Last day in Austria

An early start, got up at 6.30 am and on the bus at 7.30 am.

First we went to Schönbrunn Palace . This place is amazing. We walked through the palace with audio description which was very interesting. The palace has a great history and I really enjoyed learning about it. A couple of favourite points were the old heaters which were intricately decorated and were fed from passages in the walls. The State Bed with its paneled silk hangings also made me giggle with the sign that it was used for ceremonial occasions.

After the tour there was an embarrassing incident when I beeped leaving the gift shop. The guard was very understanding and seemed to brush off my need to prove my innocence and just let me go. I obviously don't look like a thief, and I promise you I'm not!

When I left everyone seemed to have disappeared which I was happy about. I went off to explore the grounds for a few hours all by myself, what a treat. The perfectly manicured gardens, the fountains, the lawns, flowers, trees it was all perfect. There were people running there as the park is free to enter and I could imagine myself running there happily.

I hadn't even seen pictures of the place before and as I came round the corner and saw the hill and the gloriette, I was gobsmacked. I climbed up the hill, sat on the bank and looked down over the palace out to Vienna. Wow. There were bare patches in the grass and from above you can see that they are in patterns and will soon be full of flowers.

It was then time to get some lunch. I went to a cafe where we had a coffee when we first arrived. I sat down and had another Campari soda followed by the most delicious homemade hamburger in the garden. Bliss.

Next we headed to Cistercian Abbey Stift Heiligenkreuz. I wasn't sure what to expect but once we were inside I realised that it was like nothing I had ever seen before. My blip came from here, the Chapterhouse. The page I have linked to contains lots of information. We had a guide but it was in Hungarian so M and I kept a little behind people so we could get some good photos. We followed the sound of water to find the Fountain room. We were also very good at accidentally saying inappropriate things and M couldn't stop blowing air bubbles (farting). Yes we are bad bad people.

Back on the bus, we forged ahead to Hohe Wand. We had planned to walk to the skywalker, a large glass platform that you can walk out on but we didn't have enough time. Instead we walked up to a point where there was a metal staircase and walkway attached to the side of the cliff. It was windy but the views were spectacular.

We then had a 2 hour journey to Szombathely where we stopped for dinner. After that we had a 4 hour non stop, bumpy, wine, Uno and napping filled journey home. I swear I have never been on such a bumpy bus, I woke up at one point when I was nearly bounced off the seat. I think it felt worse because I was so tired and it was dark.