, the summer getaway of the Hapsburg is one of those places.

Situated on what once was the outskirts of Vienna, this is a complex purposely intended to rival the summer palaces of the French kings, Versailles. It is really stunning. We took a tour of the Imperial living quarters. They are really impressive and interesting, but I have a hard time swallowing all the wealth and luxury given to one family. I guess it's the natural born republican (small "r"...) blood flowing though my veins. It really bothers me. I get the same feeling in many of the ornate churches one can visit, but at least in the churches the average citizen could set foot and gain some spiritual (and physical) warmth. Royalty just pisses me off.

HOWEVER, I do love history and architecture, so I get over it. Schönbrunn (beautiful fountain, in German) has a lot of both... The ornate and sculptured gardens are in the classical French style, meaning unnaturally sculpted, but still, they are wonderful for walking. The entire area served as a hunting grounds as well, so there are large forested areas with walking paths. The reals highlights of the entire area are the palace living quarters; the Glorietta, a kind of open, pillared gallery at the top of a large, open hill; and the many fountains, obelisks and other sculptures though out the park.

Nowadays, Schönbrunn is a tourist haven, and a great parks for anyone to enjoy. I hope you like the pictures. As always, don't forget to click on the picture to enlarge them of better viewing... Thanks for stopping by....

 1. Ben, having fun with perspective.

 2. Lucas, doing the same... poor photography skills on my part, though.

 3. The open square in front of the Palace.

 4. The obelisk fountain.

 5. Close up.

 6. Fake Roman ruins.

 7. Me and Dana.

8. Lucas and Dana's friend Karen, up on the Neptune fountains.

 9. The Neptune fountains.

10. Looking back at the Palace from behind the Neptunbrunnen.

11. More of the same.

 12. Ben

 13. The Palace, from the top of the Glorietta.

 14. The Glorietta. On a less foggy, cloudy, smoggy day, it has one of the best views of all Vienna. However, as Hannibal Lecter said to Agent Starling, ..."but not today..."

15. The Glorietta, the Neptunebrunnen, from the Palace viewpoint. See #13 to get the opposite view.