Inside we bypassed the long ticket lines, having our Sisi tickets from the Hofburg. Once we gathered the prevalent audio guides, we headed into the royal apartments. Again, no photos were allowed, so I bought some postcards to substitute. First is the Round Chinese Room, with lacquered Chinese panels inset around the room, and heavy gold ornamentation forming shelves for blue and white Chinese porcelain.
Next, the Millions Room, with Indian mosaics cut apart and reassembled into new scenes and placed around the room with walnut paneling and the everpresent gilding.
Finally, the Great Gallery, only half of which we saw, as it is being restored. We were able to peak through to an area they were working on to see the worn gilt and non-glossy white enamel. They are also updating the electrical service, which was original, as in Edison installed it.
I'd say that Schoenbrunn does compete with Versailles for the most impressive palace we've seen.
The gardens are enormous, as this photo from the same place as before, but looking the opposite direction shows. In the far distance up the hill, you can see the Gloriette. Here's the fountain in the near distance.
I made it up that hill, one section at a time, keeping to the shade as much as possible, with an ice cream to cool me off (it has seemed very hot to me, although Keenan and Joren think it's pleasant here). Here's the view from the fountain back toward the palace. In the far distance, to the right, you can see the the city center.
And here's the view from the balcony at the Gloriette. Yes, I have pictures with me there to prove I made it up and back, but it's better to see the view than me.
The underside off the Gloriette roof is pretty amazing.
We ate a late lunch at a cafe on the periphery of the gardens. I had a Chef salad with ham and egg. Mixed salads here are quite different than at home. This one had greens, egg and ham, but also a cole slaw, pickled green bean salad, cucumber salad (in yogurt or sour cream), white asparagus salad in a creamy dressing, potato salad and tomatoes. The boys both ate two long sausages wrapped in bacon (!) with fries. It's a wonder they could move afterward.
Since we had a bit of afternoon remaining, we took the train downtown to Stephansplatz to see St. Stephen's Cathedral. The pictures inside are too dark to see much, and the outside photos are really too near to get a good view. Scaffolding also hides part of the facade, as the stained stone is being cleaned. Joren wanted to take the catacombs tour which was just leaving, so he and his father went down. I declined, not because the visual of bones bother me, but because I find the smell of catacombs to be annoying. No photos of the stacked bones were allowed, but just the stories were enough for me. Evidently the smell became so distressing that it deterred churchgoers from mass, so convicts had to be forced to clean and stack the bones neatly. Ick!
We skipped dinner and went to the nightly snacks at our hotel lounge (a perk for Mariott rewards members). This has been a salvation to us, as they have water available, both bottled mineral water and tap water with ice. Water is something not commonly served in Czech and Austrian restaurants, so we've bought a lot of bottled water for meals. It's never enough, since it is warm. We also have free breakfast at the lounge, which beats the 24 Euro room service breakfast. It's very nice, with eggs, bacon, sausage and potatoes, cold meats and cheeses, breads and fruit, cereal and yogurt. Joren is in love with the coffee machine, and has started begging us to reconsider plumbing one in during our upcoming kitchen remodel.
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