April 11, 2018 ~ Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

April 11, 2018 ~ Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

I have truly been looking forward to this excursion for much of the trip, and it did not disappoint!  Schonbrunn Palace was the summer residence of the Hapsburgs.  The name in English means "beautiful fountain" according to our guide, Billjanna (billyanna).

Billjanna, our guide

History of the house

Once again, no pictures were allowed inside, so my pictures below come from the website of the "schloss" (castle) 

Herringbone Room
Blue Staircase
We walked up forty steps known as the "blue staircase" with it's magnificent fresco on the ceiling.
Then we went into the Walnut Room.

Walnut Room
This room served as an audience room for Joseph II who was co-regent of his mother Maria Theresia.  Furnished in the typical Rococo style favored by Maria Theresia.  The room was also used as an audience room by Emperor Franz Joseph - a place where he received his generals, ministers, and other court officials.  He also gave audiences to his subjects on Mondays and Thursdays
Franz Joseph's Study
The next room was the study of Franz Joseph with a lovely display of photographs of the family.  Unfortunately, we were whisked through the room rather quickly and into the bedroom of Franz Joseph.

Bedroom of Franz Joseph
Franz Joseph kept a fairly regimented schedule, rising each morning at four o'clock, making his morning ablutions before performing his morning prayers.  Notice the iron bed, suggesting the austere character and thriftiness of the Emperor.  Franz Joseph died in this bed at the age of 86 in the year 1916 in the midst of the first World War.  His son ruled for only two years before being forced to abdicate the throne and leave the country in 1919.  He and his family fled first to Portugal and then to Switzerland.  His descendants lead less public lives, but some are active in politics as well as business throughout Europe.

Reicheszimmer (Royal Bedroom)
This bedchamber was only used for "special occasions" -- the birth of the royal children.  Maria Theresa had twenty pregnancies and sixteen live children!  While on that subject, she was known as "Europe's Mother-in-Law due to the fact that she arranged many political marriages for her daughters throughout Europe forging alliances and becoming one of the most powerful monarchs of her time. 

The front of Schonbrunn Palace

Horse drawn carriages carry visitors about the grounds

A corner of the palace


Statues behind the palace on the walkway to the park


Fountain in front of the palace

The palace grounds and park


In the afternoon, we heard a fascinating talk about Austrian history by Dr. Alexander Kugler.  What an outstanding speaker he was -- the first one to introduce me to the phrase "Mother-in-law of Europe" in describing Maria Theresa (who had 16 children - many of them daughters)!

In the evening we had the Captain's Farewell Cocktail Party before going in for dinner.

Captain Vojtech Toasting the Group

New Friends: Carol and Charlie

One of our favorite waiters, Galin

Maitre D, Marte and Chef Gabbour with Program Director Gary in the background

Another of our favorite waiters -- what a sense of humor

New Hawaiian friends, Kay and Arthur

Galin 

Dessert!
We set sail at 5:30 p.m., and as we were sitting in the lounge we passed a number of illuminated buildings -- not sure what they were, but they were certainly pretty.






Tomorrow ... Budapest!

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 13, 2018 at 1:10 PM

    Beautiful! Please have someone take a picture of the 2 of you & post it I'm missing seeing you😀

    ReplyDelete

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