24th March 2006 - Day 158

I woke up slightly later in the morning and instead of going some places, I was on the phone trying to make a reservation for a bed in Salzburg. Since Schloss Schönbrunn will only open at 0900, I went online to do some usual internet stuffs.

I found a photo developing shop selling single use cameras. It's 2 for 9,99€. I bought it without hesitation.

After buying a Schokotörtchen for breakfast, I was on the tram to Schloss Schönbrunn. If people visits Versailles when they are in Paris, they should not miss Schönbrunn when they are in Wien.

A view of Schönbrunn from the Garden

Schönbrunn was the summer residence of the Hapsburgs family. The layout of the chambers are somewhat similar to the Kaiserapartment I visited yesterday. The garden behind was quite huge as it used to be a hunting ground.

I was given an option of either having an audio guide or a brochure with all the information of the chambers. Since the information in both are the same, I took the brochure instead of having to press an audio guide onto my ear all the time.

The rule of keine Fotos was strictly enforced in all museums and palaces. But there were always people who persistenly tries to take photos. When an italian tour group saw a man takign photos, the tour guide told the man to stop . That was not enough. She and her tour group found a curator and pow toh the man.

Seriously, are they just jealous that the man got away with it? They could have too, but they didn't dare to.

It's a pity that some parts of the garden was closed. Nevertheless, I went up the garden and had a great view of the Schloss.

The Neptune Fountain which was still frozen

The Roman Ruin in the Garden showing the Hapsburg as the successor of the powerful Holy Roman Emipre

A cafeteria at the top of the Garden

I have the impression that the cashiers at the supermarkets aren't friendly and generally distrust customers. A cashier told me to hurry up while I was searching for coins while at another supermarket, another cashier asked to look into my shopping bag, probably because I had a crooked smile.

I've heard stories from Martina K. (whose husband is an Austrian), that Austrians generally do not tolerate Ausländer as much as Germans. Good luck if you don't speak German.

I went back to the hostel and had an afternoon nap before heading out to the river. I was quite disappointed that there was nothing there.

Next, I went to the Gasometer. This place used to be a gas supply/storage plant consisting of 4 chimneys which was later converted to a shopping mall and student hostel by 4 architects. Ouite clever, I thought.

The Gasometer

The Marketplace

After that, I went back to St. Stephans' Dom and went to the shopping district to do some window shopping. then it was to the train station to buy my ticket to Salzburg tomorrow.

Someone looking down at the Marketplace

So, reading up on what to do in Salzburg.