Although I’d usually run on a Monday morning during a heavier week of running, I decided as we’d be on our feet a fair bit today I wouldn’t. We were awake early once again due to the heat, had a pastry for breakfast, and was on our way to the tram stop at 08:40. Thankfully, whilst still very warm, it felt cooler than it had at this time the day before.

After a short wait at the tram stop, we took this to Schwedenplatz, and changed to the U4 train which then took us all the way to Schönbrunn from which it’s only a short walk to the palace entrance. Just walking from the station to the entrance it was apparent how big this UNESCO World Heritage site is.

Whilst the current palace design dates back to Empress Maria Theresa in around 1740, a mansion had previously been built there in 1569 by the Emperor of the time, and had a palace added to it around 69 years later. It was the summer residence of the Habsburg dynasty for centuries until the fall of their empire in 1918 when it became publicly owned as a museum. It changed purpose again after the Second World War when the allied forces used it for offices until 1955 when the Austrian Republic was founded, and it once again became a museum.

We could see the courtyard alone was massive, and a map there shown that the size of the palace was small compared to the size of the grounds. We used one of the machines there to get our tickets, but it said the earliest entry to the palace would be in about two hours. We weren’t going to miss it, so chose to go for it anyway, and opted for the ‘Classic Pass’ as we’d got the time to see everything. This pass was €36 per person, and covered entry to the palace, Orangery, maze, Gloriette, and the privy garden; but there were cheaper options if we’d been short on time.

When we got our tickets, they said we’d got entry at 10:36, so we decided we’d start off by looking around the gardens, and came across the Orangery so did that first. The orangery itself was mostly empty, and it looked like they may have been in the process of moving the potted plants that were outside, back inside. They’d got all sorts of fruit trees there, and amongst these were several different types of apple tree with information on what they were, and the time of year they’re harvested. It was okay, but wasn’t the sort of place I’d specifically go there to see.

We then started to look around the gardens, but only got as far as the Eastern Naiad Fountain. If we’d continued on down this avenue of trees beyond the fountain, we’d have reached the ‘Roman ruins’. They are however not Roman, and not ruins, they’re actually a folly created to look that way by Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg.

By the time we’d walked back to the front of the palace it was time to go in. Once inside they check your ticket, and then you scan it at the barrier to continue on. The signposts inside are then based upon what type of ticket you have so you cover the right number of rooms. Our classic pass included the ‘Grand Tour’ path through the palace. We turned right at the top of the stairs to start our tour in the same direction as everyone else, but whether there was anything else to the left that we missed, I don’t know.

What we did see is a very large number of rooms with a large variety of functions. There was one darkened room with the only surviving bed from the Viennese court, and dates back to the marriage of Maria Theresa to Franz Stephan of Lorraine in 1736. The rest of the rooms had shutters mostly closed to keep the sun out, and had lights on, and fans blowing to keep the conditions okay. We some other rooms with attached bathrooms we could see into, and a a ballroom with pillars down the middle. I think if there’d been space, and not so many people in there, Carmen would have loved to have done a Viennese Waltz around it. I think her inner-dancer was screaming to get out.

Part way round we had to be sure to go the right way as there’s a second barrier to check your ticket again before continuing on rather than exiting. This is due to the different tour types available for the palace. In either case, they both end at a very large gift shop.

We went looking for the Japanese Garden after that palace was done, and this took some looking for. Carmen used a map on her phone to direct us there along the shortest route. This area of the garden is quite small, but is also near the zoo, so decided to pause there to have ice cream. When we got going again, we walked through the botanical garden, and up the hill to the Gloriette where we passed a log cabin that appeared to be a small hotel people could stay at, but at the very least was a restaurant for people to eat at. Around this area of the grounds is the Hietzing Cemetery where Gustav Klimt is buried, but this was not something we got to see as we didn’t know about it.

The Gloriette was built at the behest of Maria Theresa, and today has a cafe on the ground floor with steps up onto the roof so you can look back over the Schönbrunn gardens and palace from this high point. The statues on either side of the stairs leading up to the ground floor look the same at first glance, but looking closer you can see one difference is the armour they are wearing. Whilst we were up there we could see the clouds darken, and the threat of rain loomed over us.

We started our descent, and walked around the back of the Neptune fountain, heading towards the maze. We decided not to go around that, and sat down for a while before heading to the privy garden for a few final photographs.

Rather than head straight back to the train station, we walked in the direction of the city so we could see what there was, and potentially get a würstl for lunch. We reached the next station on the U4 line without finding one, so got on the train there and took it as far as Kettenbrückengasse. We walked from there past the Fillgraderstiege staircase, and onwards to Café Sperl. Vienna is famous for the Sachertorte, which was invented by chef Franz Sacher and is sold by Hotel Sacher. There’s a variation of this produced by the Demel pastry shop, but many other places around Vienna sell variations too. One of these places if Café Sperl which came as a recommendation. It’s also much cheaper to get the cake from there than the ‘original’ which often has very long queues of people wanting to try it. The cake is a sponge with layers of apricot jam, and covered in chocolate icing. With mine I had an Earl Grey, and Carmen got adventurous with a Wiener Eiskaffee. This is a coffee mixed with ice cream and a dollop of cream on the top; combined with the Sachertorte it must have been quite the experience of Viennese flavours!

This stop fuelled our onwards adventures as we walked to Karlsplatz to then take the U1 up to Kagran so we could visit the Westfield Shopping Centre there. As tourists who enjoy sightseeing, that might seem odd to visit a shopping centre, but we knew it had a LEGO store there which would be the next stamps in our LEGO passports. The shop there is considerably smaller than the one in London, but still has a good selection of sets available. Some of them were tempting, but with their price tags I do find it hard to justify.

It was now almost rush hour, so wanted to avoid the expected crowds of people attempting to get home, so we walked from there to Alte Donau, and crossed the bridge to the U-Bahn stop of the same name. We stayed on the train for just two stops, so we could then see the Danube from the Reichsbrücke station that’s on the bridge. We decided it’d be nice to get closer to the Danube, so walked along it and down to the river. Whilst there we saw someone jump off the high bridge, feet first, straight into the water. He then had curious swans approaching him as he started to swim back to the shore where there were other people sitting around, and some looking like they’d been swimming too.

We took the U-Bahn as far as Praterstern then, and on the way out of the station I had the idea that it might be nice to go on the Wiener Riesenrad - a giant Ferris wheel built in 1897, with large gondolas attached to the wheel. There’s only half the number of gondolas today as it was damaged during the Second World War and only half of them got replaced. This ferris wheel featured in the James Bond film, The Living Daylights, and a number of other films and TV shows so is one of the most recognisable ones in the wold.

We looked around one more souvenir shop, and then paid €14 each to go on the wheel. There was a small delay in boarding due to one of the event-specific gondolas having just been used for a wedding. The whole journey around the wheel lasts for ten to fifteen minutes, but does provide a decent view of the city from a different perspective.

On our way back to the apartment we stopped by the Billa in the station to get something for one last breakfast, and also for me to get a pizza to cook for my dinner. I cooked this as soon as we got back to the apartment, and warmed up the fries that Carmen had left over to go with her leftover chicken Caesar salad. I had a krapfen (apricot filled carnival doughnut) for dessert as well, after having missed out on the chance for one earlier in the week.

After a shower I found myself feeling tired from the lack of sleep over the last few days, so went bed early.