A Special Treat for All

Saturday September 4th

Today was the last full day for seeing things in Vienna, and it was going to be a very special day so Mary said we could all come if we were very good. When they had been in the cafe having dinner the night before the waiter had told them that they had a cheaper coffee every morning from 7 -10 am and they were welcome to come back. Because of the Christchurch earthquake they were really keen to get back online and read the news so they got up earlier than usual. We all caught an earlier train and were in town well before 10am and caught up with all the reports and were able to look at some photos of the devastation.

Yesterday they had run out of time to see the Albertina at the Hofburg Castle complex so they made their way there. They were about to pay for the tickets when the girl selling them said that the Royal Apartments were closed for the day for a wedding. Well that was the particular part they wanted to see, so they declined the tickets and left.

So it was back on the underground to the Schloss Schonrunn. This is the former summer residence of the Imperial family and there was a lot to see and do there. The first thing they had to do was to decide which combination ticket to buy. There were five options which included various combinations. In the end they went for the Classic Light which covered three outdoor venues and the grand tour of the palace. Mary decided that it must be light as it didn’t include the trip to the castle bakery with the free sample of apple strudel. As the weather didn’t seem to be able to make its mind up about what it going to do, they decided to do all the outside activities first. This took nearly two hours and involved a lot of walking. (Lucky us all getting a ride in the backbacks) The privy garden was a small formal laid out garden and was easily viewed. From there they went t o the maze which was more than a maze. It was a fun area for all ages. Lots of big people were trying out the activities. Some were just fun and some involved real skill. The big maze really was one you could get lost in. In the end they solved it by the always go left rule. The big climb up to the Gloriette which was a panorama terrace was worth the effort. From up there you had a view all over Vienna and a panoramic view of the castle grounds and formal gardens.

So it was back to do the inside tour of the house. Alan looked at the ticket again when they got back and realised that they had a timed ticket for viewing the interior. However the nice man on the desk took the ticket and recharged it and all was well. The tour included an audio guide that was not as straightforward to use as previous ones and both of them seemed to get on an endless loop, but they worked it out in the end and made their way through the palace. It is a grand baroque residence. The interior is in stunning rococo style with white and gold stucco, tall windows ,crystal chandeliers, Flemish tapestries, inlaid wood panelling and frescos. It was refurbished for Maria Theresia who was the mother of Marie Antoinette and thirteen other chidren. At the moment the Grand Gallery is partly covered as it undergoing an extensive refurbishment costing millions. There is ongoing maintenance work happening all over these historic palaces to ensure long lasting preservation.

After leaving here Mary was still keen to go to the carriage museum so they found it on the map. This turned out to much more than a bunch of old horse drawn carriages. Inside they had arranged them to tell stories of the lives of the people who rode in them. Again there was a large part of it dedicated to Empress Elizabeth (Sisi) and included several of her original gowns. There were a lot of children’s carriages that had been made for the Imperial children. These were miniature replicas of the real thing drawn by small ponies, goats or dogs. No photos were allowed to be taken otherwise they might have been able to take a shot of us all near one. A bonus was a special exhibition called Napoleon’s Wedding to commemorate the bicentennial of his marriage to Austrian Archduchess Marie Louise. This marriage was arranged after he divorced Josephine because she couldn’t produce an heir.

When they had first arrived they had gone and booked tickets to Marionette Theatre production of The Magic Flute at 7pm. This was to be our special treat. At the same time they had hunted out a place to have a meal and found one right next door that had the bonus of Wifi so they made for that and had a great meal while also being able to catch up onfurtehr news from NZ.

The Magic Flute was enchanting. Before the performance one of the puppeteers came out and explained how they managed to get the fine movements. It takes most of them a year to perfect getting the puppet to walk naturally with their feet on the ground. The gestures that are possible by pulling the strings are incredible and give the puppets life.. We were given the English translation and it said that the puppeteer has to become the character and be able to perform the movements without thinking about it. An excellent sound track provided the music and dialogue with details of the orchestra and soloists provided with the programme. It was so good that they bought the DVD to take home and we are all going to enjoy seeing it again. It is so much better seeing the puppets come to life. Everything was in miniature and the set was based on the castle garden and pavilion at the castle zoo. Even the zoo animals came out in part of it and a cheeky monkey jumped up on top of the peacocks tail and had a ride on the lion’s back. It was such fun and we couldn’t believe that the people sitting next to us didn’t come back after half time.

It finished just before 9.30 and it was a really easy trip back to camp with only the one change from underground to suburban rail. So three tired little kiwis, one bear and two big people all went to bed and tomorrow we all set out for Salzburg.