Just a day or so in Vienna, en route to Bratislava for an Erasmus (work) trip. The central station, arriving late Friday (11ish) from the airport seemed very deserted; much busier when I then got off the subway at Stephansplatz by the Cathedral; my hotel was just round the corner.

So, on Saturday I decided to get one of the tourist hop on, hop off buses & go exploring. The highlight was definitely the Schoenbrunn palace – my main difficulty was the fact that progressing through the rooms, you hopped from century to century, so it was hard to keep track of the different generations. Most of the rooms had furniture in; so you got a bit of an idea of how they lived. It was only the state rooms they’d got – but there were human & family touches, such as the dining room that the last Emperor had used, mostly with his family. When they had family meals, it was Austrian; they only had French Cuisine when they were entertaining. Maria Theresie had a vast marital bed!
After the bus ride, I then had a wander round the Hofburg area and also the Art Museum area, though by the time I’d got there they were mostly closing.

A busy day – but enough to whet the appetite for another visit!