Mozart Ate Here

Tuesday had us trying the subway for the first time and finding our way to Schonbrunn Palace and Gardens.  Schonbrunn was the summer residence of the imperial family dating to the early 18th century.  It was the typical royal residence with very large rooms, elaborate décor and grandiose gardens.  It reminded us of Versailles but it was still interesting to learn the Austrian history surrounding it and with the Habsburgs ruling this area for over six centuries, there is plenty of history.

Wednesday started off with a bit of disappointment as we had purchased tickets for what we thought was a two hour practice session of the Lipizzaner stallions at the Spanish Riding School here.  So we thought we would see them working on some routines but it actually was a two hour portion of the daily exercise routine for the horses with nothing particular of interest.  They mostly just rode them around with only a few horse dancing moves.

Lunch at a new find called Ess & Tisch was the first step in making up for the Lipzzaner disappointment.  Our Spanish Riding School ticket included a tour in the afternoon and that, when combined with our limited exposure in the morning, made the horsey part of our day finish much better than it started.

From there we did a bit more exploring of this gorgeous city that already ranks among one of our favorites.  It would be very easy to return here to see more.  It was too late in the day to see the inside of the National Library building (but we will before we leave) but we managed to slip into two more fabulous churches.  The more impressive of the two was the obscure Michaelerkirche.  Portions of the church date to the early 14th century and it contains several beautiful frescoes including one from 1519.  The fabulous altar piece is from the mid 18th century.

We chose an Austrian restaurant called Griechenbeisl.  The food was great, the wine even better and the interior charming to say the least.  In asking a server about the meaning of a word in a document I was trying to read, he told us the restaurant began in 1447 and that many famous people had dined there.  I tried to spin a little humor with my suggestions of famous people.  He straightened me out by answering Mozart, Beethoven, Twain and Strauss.  Oh.  Those famous people.

And to end our day, we were surprised by three cute Viennese trick or treaters at our apartment door when we arrived home.  Hope they liked the granola bars.

We really like Vienna and highly recommend it.

 

 

2 thoughts on “Mozart Ate Here

  1. Lisa

    Impressive photos and recommendations! You’ve convinced me that Vienna needs to be on our travel bucket list.

    Reply

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