I spent most of yesterday in a fairy tale world full of fountains; flowers and horse-drawn carriages. While it was quite beautiful unfortunately the Schönbrunn castle was a bit of a tourist trap. However everything wasn’t for sale and I did flash a little cash on a whimsy.
I started my day at the largest and most well known Gloriette in the world (this word deriving from 12th century French with gloire meaning “little room”. A more understandable translation said a pavilion constructed on a high point. This particular Gloriette overlooks the gardens and the castle here in Austria. It’s free to enter and there is a cafe but if you want to hop up on top for the grand view it’s going to cost you.
From here I meandered down to the gardens and fountains which were also free. I spent most the afternoon wandering around beautiful gardens and statues kind of lost in the enchantment. There are quite a few things to do here but most of them held little intrest to me, you could tour the Castle inside, dress in a royal gown, hit up the zoo. What I did end up fancying was a $7euro maze which I thoroughly enjoyed. There was a maze of mirrors and old fashioned games and of course getting lost was fun within bounds.
I had thought of maybe touring the carriage museum it sounded like my cup of tea. Though I decided to skip when the entry fee was $44euros that’s like $50 usd. Sometimes the harsh reality of being a traveler not a tourist is a slap in the face, hey but I got to see some actual horse-drawn carriages. The kind with real horses and low-lit lamps, in fact you could ride in one for the right price. All in all I really enjoyed the castle and a person could probably spend more than one day here. However I came for the ambience, surrounding beauty and have a big city yet to explore….. I best get on with that. Hope your looking forward to more on Vienna, these old cities are quite something.
