Schonbrunn Palace - Baroque retreat of Empress Maria Theresa

The magnificent Schonbrunn Palace.
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"Some countries go to war...but you lucky Austria marry..."

And so said Habsburg Emporer Franz Stephen, the husband to one of the mightiest monarchs of the age - Empress Maria Theresa. The imperial dynasty ruled mainly from Schonbrunn and intermarried with the nearby countries to create, what was by the middle of the 16th Century, an empire that covered most of middle Europe. Make love not war? They certainly kept to that adage.

a great sweep of mustard coloured rococco wings overlooking a gurgling statue and fountain

The Gloriette on Schonbrunns hill
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It was my main objective for today. The hostel on Neustiftgasse is getting very wearisome. Most here are fine but as with most hostels you get a mixed clientele. This morning an Austrian artist befriended me over breakfast. He was charm personified until he whipped out his latest artwork and tried to get me to buy it. I beat a hasty retreat. Trailing through Central Europe and seeing its premier cities is already hard on the wallet.

I strolled down to Linke Weizelle and caught the subway west to Schonbrunn out in the suburbs. The walk from the station is along a main road which is pretty busy for Vienna. When the palace was built this was all fields and half a days coach travel to get here. A number of TV crews blocked the entrance to the main courtyard but when I weaved my way through them - wow! The great facade is stunning - a great sweep of mustard coloured rococco wings overlooking a gurgling statue and fountain. It was designed by Maria Theresa to rival Versailles. She was an interesting character Maria Theresa. She had to fight for her own throne in the war of Austrian Succession and she married a husband who could not keep his hands off other women. She even brought in a law against philandering - a law that most people thought hypercritical in the extreme due to her husbands misdemeanors.

The statues overlooking Schonbrunns gardens
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But most famous for being the mother of Marie Antoinette. A woman whose own stunning palace I had seen a few days before. There was a portrait of the imperial cherub inside the palace - I must admit Marie Antoinette was a pretty child. I took the tour inside the palace and we saw Maria Theresas apartments which were decorated in white and gold. Some of the artwork was excellent - a wonderful one of a medieval fair with a monkey picking nit out of peoples hair. And a gigantic portrait of Schonbrunn when Franz Stephan was crowned - the carriages forming a crocodile line out the gate and into the countryside.

But it was the gardens at Schonbrunn that were the best part. At the rear of the palace it rolls up to a green hill. Before this hill are flower beds and topiary with a spume of water shooting into the air. At the base of the hill is a great fountain and pool with a statue of Neptune. The pool looked very tempting in the heat. A zigzag path led up the hill to the Gloriette. A ivory coloured roccoco folly perched on the hill and containing the best views of Schonbrunn. I could see all the way to the Stephansdom from here.

The gardens are a lovely place to wander on  hot afternoon including a schmetterling haus and zoo. But also, if you have brought a picnic - they are a good place to sit back on the grass, open a bottle of white wine, tuck into some knuckled pork and just enjoy being there.

Its a beautiful spot.