Today was a day of grandeur. We started with the world-famous Schoenbrunn Palace, which was a short tram ride from our hotel. I can’t tell if the outside or inside was more magnificent, but seeing as they wouldn’t let us take pictures inside, the Rick Steves highlight reel and some postcards will have to suffice.
The grand ballroom and the millions room were definitely show-stoppers. We hiked up to the Glorietta, and noticed that the cold had reached a new level – you’ll notice icy trees in the background. We came back to the hotel, warmed up with a Doner and some chocolate from the Austrian Aldi then heaeded into town.
We met up with Tucker at St. Stephen’s Cathedral. He and JD climbed the 350 steps to the tower, while I toured the Nave – some pretty awesome carvings, paintings and general ornateness about that church. We then made our way over to the Hofburg. Our combo ticket included Schoenbrunn, the Hofburg imperial aparmtents, the Sisi museum and the silver collection (as well as the imperial furniture gallery that we’ll see tomorrow.) The tour starts with the silver – suprisingly interesting and impressive. I enjoyoed seeing the Meissen porcelein (shoutout to Germany!), the 30m long gilded table centerpiece, service sets for 140 people, and candelobras and tiered serving dishes out to wazoo.
The Sisi museum was also interesting – go look this woman up. The wife of Franz Josef who was devastatingly beautiful, mysterious and sad (it sounded like she definitely had some serious depression going on). After being murded by an Italian anarchist, she became somewhat of an icon. The museum even had her murder weapon on display, which was kinda crossing the line into creepy territory. Lastly, the Hofburg imperial apartments. Very nice, but not quite on the same scale as Schoenbrunn.
We then rounded out the day with a dinner meetup with Tucker and Priscilla then a trip to the Haus der Musik, which was a good way to stay out of the cold and get to play around in the interactive museum.
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