Wow!! What can I say!!! This Palace is one of extreme opulence. A testament to the immense wealth of the Hapsburg dynasty over 600 years. They governed over large swathes of this part of the world almost as dictators. On the other hand there is evidence of development that enabled 'the peasants' to better themselves - textile factories come to mind.

We took a 1.5 hour audio guided tour that gave us a small insight in to life in the Palace. We only visited a tiny part of the massive building.

The immense gardens are exquisite even though the beds are empty and the trees are bare. You can feel that it will soon all spring in to life in the coming month or so. Up on a hill more than .5 kms from the Palace is, what is called the Gloriette, a large monument type building that has a cafe. The view back down to the Palace and beyond to the city of Vienna is beautiful and well worth the steepish trek. Today was a bit cold and hazy, but beautiful just the same. We took a tram back in to the city to be at the Opera House for a guided tour. Alas, that was not to be!!! No tour on so we missed out (and kicking ourselves for lingering at Mozart's Cafe having soup and apple strudel yesterday!!!).