[Swanand Inamdar]

6 pages and we have just finished breakfast on day 2! Like I said previously, this one's an EPIC! Great going. Lovely pictutres and very funny narration alongwith it.
Please dont make us wait. Monday's have never been so interesting!

[Judemayne]

Dear TSK
Read all 6 pages in one go and dwelled on each word and picture. You have once again ignited my desire to do Europe as soon as possible-actually planned it this Oct but reasons (finances being of them) stopped me dead on track! The wifey has started a little RD for the same -next year either May (30 th Wedding anniversary) or after Aug as suggested by you. TSK you have a flair with both words and pictures that captivate ones attention.

Sorry to preempt but a little bit of a detail finance will help people like us to make a dream become a reality.
Thank you for a reading treat!

[mmxylorider]

Simply superb! Subscribed and 5 stars to this thread. Feels like I am taking a tour myself! Keep 'em coming

[noopster]

This is nice- liike a serialised travelogue- a little juicy bit at a time!

Tanveer: are trains called "trams" in Vienna? Cuz that's what they looked like to me!

[tsk1979]

When we were researching Europe, we had come to a very interesting conclusion. Everything outside, i.e gardens, statues etc., was free to see. However, if you wanted to go inside, lets say, a museum, you would have to pay. Same deal for all their palaces, and landmarks.

Now the good thing is that, even if you decide not to go inside "anything", even then you would have too many destinations, and statues and landmarks to cover within 2-3 days!

That said, cathedrals and Churches, which are the places which you really want to see form inside, are free.

Same deal at the Schon Brunn palace.
You could go buy a 10 EU ticket(or was it 8EU), and go inside to see the bed on which the king slept, or you could spend 2-3 hours outside, marveling at the gardens, the statues and their ponds and the fountains.

No prized for guessing what we chose. However, if you are the kind of person who likes to go inside a museum and look at a Picasso or something and then nod your head many times as you appreciate the works of art, I would advise you to buy a city card. It usually costs 25-30 EU/Per person depending on the city, and gives you free entry to most of the attractions. You also get discounts for some concerts and operas.

Or you can choose to save that money, and instead enjoy the concerts which happen on the street on European city squares.

Anyways, as we stood there, the palace itself looked pretty sorry. It was just an yellow building.

However, we noticed a lot of people were going to the left, and lot of people were coming from the right.
Then we understood. The much famed gardens were actually behind the palace, hidden from our eye.

So we decided to walk, towards the legendary gardens, with a million statues.

This particular fountain was the first to catch our eye



India may be known as the land of KS, but Europe has far surpassed us when it comes to naked and semi naked statues.
When Europe emerged from the Dark ages, they went on an art and sculpture "overdrive".

Anyways, here is another option if you do not like to walk, and it costs money


A little further we are greeted by a small gate, and we enter the gardens. An area of the gardens is cordoned off, probably for the "ticket" holders. I mean if everybody can see every part of the gardens, the gentlemen who paid 10 EU will not be happy, right?


As for us its time to head to the path circling the gardens.

Since its a sunday, a lot of people are jogging.

That said, this region of the palace was mostly devoid of tourists, because the main gardens are where the action is.

We would go there, but after circling this part.
Our plan was to go till the end then enter the gardens through the end fountain, and make our way back to the palace.

A lovely fountain depicting angels, mermaids and kids


As we cross this and go further, there is a small "park" with three statues.
At one end sits a sad looking lady

At the other end is a sad looking warrior

And in the middle are the kids

It tells a sad story. but I have no idea what the story is, because the statues do not speak.

We carry on forward, and there is a lovely fountain. I want to click it in its glory, but the angle of the sun does not let me do it.


At that point, we figure we are at the end. Its time to head right, to a small palace at the end of the gardens
On the way we come across this statue


We proceed on the path which is now climbing.
The reason is that we need to get to the Gloriette
Gloriette - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A gloriette (from the 12th century French for "little glory") is a building in a garden erected on a site that is elevated with respect to the surroundings. The structural execution and shape can vary greatly, often in the form of a pavilion or tempietto, more or less open on the sides.

Schon brunn palace has the most well known gloriette, and its indeed quite an imposing site.

Guarding its flanks are dangerous looking statues


A view of the palace from the gloriette


Can you see the gardens?


A lovely carving on the roof


When you go building sightseeing in Europe, never forget to look up. Roofs often have the loveliest murals and carvings.

The Facade of the gloriette bears the name of Empress Maria Theresa. The inscription says

"Erected under the reign of Emperor Joseph II and Empress Maria Theresa, 1775."

The gloriette as seen from the garden side


After spending a few moments there, and marveling at the sights, it was an easy walk downwards, to the gardens.
I took this shot from behind the main fountain


And soon we are in the gardens.

This is the main fountain. The dude with the Trident is most probably Poseidon, the god of Sea.


A symmitrical view


At this point, we realize how seriously does Europe take sculpture. After the dark ages, art and sculpture started experimenting with mythology, something unthinkable in the past.

In the times preceding the dark ages, pagan gods(Greek and Roman) were more or less banished from popular culture and folklore.
But renaissance saw a comeback.

So all over Europe, in non church buildings, you see statues of Poseidon, Jupiter, Thor, Hercules, Europa, Atlas.... the list goes on and on.

We could have sat here all day, but Vienna is huge, and we had to move on. Time to start walking towards the palace!

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

6 pages and we have just finished breakfast on day 2! Like I said previously, this one's an EPIC! Great going. Lovely pictutres and very funny narration alongwith it.
Please dont make us wait. Monday's have never been so interesting!

Originally Posted by Judemayne

Dear TSK
Read all 6 pages in one go and dwelled on each word and picture. You have once again ignited my desire to do Europe as soon as possible-actually planned it this Oct but reasons (finances being of them) stopped me dead on track! The wifey has started a little RD for the same -next year either May (30 th Wedding anniversary) or after Aug as suggested by you. TSK you have a flair with both words and pictures that captivate ones attention.

Sorry to preempt but a little bit of a detail finance will help people like us to make a dream become a reality.
Thank you for a reading treat!

Thanks guys. I will be putting in the expense details as and when they happen, and also put up a summary in the end.

Originally Posted by mmxylorider

Simply superb! Subscribed and 5 stars to this thread. Feels like I am taking a tour myself! Keep 'em coming

thanks!

Originally Posted by noopster

This is nice- liike a serialised travelogue- a little juicy bit at a time!

Tanveer: are trains called "trams" in Vienna? Cuz that's what they looked like to me!

My bad it seems to be the metro, not the tram. I am a little confused about what we caught where. But trams also look like trains, they just run on normal roads!

[pawan_pullarwar]

If anybody planning to roam Europe on his own, better to make habit of walking at least 6-8 KM a day before landing in Europe. Most of the view points requires a lot of walk.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by pawan_pullarwar

If anybody planning to roam Europe on his own, better to make habit of walking at least 6-8 KM a day before landing in Europe. Most of the view points requires a lot of walk.

Right said Fred
We walked more than 15kms on some days. And in the alps even 6-8kms of walking was tough.
Thankfully, we run more than 3kms on the treadmill almost every day, and this helped in tackling Europe.

[noopster]

I LOLled at the "insider" theory- very true. For us green-starved Indian city-dwellers, roaming around in the parks and clean streets is bliss enough! I did this in Paris (the only taste I've had of Europe), just marvelling at the lawns and gardens and little rivulets off the Seine.

The only exception I made was to go into Le Louvre and stare at the absolutely magnificent paintings there. Truth be told, the Mona Lisa was a bit of a disappointment but some of the old masters really made it worth the 3-4 hours I invested in this!

Do carry on...this is facinating!

[laluks]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Right said Fred
We walked more than 15kms on some days...

Very true. My elder kid used to walk a lot, while the younger one enjoyed her ride on the pram. I used to get tired, but the enthusiasm to see kept her going on and on, especially in Swiss and Rome. But marked pedestrian crossings and footpath makes a real difference. Though the rush at Rome and Paris and London made me feel like back home

Originally Posted by noopster

For us green-starved Indian city-dwellers, roaming around in the parks and clean streets is bliss enough! I did this in Paris (the only taste I've had of Europe), just marvelling at the lawns and gardens and little rivulets off the Seine.

The only exception I made was to go into Le Louvre and stare at the absolutely magnificent paintings there. Truth be told, the Mona Lisa was a bit of a disappointment but some of the old masters really made it worth the 3-4 hours I invested in this!

True. The garden at Versailles - almost spent a whole day there. Agree with the Monalisa part!

Keep the pictures coming TSK

[nomadabhi]

So nice to see Europe from a different angle. About 6 years ago, one of my friend too went Europe with his wife and decided to do it all on wheels.

Let more pics come in...

[tsk1979]

Continuing from where I left off....

We started walking towards the palace, and I got this shot of the fountain


It was pretty crowded, being a sunday and all


We reach the palace, and I take this pic from the balcony


Statues on the roof


A really interesting sculpture in the gardens. Did I mention KS earlier?
http://tanveer.smugmug.com/Travel/Eu.../DSC0617-L.jpg


Another one

Now I clicked a lot more statues, but if I start posting them here, 20 pages later we would still be in vienna.

So its time to proceed to a garden towards the side


A closeup of the crest

Its quarter to 11, as you can see. You do not need a watch in Vienna. Look up, and there is a clock somewhere.
Lillies in the pond


Since time is short, we decide to head out, and here is the "other fountain" in front of the facade.


A shot of the palace from across the road


Here its time to bid adieu to the palace. Its time to head towards the Museum square, for Vienna's other attractions.

[mmxylorider]

I can't help but wonder at the sheer size of these gardens. Immaculately maintained and spotlessly clean. Compare them with say the Taj Mahal gardens and the difference is apparent.

People, people and people who on seeing green grass won't hesitate in laying our a dari and then out comes the eatables.

I haven't been to any other big ones so not sure how they are...

Sorry for sidetracking...

[lsp]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

...Its barely a 10 minutes walk to the palace, and soon we are looking at a yellow colored building.
It does not look like a palace at all.
And then it was time to wonder, is it all there is to see???

You can say that again. The palaces and castles are a far cry from the kind we are used toseeing in India. In terms of area and vastness.

I was surprised to see Napolean's bed in Versailles, Paris was something like 6X4 and Kind Ludwig's bed in Neuschwanstein, Bavaria was 6X3.

[Rahulk76]

Tanveer,

Excellent TL and story.. Awesome is one word..

Cant agree with you more as I am myself cherishing Scandinavian countries as i write this

Cant resist posting these two pictures i managed to take with fz35

Panoramic View of Ocean from a island in Northern Europe


Seaside Water front