First up we went to visit my grandfather. Before you get outraged that it took us 2 days to visit him, he died the year before I was born, so we figured visiting his grave could wait a few days. I've never been there so it was really lovely being able to go and visit this final resting place. The cemetery is such a peaceful space with glorious shady trees, perfect on this hot day.
The cemetery shares a wall with Schonbrun Palace, so the obvious next stop was a visit to the palace. We took the grand tour - no photos sorry - through a gorgeous array of rooms. It was interesting to compare it to Buckingham Palace. Schnobrun felt much more like a place where people actually lived and worked. Aside from the grand ballroom, rooms were relatively small and though gilt featured heavily, the decoration seemed much more restrained. The only disappointment was the much heralded Million Room was covered over as it is being renovated.
S's knee is playing up and it was crazily hot so we didn't walk the gardens, rather we stopped for a drink and some torte.
The only thing to do on these hot afternoons is have a rest, which is exactly what we did.
Our plan for tonight was to head out for some schnitzel. Googling had identified a few likely suspects for great places to have it, but an Internet search revealed our first choice was closed for renovation, so we headed off to number two on the list. After a tram ride and a reasonable walk (being careful of S's knee), we arrived at our destination, which was - yes you have guessed it - closed. This seems to be the story of our Vienna experience.
We wandered a bit, found a restaurant with wiener schnitzel on the menu and ordered it. It wasn't a super giant one (although they were big enough) and came with a traditional side of potato salad. The schnitzel was good, definitely better than your standard Aussie one, but couldn't compete with my Mum's. Plus we still had room for cake, which as I understand it should be impossible with a proper Viennese schnitzel.
We headed into town, found a cafe and shared a piece of Cardinal cake which really was delicious.
As we headed home, the temperature dropped and the sky lit up with lightening. It is raining now and much cooler than it has been for days. Fingers crossed it will lead to a good night's sleep and tomorrow will be a day without renovations.
It seems to me that still having room for cake makes that a very good sized schnitzel, no matter what's considered 'proper'.
ReplyDeleteWe found the heat in Italy last year to be too much for a full day's wandering too and an hour or two resting in our room became the norm very quickly! In most places it also meant that we avoided the annoyingly large crowds and saw the best of a place when it was quieter.
Fingers crossed that by the time you read this you've had a renovation fee day :)