18 May 2018, Friday
The main agenda for today is a visit to Schönbrunn Palace, aka Schloss Schönbrunn (click here). It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it is Vienna’s most-visited tourist attraction. Schönbrunn Palace was the summer residence for the Habsburg rulers and it dates back to the year 1569. The palace building has a total of 1,441 rooms (such extravagance!), and together with its sprawling gardens, occupies about 180 hectares. It is a huge and historically significant place and we were excited to visit it.
After a good night’s rest in our comfy apartment, we headed out at about 8am this morning. Armed with our 24-hour travel pass, we took the U-Bahn from Südtiroler Platz Hbf to Schönbrunn station, with a change of trains at Karlplatz station. The journey took around 25 minutes. From the U-Bahn station, it was a short walk to the entrance of Schönbrunn Palace. I read that there would be long queues to enter, but when we arrived at 8:50am, there was no queue yet and we got our tickets in a breeze. We just bought our tickets on the spot, without pre-booking them online.
There are several ticket options available when visiting the palace and you can find out more by clicking here. The most basic ticket is the Imperial Tour, which allows access to 22 rooms and private apartments of Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Elisabeth (aka Sisi). The Grand Tour is an expanded version of the Imperial Tour, giving access to 40 rooms. Both come with a free audio guide and you can explore the rooms at your own pace.
We went for the Grand Tour and it costs €17.50 (S$27.63) for adults (I just checked online and see that the price has increased to €20.00 as of 5 October 2019). To prevent overcrowding, there is an allocated entry time indicated on the ticket to allow visitors to enter the palace in batches. We entered slightly earlier than the indicated time but the staff didn’t stop us. I guess it was not crowded yet so they were fine with it.
The 40 rooms included the residential suites of Franz Joseph and Sisi in the west wing, the state rooms in the central section, the imperial apartments of Emperor Franz I Stephan and his wife Maria Theresa (who bore him 16 children!) and more. They provide a fascinating glimpse of the pomp and extravagant lifestyles of the rulers from centuries ago.
The audio guide was very useful as it gave a lot of information about the rooms and the exhibits. My only grouse is that photography is strictly not allowed in the palace so I don’t have any photos to share with you. However, you can visit the official website (click here) to see photos and get an idea of what to expect during the tour.
We took about an hour for the Imperial Tour. Following which, we explored the outdoor areas of Schönbrunn Palace. The Palace Park was opened to the public around 1779 and entry to the park is free. However, special attractions such as the Privy Garden, Orangery Garden, Zoo, Palm House and Desert House require individual admission tickets. We just explored the free areas of the park.
The park extends for 1.2km east to west and 1km north to south, so it’s huge. The large open space in front of the palace building, forming the central axis of the palace, is called the Great Parterre. The motifs of the colourful flower beds are taken from embroidery patterns. Gardeners were working hard to re-pot the flowers to ensure that the lawns remain in perfect condition.
Flanking the Great Parterre are tall, well-trimmed hedges and trees. Looking at the flower beds and trees, I couldn’t help but be reminded of my visit to the Palace of Versailles in France in 2009. The Château de Versailles was even more extravagant than Schönbrunn Palace, and the gardens were even larger and more impressive.
At the far end of the Great Parterre is the Neptune Fountain, commissioned by Empress Maria Theresa in the 1770s. The fountain depicts the sea-god Neptune and his entourage, all carved out of white Sterzing marble. Here, Neptune stands in a shell-shaped chariot with his trident in his hand. The portrayal of Neptune’s chariot across the seas is a symbol for monarchs controlling the destiny of their nations.
Walking past the Neptune Fountain, we climbed up the hill and soon reached the Gloriette, an elegant, pale yellow building with beautiful arches and white marble statues at the top of its central section. The building was designed as a belvedere and it had a commanding view over the palace grounds and the city beyond it. The view was indeed quite marvellous and you could even see the roof and spire of St. Stephen’s Cathedral from here.
After taking in the views and resting our feet for a while, we made our way back down the hill and out of the palace. In all, we spent around 2.5 hours at Schönbrunn Palace and left at around 11:30am for the city centre.
We were hungry after all that early morning exercise so it was time for lunch. Today, I wanted to try Austria’s national dish, which is the Vienna Schitzel, or Wiener Schnitzel. I read an article about the best schnitzels in Vienna and it had recommended Salzamt (click here), so we alighted at Schwedenplatz station and walked a short distance to Ruprechtsplatz. Salzamt is located directly opposite St. Rupert’s Church.
When we arrived at 12pm, the indoor seating area was still empty but after we took our seats, the tables filled up quickly. The menu is updated every day and I was delighted to see that it was handwritten in nice, cursive letters. Little touches like this make the restaurant a tad more special. The menu was written in German though, so we needed help to translate it.
I ordered the original Wiener Schnitzel with veal meat. It came with a big bowl of potatoes and salad, and it cost €21 (S$34). If you see a cheaper version being offered, it is most likely pork or chicken meat. The original is veal meat, which is the meat of calves and is generally more expensive than beef from older cattle.
The schnitzel is tasty and light, fried to perfection with a golden, crispy breaded exterior. I also love the potatoes – they’re soft yet not mushy, with just the right firmness. Dad’s pork fillet (€15.90) was just as good. They were thick but well-cooked and tender. In all, it was a very good meal and I highly recommend it.
After our satisfying lunch, we continued to walk around the city centre. We popped in to Peterskirche (aka St. Peter’s Catholic Church) for a look because entry is free. This Baroque church was completed in 1733 and it looks quite unassuming and plain from the outside but its interior is actually very beautiful.
Dad called it the “3D church” because the interior decorations seem to pop right out of the walls. The small size of the church only makes it even more impressive as the gilded statues and intricate ornamentation come at you in close range. You probably won’t spend more than 10 minutes in Peterskirche but it will take your breath away.
At about 4pm, we went to Wiener Prater to visit the famous amusement park. Prater is actually the name of a large public park in Vienna’s second district, Leopoldstadt, but people generally refer to the amusement park that is located within the park when they say Prater. Admission to Prater is free and you’ll just need to pay for the individual rides, which are priced between €2 and €5.
Wiener Prater is huge and there are over 250 attractions, enough to keep you occupied for a whole day if you have the time and the money. There are countless thrill rides scattered all over the park, ranging from merely scary to FREAKIN’ SCARY. There are also milder rides like bumper cars, ferris wheels, go karts and fun houses. Something for everyone and every level of bravery. Here are some of the attractions on offer at Wiener Prater:
It was fun just to walk through the park and see the variety of rides available. Some of the roller coasters looked very thrilling indeed. But I only had my eye on one ride…the Praterturm (aka Prater Tower). Even before entering the park, you can already see Praterturm because it rises 117m into the sky. It is a flying swing ride where riders spin 60km/h around the tower, taking in dizzying views of the capital. It was once the highest chain carousel in the world until it was overtaken by the one in Grona Lund, Sweden, in 2013.
I paid €5 for the ride and excitedly joined the queue. Mum and dad felt it was a bit too thrilling so they didn’t join me. It wasn’t very crowded so I didn’t have to wait long. Each swing can sit two persons but no one took the seat beside me so I had the whole swing to myself. As we ascended slowly, I was very tempted to whip out my phone to shoot a video of the experience but photography or videography was not allowed. Understandably so, because if you were to let slip of your phone from that height, it could potentially be killer litter if it hits someone on the ground.
As we rose higher and higher, the views got better and better. It wasn’t scary at all. For that few short minutes, I really felt like a bird soaring in the sky, with the wind blowing in my face and the entire Vienna spread out in front of me. It was the best €5 spent ever and I had such a blast. I tried to persuade mum and dad to join me for another ride but they were not convinced, so I didn’t go for another round. If you ever visit Wiener Prater, you MUST go on the Praterturm, you won’t regret it!
After about 1.5 hours, we left Wiener Prater and made our way back to the apartment. We found an Italian restaurant near our apartment and had a Hawaiian pizza and spaghetti bolognese for dinner, costing €21.50. It was quite a relaxed today and an enjoyable one. Time to pack our bags as we prepare to leave Vienna for Salzburg tomorrow!
