In any case, it was a bright sunny day and we were scheduled to stay on the ship for one more night. Our day was tightly scheduled with a city tour in the morning followed closely by a tour of Schonbrunn Palace in the afternoon.
The tour started with a panoramic bus ride around the city, hitting the main attractions. We found it was a good way to get a feel for the city and to map out places we wanted to come back to on our own. Our first stop was at the Kunstkammer Museum. Neither of us are major museum lovers but this one was really interesting. It had a large collection of antiquities from different ages and cultures as well as paintings. We focussed on some of the artifacts that related to the Habsburgs because we would be seeing a number of their palaces during our stay.
The first thing that impressed us was the building itself. As we were waiting to enter, I looked up at the ceiling and was impressed by the symmetry and design. I've gotten used to being the only one trying to centre myself under ceilings or in front of things. My brain needs symmetry!
This is the main stairway leading into the galleries. The building really is as impressive as some of the works of art.
We didn't have a lot of time in the museum unfortunately so our guide took us through a few sections and showed us some of the most impressive pieces. This first one is a pitcher made out of a solid block of crystal. Like many of the drinking and food vessels we saw, it was supposed to have the ability to remove poison from whatever was put into it. I was shooting through glass most of the gallery pictures so please excuse the reflections.
The next vessel has claws or fangs around the edge that are also supposed to indicate or remove poison.
This is what the Habsburgs used for salt and pepper at their table. The pepper is in the little treasure box beside the woman. Not sure why they needed naked salt and pepper people. I would have used lions or elephants.
This is a basic drinking cup that is supposed to frighten you as you drank because you looked into the eyes of a dragon. It was my favourite so there's a closeup of the amazingly detailed and expensive head.
There wasn't an explanation of this one but I'm going with a candy bowl. It's jade with rubies.
There were a lot very intricate and delicate things made of ivory. I hate to think of how many elephants gave their lives so these people could have things like an ivory hawk or the even more amazing flowers to follow.
There are also numerous ivory carvings of the Habsburgs doing heroic things. As it happens, they had a major problem with inbreeding and ended up becoming extinct because of it. You can see in the sculptures and paintings that their heads and faces were deformed to varying degrees. Many couldn't stand or feed themselves without help as they got older.
Of course, there was also a great deal of gold in the Habsburg palaces. They were a mess physically but they surrounded themselves with opulence.
After the museum, we did a bit of a walking tour of the city but it was pretty quick. We went back to explore on our own later. Here are a few of our first impressions of the city. We started off on a massive pedestrian mall that was filled with fancy stores and restaurants. It was nice out, so the crowds were heavy.
St. Stephen's Cathedral is in a large square in the pedestrian area. It has a very distinctive roof and towers. We intended to go back and explore it more in the next couple of days.
Everywhere we looked, there were highly detailed statues and fountains.
The city centre had numerous horse drawn carriages to cater to the tourists. You had to watch out because they seemed to have the right of way everywhere!
The next part of our day involved the visit to Schonbrunn Palace, home of the Habsburgs. This panorama gives an idea of the size of the place. According to the guides there are over 1400 rooms! No photos are allowed inside but there is a lot to see outside. The palace is surrounded by amazing gardens and a forest where they used to hunt.
This is the back of the palace from a hill where there was another building. The ant-like people give a sense of how big it is.
This is a secondary building located behind me as I was taking the previous shot. It was apparently used for parties and the occasional family dinner. Since none of the Hapsburgs could or would walk that far, they had to get out the carriages or those enclosed chairs that are carried by burly porters!
The gardens contained amazing number of closely groomed trees and shrubs. There were arched passages and a maze made of trees. We also walked through massive rose gardens.
Sacher Torte
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