Tag Archives: Schoenbrunn

What to Skip on Your Trip

 

I could have missed this, but I'm glad I didn't.

Every destination we eye brings forward the ultimate travel question: What sites can we skip?

It runs counter to the usual travel query – what are the must-sees.

That is the wrong question. It works backwards in that it assumes an infinite amount of time is available whereas even the most summary of polls will pile on a backlog of tourist-to-do’s that at the end of your journeys will evoke a haunting suspicion that you have left the “must-sees” unseen and for years to come as you ruminate on your travels, it will be in an air steeped in the stench of bygone opportunities.

And that is not what you paid for when you ponied up to the travel web-site and booked your holiday.

So edit your list.

The ultimate travel satisfaction is not in aiming high, nor low, but for somewhere between mediocre and medium. Forget those travel-writers who make it sound possible to see it all in 36 hours (a la New York Times travel section).

We have taken serious runs at seeing cities in 36 hours, but to keep up with the NY Times version would require copious consumption of Red Bull and absolutely no sleep (although this would save on hotel bills).

And so, I have been to Paris, but not the inside of the Louvre (long line-up).

I have lived in Spain and not gone near the lauded Camino del Santiago pilgrim walk (I read the Bible and learned that heaven does not require hiking, although if you like a good walk, go ahead).

I have been to Germany and not seen a holocaust museum (although I heartily believe that everyone who complains about Israel being knee-jerk over-defensive should visit at least five holocaust museums).

But I drift from my point, which is, what can you skip on your trip? Well? What can you skip?

More ramblings on this later.

A view of Vienna from the hill overlooking Schoenbrunn palace is beautiful, but could I have missed it? Yes. I could have.

I am always glad to see any statue that was not created between 1940 and 2010, so I am happy I did not miss this. On the other hand, Europe has about 893-gazillion horse and warrior sculptures, so if I did miss this, I would not mind terribly.

Schoenbrunn Park

Solo statuary was sheathed against the weather, but the garden pavilion's scultpures were on display.

The great thing about Schoenbrunn is that while you must pay to get inside the palace, the grounds function as a city park. Joggers, strollers, sightseers, pondside ponderers all linger quite happily on the spacious grounds.

The park is almost square at 1 x 1.2 kilometres and has been on the Unesco World Heritage Sites since 1996. A brief word about Unesco: What the heck? We visited a Unesco site that called into question the merits of Unesco designation. This, however, was not that site. Schoenbrunn is definitely Unesco-worthy.

As we noted with other-things-Austrian, everything was tidy and well-kept. Litter was at a scant minimum and we did not spot a single drunk lounging on the park benches.

I know this sounds very snotty to look down my nose at public drunkenness, but nothing can upset the day’s happy balance quite the way that having a drunken wretch glare menacingly at you while muttering something in German. It is even less pleasant to have a drunk stagger behind you, casting his alcoholic breath over your airspace and waving his cigarette a little too close to your coat.

Am I saying this has happened to me? Of course it has, but not in Austria.

 

Schoenbrunn's garden rises upward, so it gives a beautiful view of Vienna below.

 

An unimaginative, but informative perspective on Schoenbrunn's garden pavilion, which houses a very nice and surprisingly affordable restaurant.

 

When the Austrians say they want high ceilings, they mean high ceilings, dangit.