Miles To Go Before I Eat
Yesterday we tackled most if the inner ring of Vienna, so today was dedicated to seeing some of the sites outside of the ring. Bianca and friends live right down the street from Schönbrunn Palace and it’s literally a 5 minute walk to this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Location, location, location!
We first took a tour of some of the exquisite rooms inside, including a music room where a young Mozart performed for the emperor of the time. We weren’t allowed to take photos indoors, so you’ll have to use your imagination. Just close your eyes and imagine the most elaborately detailed and well furnished palace. Yeah, it was kinda like that… only better. Really, it’s a must see. We only took the “Imperial Tour” which covers about 30 rooms with a self guided audio tour. If I were to go back I’d probably select one of the other tour options to see more.
Once we finished with the tour inside, we went outside…
…to explore the backyard.
I’m not sure if you can even call it a yard as it covers an area larger than a small city at 500+ acres! I thank my lucky charms I wasn’t the son of Emperor Leopold I. Mowing that lawn would have taken a lifetime!
With so much land at the royal famines disposal, they had to find things to occupy the grounds. Not one to be outdone by the entire city of Madrid, the emperor had numerous fountains installed.
In one direction you will find perfectly trimmed trees leading the way towards the Obelisk Fountain…
In another is the Round Pool.
And in the Round Pool is a perfect living replica of a duck decoy!
The obelisk sits atop a giant spitting mouth spewing water.
(note: giant spitting mouth is pictured on the left).
Continuing along the path to the right is of course, yet another fountain. This one is the Roman Ruin Fountain.
…and to the right of that fountain is the Neptune Fountain.
And behind the Neptune Fountain is a large hill that lead up to The Gloriette…
…which of course must have it’s own fountain of sorts.
Those royal families really know how to live it up! Just check out the view of the palace from atop the hill where The Gloriette sits, overlooking all of Vienna.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been a member of a royal family, but if there is one thing they teach you in kingdom class, it’s that you simply can not have a palace without it’s own zoo with pandas.
I mean come on! How can you call yourself a king if you don’t have pandas running around in your backyard? Seriously!
When you have this much land, and you start to run out of things to do with it, you are forced to get a little creative. And that’s when it dawns on you… I need a labyrinth of shrubbery!
Ha! I bet the king of Switzerland doesn’t have one of those!
Nor does he have a childrens sweatshop playground for the little royal rug rats.
I tell ya, this whole “keeping up with the Henry’s” thing has just gotten out of hand. It’s exhausting and it’s making me hungry. How about some Sri Lankan cuisine?
Eaten the traditional way… sans forks. Just devouring it like savages, using our meat paws to paw meat (and rice).
It’s not easy, but it’s fun. Almost as much fun as sipping on some sturm at a winery up in the hills of Vienna with our friends…
…and learning some new Austrian vocabulary.
We spent so much time trying to say the word “knopf” but our mouths just aren’t designed to say it. We are defective. It’s really quite difficult. Try it yourself. It sounds like you are saying “knopf” but the N is replaced with the popping sound you make when your tongue snaps off the roof of your mouth. And don’t forget to include the K sound at the beginning of the word too. Make sense? No? Oh heck, just forget it! I can’t describe it. Just watch and listen to these two sister do it.
HAAAHAHHAHAHA!! love the video – sounds like it’s laced with some audio effects.
“And that’s when it dawns on you… I need a labyrinth of shrubbery!” = awesome.
miss your face! can’t wait for next week.
— brandi
October 18, 2008 7:05 pm.