Austria in August - Day 1

In late August we traveled to Austria for four days.  A new country, new cities and so much to see and enjoy!

The flight to Vienna was a short 70 minute ride...Mark thought it was pretty cool that as we exited the baggage claim area....there were crowds of people waiting for arriving passengers.

Of course no one was there to greet us, but that didn't stop Mark from pretending there was.

We were looking for the CAT - the City Airport Train, seen below, that takes passengers from the airport to central Vienna in a 16 minute, non-stop ride.  

After arriving in central Vienna, we boarded the Metro (subway) that would take us to our hotel.

We stayed at the Marriott Renaissance Wien, and daily walked to the Metro stop directly across from our hotel.

"Wien" means "Vienna" in German - the language spoken in Austria.

As we entered the hotel, I saw the sign below.  I love it!  I truly believe that as Mark and I live in Poland, and as we visit other cities in Europe "...there's always something wonderfully new to be found".  We were ready to enjoy and learn something about Austria!

On our first full day in Vienna, we rode one Metro stop away and came to this wonderful palace...The Schonbrunn Palace...home to the Habsburg Family. The Habsburgs were Europe's most powerful royal family who ruled much of Europe for over 600 years -  from 1278-1918!

Some of the states/countries they ruled were Austria, Hungary, Germany, The Netherlands and Italy.  They are best known for ruling Austria for many centuries.

This palace was actually their summer residence and has over 1,400 rooms inside....but we saw only 40!  We were not allowed to take pictures inside...but what we saw was quite beautiful.

The "backyard" view...with the amazing gardens, statues, mazes, and fountains.

The structure in the background of the picture below is called the Gloriette.  A glorietta is a building in a garden that is usually elevated from the surrounding areas.  This glorietta is a focal and observation point in the gardens.

The camera perspective makes it look farther away than it really is, and we hiked up to it...and had a great view of the palace grounds, the surrounding area and parts of Vienna from the top.

After walking through the gardens we came to the beautiful Neptune fountain.  

It was quite a warm day...and just seeing the water spraying and flowing made it seem cooler.

Below is the view looking back at the palace from behind the cascading water of the Neptune fountain.  

The Gloriette is situated on a small hill behind the Neptune fountain.  

After turning around and walking up the hill, we arrived at The Gloriette

Below is a symbol of the Habsburg Family in the Gloriette.

A view of the palace and Vienna from the top of the Gloriette.  

We wouldn't be taking a tour of Vienna for a few days...but were treated to this view on our first day in Vienna.

  It was beautiful!

The picture below almost looks like a post card...but it is the real view of the "backyard" of this palace!

As part of the amazing gardens there is a set of mazes .... a living labyrinth...that has been part of the palace grounds for hundreds of years!  The mazes were first created in the 17th century (1600s) and were used to amuse and entertain both the residents and guests of the palace.

The mazes were fun for Mark and me to walk through...trying to find our way out through a series of twists and turns to the center of the maze, marked by the tree and viewing platform shown below - which also shows our ice cream break before entering the maze.

We read that "...members of the court loved to use the mazes' secluded hedgeways for clandestine meetings..."

One of our favorite family games when our children were younger was "Labyrinth"...we loved that game....

....and walking through these living mazes gave us a challenging and fun real-life labyrinthian experience.

Moving to another part of the gardens....I would love to know how many trees were on this property...so many green, green trees everywhere!

On one side of the palace are the "Privy Gardens"....also known as "The Crown Prince Gardens".  It is one of the oldest parts of the palace grounds.  

It is built on the east side of the palace and it is quite beautiful!  

One empress to live here was named Elizabeth..nicknamed "Sisi". The Privy Gardens were a haven for her....Here she could exercise and "care for her bodily well being". 

These gardens are absolutely beautiful...there were so many tourists on these grounds and yet it was still very peaceful and quiet.

Mark wanted to rest a bit on a bench so I patiently sat also.  I noticed the leaves on some of the foliage that covered this huge canopy were actually changing colors...early signs of fall coming!  

This area was so lush, and green at this time of year...I wondered what it would look like in the winter.

A view of these beautiful gardens from inside the palace through an open window.

The Schonbrunn Palace was beautiful place to visit on our first day in Vienna.... we loved learning, walking, exploring, and just experiencing being in a beautiful place created hundreds of years ago.

It was time for us to eat...so we went to a cafe on the palace grounds. We ate our first dinstinctly Austrian meal...Mark had bratwurst, sauerkraut, potatoes and mustard.  I ate vegetarian struedel.

Right near our hotel we saw this phone booth...have not seen one of these for quite a while.

In the evening we took a Metro and traveled to the central part of the city of Vienna...here is another historical landmark...St. Stephens Cathedral.

We have seen many old churches and cathedrals since living in Poland...but this cathedral was something we did not want to miss. It is located in the heart of Vienna and it the most important religious building in Austria's capital.

The cathedral has quite a distinctive roof...multi-colored tile with very steep sides. 

Below is the Rathaus...the City Hall.  

Each evening during the summer, operas and concerts are projected onto an enormous screen erected in front of the City Hall.

A summer symphony performed and we stayed for a few numbers. The evening was quite comfortable but we could not stay out long as we had a travel plans to Salzburg early the next morning.

After a warm day, it was pleasant to be outdoors, to listen to beautiful music and to be in Vienna.

Today...we saw a beautiful palace and cathedral, listened to classical music, ate Austrian food and walked the streets...

I think we easily enjoyed our first full day in Vienna!