Day 20: Vienna

Schonbrunn Palace
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Breakfast is at 8 and it's a pretty good one - eggs w/ hollondaise sauce and tomatoes. I end up with pot wash (boo - seems like I've had a lot compared to Ting with only 1 so far!). Ting, Jeff and I, along with a few others, opt to get dropped off at the Schonbrunn as opposed to the Marie Teresa Platz, as we'd like to get a better look at it. It's not raining at the moment, so we decide to walk through the very extensive gardens. We attempt the maze - of course I get lost and am the last one to finish it. We make our way up to the "Gloriette" lodge at the top of the hill and get a great view of the palace from the back. We also check out the impressive fountains and flowers throughout the garden. A pretty nice backyard! We opt not to go through the inside as it costs money and nobody is too keen on it.

Nice Backyard at the Schonbrunn
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My contact lenses are messed up somehow today as I can't quite seem to focus right, and it's very disorienting, especially in low light. Each individual eye seems fine, but together it's like I'm drunk! I try taking them out and making sure they are not inside out, but that doesn't help. Very odd, must have just been a bad pair. I wasn't the only one with eyewear problems - Ting managed to break his glasses somehow that morning. Luckily he had his prescription sunglasses to wear (even though it wasn't that sunny!)

The absinthe is really harsh, but it's 20 Euros for a bottle of the real stuff, so I pick one up.

Schonbrunn Palace Grounds
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We leave the Schonbrunn and catch the metro to downtown. There we find a shop to try the world renowned coffee (not all that impressive actually), and check out St. Steven's cathedral. It's very different looking with a gothic style and is actually a little spooky!  We find the info place where we inquire about optometrists who might be able to quickly fix Ting's glasses, and then grab some lunch (no good hunting on an empty stomach). We find a cafeteria type place where I get some pork and potatoes...it's expensive and not that great. At the glasses place, Ting is told that it will take a day to put his lenses into new frames, so he doesn't bother. Sunglasses for the rest of the trip it is!

Fountain at Schonbrunn
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After a brief look at the famous opera house, we head to the winter palace where there is now a collection of various museums. We inadvertantly "break in" to one museum of arms and armour (the ticket office wasn't obvious enough!), and then actually pay for the treasury museum where there is some pretty impressive crowns, jewels, royal gowns etc. We also found the holy hand grenade (or at least it looks like it)! We stop in at a smaller church on the grounds where someone is tuning the organ. This makes a very ominous sound that creeps me out (in the dimly lit church) so I don't stay long!

The Gloriette at Schonbrunn
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We make our way to the group meeting spot in the Marie Teresa Platz where there are two identical museums facing each other. The bus is there at 3:30 to pick us up and take us to the Schnapps museum. The "tour" doesn't amount to much, but the guy is pretty entertaining with his talk about Schapps and other liqueuers. Then of course, the sampling!  Everyone trys a lot more than the officially allocated 3 shots. The authentic Schnapps is actually quite terrible, but there are some better liqueuers to sample as well. The absinthe is really harsh, but it's 20 Euros for a bottle of the real stuff, so I pick one up.  I end up doing 5 shots, but most did a lot more than that. Terry apparently did 15! (not sure I believe that...)

Lost in the Schonbrunn Labyrinth
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After the tour, Ting and I "die" from Jeff's camera stealing our souls. (Terry had very cleverly picked us off getting on the bus that morning). We're a little drunk as we pick up the others around 5:30 to go to Prater Park (a huge amusement park). Suzie and Michelle didn't come to Schnapps but are equally hammered due to a cafe owner taking a liking to them and buying them drinks all afternoon. Suzie is particularly loud and obnoxious, drawing the ire of many at the back of the bus. At Prater, pretty much everyone does a fun round of bumper cars, and then people break off to do their own thing. We do the go-karts and the roller coaster (it's pretty neat as it takes you through forwards, then again backwards).

Schonbrunn Gardens
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We meet up with a group of 12 or so, including Tori and head to a restaurant for schnitzel - deep fried goodness. We're back on the bus around 730, and PJ takes a repeat tour around downtown for those who got off at the Schonbrunn. This really annoys the back of the bus, as they see it as a favour for PJ's "little girlfriend" Suzie, who is not popular at the moment. Back at the camp, we grab a couple beers and Ting and I do some laundry. The machines are terribly slow and the dryer is really backed up. I eventually give up on drying my clothes and try to air them out in the cabin. Ting decides he's going to wait, but eventually gives up as well. It's another quiet night due to the rain and the lack of a bar on site, and most people turn in early.