Austria and Prague 2019 - Picnic at the Palace

Schonbrunn Palace is an impressive structure constructed in 18th century. Originally a hunting palace it stands behind a gate and fence which opens on a large open space. Benches line the sides of the space. Fountains surrounded by circles of grass flank the one time royal residence. It is painted Viennese Yellow, the color of a daffodil. It was originally painted pink and blue, why the color was changed and when are details lost to history. Outbuildings dot the grounds in the immediate vicinity of the palace.

We choose a bench and pull out the tuna fish sandwiches made with croissants we had purchased the day before. Cans of tuna are a travel staple of ours, cheap, nourishing and easy to prepare. We snack on a trail mix made by my husband, another travel staple of ours. We offer the trail mix to the gentleman sharing the bench with us. He has us sprinkle it on the salad he is eating. We watch carriages full of  tourists go by then set out to enjoy the extensive gardens of the palace.

Flowerbeds set in lush green lawns surround sculptures. Vines trained over wire create tunnels to gazebos. One of the vines is a medium red wild rose, my husband mentions how beautiful it must be when the rose is in full bloom. There is a hedge maze, in our still somewhat jet lagged state we decided to skip that. The city's zoo is also located here.

A tall hill surmounted by a classically designed overlook building with twin switchback trails to the top rises above the gardens. Taking a deep breath and steeling ourselves we begin to wind our way up. The climb is slightly challenging but not overly arduous and the view from the top proves worth the effort. The city of Vienna is laid out in front of us. My husband becomes Mr. Congeniality offering to take pictures of seemingly dozens of couples as they pose together on the overlook. In a somber moment my husbands relates his imagining, from this vantage point, the bombing of the city during the war. I, too, had been thinking of the horrors that must have been experienced by the population during those dark times.   The walk down is, of course, far easier than the walk up. We re board the the bus to head back into the city. A last bit of information is relayed to us as we pull away. The palace complex was the site of the music competition between Mozart and Salieri. On a less culturally important note it was also used as background in a James Bond movie.