Vienna Means Bling

Schonbrunn Palace from the Neptune Fountain

We spent a very nice three days in Vienna, which really wasn't long enough. It was a helpful stopping over point between Auschwitz in Poland and our next big stop, Slovenia. Our originally scheduled Vienna AirBnB fell through at the last minute so we chatted with AirBnB and they were able to help us get a different one, which ended up being the nicest one we've stayed in yet.

Bill in our fancy AirBnB

St. Stephen's cathedral had a really cool colored tile roof, which really sets it apart from all the other cathedrals we've seen. Also, it looks pretty new because it is. Although the original structure was started in 1137, the church (especially the roof) was largely destroyed in WWII. The south side roof pattern shows the two-headed eagle which is the symbol of the Habsburg dynasty, which ruled Vienna and much of Europe for about 800 years. You hear a lot about the Habsburgs when in Vienna. They were a big deal for a very long time. In fact, the Holy Roman Emperor throne was held by a Habsburg for over 300 years. 

St. Stephen's cathedral with the unique colorful tiled roof. 

Tile roof of St. Stephen's showing the 2-headed eagle symbol of the Hapsburgs

There were several Habsburg-related palaces/museums to choose from in Vienna but because of our limited time there, we picked just the Royal Treasury and also took a day trip out to the Habsburg summer palace called Schonbrunn Palace. 

The Royal Treasury was pretty ridiculous in terms of opulence, just as you might imagine for an insanely wealthy, very powerful family. There were crowns covered in jewels, richly embroidered clothing for coronations, religious relics that were said to be directly from Christ's time, a narwhal tusk (which was fabled to be a unicorn's horn),  and lots and lots of GOLD. These people really liked over-the-top bling.

Crown, Scepter, and Orb of Kaiser Rudolfs II

One of the many royal gowns 

 Golden pitcher and basin for Imperial baptisms

Gold, gold, and more gold

A turquoise jewel, bigger than an egg

A crown covered in jewel

Schonbrunn Palace was very much like Versailles in France.  However, the palace seemed to be even better preserved and the gardens were almost as huge and lovely. We love a good maze garden and this palace had several of them. Empress Maria Theresa, the only female ruler of the Habsburg dynasty, had the palace remodeled in the mid-1700s, and each room seemed to have a distinct theme and decor. Notably, president Kennedy and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev met at the palace in 1961.

A side view of the Schonbrunn palace from one of the gardens

We love garden mazes!

Schonbrunn Palace and gardens from the top of the Gloriette

The Gloriette at the top of the hill above Schonbrunn Palace

The Vienna Stadtpark (City Park) was quite nice. We walked through it on the way from our neighborhood to the major city sites. It was usually filled with people lounging among the many musical icon statues. One afternoon we spent several hours hanging out here and relaxing like the locals, who by the way are called Weiners (Vienna is spelled Wein locally).

One of the many statues in Vienna Stadtpark dedicated to musicians

Lounging in Vienna Stadtpark