As we are a mean bunch the thought that we should pay €19 for breakfast drove us to walk across the road this morning. Here our slightly diminished food selection, but certainly enough saved the team €23. I had an open smoked salmon sandwich and two cups of cappuccino plus a croissant with jam.
For our next stop we had decided to visit the Schönbrunn Palace. Garry and Jon walked while Nick and I took the tram we met up in the ticket hall. I paid the entrance fee of €38 each but we couldn’t start our tour until 13:00.
To kill the time we elected to visit the Technology museum which we had all passed on our way. The museum had and psections on all elements of technology. I spent most of my time in the music and printing areas. I also saw a fabulous collection of vacuum cleaners across the ages.
Having had our fill of technology we returned to the Schonbrunn for our tour. On entry we each received a headset as our guide around the palace. The commentary in the first part seemingly came from the palace itself and told us a little about the her history.
In part two of the guide we had to request each commentary depending on the room. We heard about Maria Theresa and her 11 children and Franz Josef, long reign and his beloved Issy.
The rich and decorative rooms are designed to demonstrate the power of the Habsburg empire. The formal state room that held state banquets is the finest example of living in grand style. Portraits of past emperors and lavish wall decorations are in abundance. The highest quality furniture fill the rooms.
Following our tour we walked back to our breakfast cafe for a sandwich and cup of coffee for a break.
We met up again in the hotel foyer where we decided to walk two minutes to another restaurant for a disappointing evening meal. The food didn’t come close to matching last night and turned more expensive. The boys only had one drink in the restaurant which indicates what they thought of the place.
We returned to the hotel where I had a glass of water and slipped off to my room in the far corner of the hotel at 9pm. The three of them stayed drinking.