Schonbrunn and Mozart

Today’s adventure first took me on the UBahn (Metro) about 7 km (5.5 miles) out of the Ringstrasse and the center of the city the Schonbrunn Palace. The Palace was the summer home of the Hapsburg dynasty and has over 1400 rooms. In 1569,Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II purchased the land and lived in an existing mansion. Work started as early as the mid-17th century until the Palace in its current form was completed in the 1750s.

Since I had purchased a combo ticket yesterday at Hofburg, I was able to skip the long line at the ticket office and go right into the Palace.

You haven’t seen any pictures of the ceilings because except for one room, they were very plain. The room with the fancy ceiling is the Grand Salon, where large parties were held.

While crowded, it was nothing like yesterday when people were shoulder to shoulder. I think it was because this Palace is much larger so there was more room to spread out.

After touring the Palace, I went back out into the rain and walked around the market where I found a new sweet treat.

Then it was back to the UBahn for the relatively short trip home where I unloaded my bag and headed out to lunch.

I tried to go to have lunch at an Austrian restaurant where supposedly schnitzel was born but I couldn’t get in without a reservation. Since there are no reservations available until after I leave, I’ll have to find my schnitzel somewhere else. I still have tomorrow. So, I went with my favorite food in world… pizza. This place is just a few blocks from my house and has a pizza menu of over 30 types of pizza, even tuna. Seriously?? Who does that to pizza. Typically, the wider variety of pizzas the better the food. It usually means that they know how to make a good pizza. And they do. It was delicious.

After lunch I walked less than 10 minutes to the Anker Clock. The Anker Insurance Company built the clock in 1914 as part of the expansion of the headquarters. The company is now Helvetia Insurance, and the headquarters is still in this building.

My last stop of the day was the Mozart House Museum. Mozart lived in 13 different places during his time in Vienna but this house is the only one still standing in its original form. The plaque I saw yesterday was probably the location of one of the flats that no longer exists.

While none of the furniture belonged to Mozart, historians have his property list so they put things in the house that are similar as to what’s on the list.

The manuscripts are copies of the originals which are in the British Museum.

The walls and ceiling of the flat were plainly decorated except the for room adjacent to the study. Historians think it was the main bedroom.

That was my day. Tomorrow will be cold (upper 30s to low 40s) and cloudy, but no rain is predicted. Even so, I think I may go back to the long silk underwear for extra warmth. I have a few last things to see before I head to Prague on Sunday. Tonight I think I’ll wander to the market by the Cathedral for one last look. Never know what I’ll find.

Have a great night everyone.

Wait, I had already posted this when I realized I forgot to tell you about last night’s concert. In short…. it was amazing! Music was provided by a string quartet plus bass, percussion, piano, flute and clarinet. They played mostly waltzes but a few of Mozart’s works as well. There was no filming during the show but here’s are a couple of pics I was able to take.

It was a wonderful way to spend the evening. Beautiful music in a beautiful setting. OK, now I’m done for real.