Day 12--Vienna, Austria Rest Day

SCHONBRUNN PALACE & LIPAZZANERS

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Vienna, Austria

REST DAY

X+—This is a rest day in Vienna, one of the great imperial cities of Europe and the former capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. You've earned a rest after nine cycling days. There is so much to see here we'll provide a briefing this morning, then you are free to wander and explore at your leisure. Be sure to explore the Hofburg imperial palace, home to the ruling Habsburg family for over six centuries. The rest of the day you can go on a quest for the best Viennese pastries!

I was awake at 5:30 am and downstairs for breakfast at 7. BIG breakfast. The buffet offered every sort of food —whole grain and other breads, tons of different jams, scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon, cold cut platters, cheese platters and small cheeses, yogurts, tea, coffee, half a dozen cold juices . . . They even had chocolates and jerky this morning. Of course breakfast costs the equivalent of $16 in this big city. I’m glad it is already paid through Ex+.

I was followed to the breakfast bar by Judy who came a bit later and then by Carolyn and Harold and by David Kahn. David told us that he thought that he and Barbara would have to drop out of the tour as Barbara was not doing very well. Barbara and David were waiting until 9 am to call Philipp, who dearly loves to sleep in. He and Stefania washed and lubed all of our bikes last night after we arrived. They work very hard to make our trip pleasant.

Theodor Hertzl Platz (Theodore Hertzl Square); Herzl was a
writer, journalist, and in later life a promoter of a Zionist
 free state for Jews. He founded Die Welt of Vienna.

We are just back from a 3-hour bus tour of the city and about 15 minutes each on the free Internet at the hotel’s partner up the hilly street from the Mercure. We have heard nothing re Barbara.

Out city tour took us around Ring Strasse, past the Hundertwasser House and Embassy Row, and then out to Schönbrunn Palace, former Empress Sisi’s former summer palace. Schönbrunn was jammed with tourists but our tour guide was good and certainly made the history of Maria Theresa, Marie Antoinette, Sisi and all of the Hapsburgs interesting. We heard many tales about the beautiful Sisi, the Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, who was married to the Emperor Franz Joseph I.

The 1441-room Schonbrunn Palace and its Palm House arboretum; Sisi keeping watch over all

What the guidebooks say about Schonbrunn:  Summer cottages have always been popular with wealthy Europeans, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise when Emperor Leopold I--ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire--commissioned a hunting lodge near the old Tiergarten, or Zoo, at Schönbrunn ("Beautiful Fountain") on Vienna's outskirts in 1695. What was surprising was the grandiosity of his vision: He ordered Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, the greatest architect of the Baroque Era, to design a palace larger than Versailles. Fortunately for the Austrian Treasury, the emperor balked when the architect's estimate came in, and the Habsburg family settled for a more modest dwelling with only 1,441 rooms.

       When Empress Maria Theresia ascended to the throne in 1740, she had Schönbrunn Palace expanded and redecorated in French Rococo style over a five-year period from 1744 to 1749. The palace was later occupied by Napoleon and surrendered to the Austrian Republic upon the abdication of the last Habsburg emperor, Charles I, in 1918.

Some of the  statuary around the fountain, much of it from Greek mythology; That's Poseidon with the trident

There were hundreds of marble statues about the grounds, most of Greek mythological gods and goddesses

We only got to see the Hundertwasser house from the bus and had no chance to return to it (but I wish we had), so the photos here are from the Internet.

What the guidebooks says about Hundertwasser House:   Designed by Austrian architect and artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser for free because "it was worth it" and owned by the city of Vienna, the Hundertwasser House is a tourist site, social and political gathering place, and a piece of art. With no straight lines or flat surfaces, bright colors, and organic low-rent apartments, the Hundertwasserhaus is a unique version of public housing located in Vienna’s 3rd district. It is one of the most visited buildings in Austria.

The Hundertwasser House; note the rooftop gardens and onion dome and penthouse apartments

An interior room in the Hundertwasser House and a portion of the facade

One of the entryways to the Hundertwasser House restaurants and apartments

After our tour and lunch, we walked out to see the Lipizzaners (only mares and foals this time of year) at their training stables this afternoon. They were darling. I had a piece of apfel strudel and a cup of coffee while waiting for them to open the training ring.

 

The foals are born dark and then turn white

Internet photo of the mature horse in the ring

After this, we returned to the hotel to meet with the group and to hear something about tomorrow’s route. David and Barbara will fly home tomorrow. Barbara’s injury is a severe sprain of her groin muscle. The doc’s say she should be off her feet and the bike for two weeks at least. This means that by the time we reach Budapest we will be down to 8 riders!

My coffee and apple strudel

Stefania and Philipp told us a bit about tomorrow’s route, and then Judy and I went down the street to an old upscale restaurant by the church and had a bowl of goulash soup, bread, salad, water, and a scrumptious dessert that cost more than the bowl of soup. What the hay. You only live once. There was an accordionist in the restaurant who set the proper mood.

I’m about to take a shower, my second of the day. A cool front is predicted to come through tonight with rain in the morning and a tailwind to see us on our way to Bratislava tomorrow morning. Yippee. It has heated up again since our rain in Schlogen and the heat and humidity are wearing on me. I hope that the route tomorrow is on the shady side of the river.