The Schonbrunn Palace was originally the summer residence of the Imperial family, but was rebuilt by Maria Theresa in 1749. It has amazing decorations in the Rococo style and is incredibly ornate and opulent.
We booked tickets for the audio guide tour of the palace, the Gloriette (a building at the top of the hill overlooking the palace and gardens), the maze, the Children's museum, the Orangerie and the Privy Garden.
Unfortunately you can't take photos in the palace, but it was amazing. The amount of gold, expensive artworks and rare wood paneling was just phenomenal. You really can't imagine living in that sort of wealth.
Emporer Franz Joseph lived in one wing and worked in this space, whilst Empress Elizabeth lived in another. They had 16 children, of whom only 11 survived.
Life was certainly very different for them, despite not really being that long ago.
After the tour through the palace, we headed outside to the gardens. What beautiful landscaping. The 400 hectares of land has been planted to lawns, flowers, a maze, a zoo and lovely walkways with lots of trees. Just spectacular.
Ella and Angus loved the playground and exploring the two mazes. They did much better than Clint and I in finding the way!
Our next trek was to the Gloriette which sat at the top of the hill at the back if the palace. It was a hot climb in the sun, but the view was definitely worth it. After admiring it from the rooftop, we ate our picnic lunch in the shade of the trees.
The walk down was much easier, so we decided to quickly explore the Orangarie and the Privy garden. Ella and Angus weren't so interested in these gardens, and admittedly neither were Clint and I. The Children's museum was calling, after all!
The Children's museum was a very hands on experience of life in the palace during this time. There were dress ups and lots of interactive displays of the hair styles, hygiene, toys, food and servants of the era. Ella and Angus loved it and we all got dressed up and had fun
After a good 6 hours of history, we were exhausted! A cool drink and an ice cream gave us the energy to catch the train and walk back home. Luckily there were enough leftovers for dinner, as we were too tired to bother with anything more fancy.
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