Schonbrun Palace!!

 Well… a palace, a concert by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and a summer’s evening. What’s not to like?

That’s what we thought as we set out merrily at 5 pm, with a picnic in our bags and happy expectations. 2 trains and 10 stops later we were following the gathering crowds emerging from the station and many large coaches to the palace gates and then down beautiful tree-lined avenues to the barriers, where we feared the officials would relieve us of our bottles of fizzy water (there seemed to be many rules about what could be taken in). But no- their biggest concern was the tea towel that the bottles were wrapped in. Did it meet the specifications for a rug or blanket? Because these were items that were definitely not permitted. After a bit of collegial conferring, it was agreed that the tea towel could be admitted. Meantime, Geli swanned right through with our blanket securely tucked underneath the filled rolls!

That experience should have served as a warning. That is - no blanket =no sitting down. But we carried on in ignorant bliss. Hundreds of people were standing against barriers whilst others were corralled into areas they couldn’t leave. We thought we were pretty smart finding a bit of stony ground to spread the rug on and a fence to lean against. Geli got us 500 ml cups of Weisser Spritz (wine and sofa mix) and we smugly ate our rolls whilst the queue for the Wonder Waffle van got ever longer. Only 3 hours to go until the concert started! And still they streamed in….thousand upon thousands. Great people-watching opportunities but even that pleasure waned after a while, as we stiffened up on our rocky seats. At last…8.45- the sun was setting and the orchestra was tuning up. The Vienna Boys Choir were spotted on a screen. And then they played and they sang and we couldn’t hear a thing! Perhaps we needed to move into the thick of the crowds? We tried that for few minutes and then panic set in and with definite agreement between the 3 of us that we definitely weren’t having fun, we fled stationwards and home for a medicinal glas of wine. So much for that- probably the lowest light of the week.

But the upside was that we achieved our goal of walking 10 kms…and it makes a great story!

I realise that most of the buildings in my photos are on a bit of a lean…apologies for that. But Hundertwasser would have approved!

This morning after coffee and pastries at a local bakery, Geli and Ian escorted me and my heavy luggage all the way to Vienna’s train station and I’m happily settled in air-conditioned comfort, doing my “homework” (as Geli calls it). The only thorn in my side is the disreputable man coughing and spluttering in the aisle opposite me. I put on my mask and threw him many dirty looks. 

Passau arrival in an hour, thena couple of hours wait until I find my boat.