Museum Day

The weather looked a little iffy, so we planned indoor activities. Schonbrunn Palace is a ways from the city center, but since we are now experts at the U-Bahn, the subway, we went for it. It's like Versailles, near Paris, but not so overwhelming, and at least for us today, not so crowded. You get a little audio tour thingy and go from room to room gawking at the opulence of "Life Styles of the Rich and Famous" circa 1750. Most of the rooms are furnished, so it is more interesting to imagine their lives. Not all a bed of roses, though. Empress Maria Theresa had 16 children. Eleven daughters, most of whom were married off to various royals around Europe to cement political alliances. One was Marie Antoinnete.

We walked through the "backyard", about 435 acres, up to the top of a hill crowned with more elaborate buildings and sculptures. On the grounds are also a zoo, a maze, a huge glass conservatory called the Palm House and multiple other museums. But our feet (and backs) were worn out. On the way back on the U-bahn, we rehearsed getting to the train station, and saw where the platforms are, a skill we will need Sunday morning to go to Prague. We're confident now!

After lunch, we went back to the Clock Museum. This TIME we were successful in both locating and touring it, and it was charming. We were there at 4 p.m. when several of the clocks chimed at once.

A glimpse of the 17th century.

I love the U-Bahn!! My gosh, if we had public transportation like this at home, I would be in Seattle all the time. It is absolutely no hassle, and so easy to figure out. We bought passes, and you don't need to put them through a machine or even show them to anyone. It's all on the honor system - imagine that!! - but if you're caught without a valid ticket, the fines are enormous. We've been bopping on the train to go even a stop or two. It's really well done.


Vienna does have some quirky characters. Just walking down the street, we ran into the invisible man calmly flipping the pages of his newspaper.

Back to the Demel Coffee House again - they have the enormous cake on display today, and the decorator was working on a smaller one. So cool you can watch them! But we were suffering from Acute Pastry Deprivation, and so couldn't leave without our take away bag of pastry. Today's selection - Dobostorte and Esterhazytorte. Who needs dinner?!