Day 13 Vienna - Schönbrunn Palace

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Last day in Vienna, and pretty much the last day of our holiday, tomorrow we head back, via Frankfurt and Brussels back to Wilmslow on Sunday.

Leisurely start, not much for breakfast because our first stop is going to be the Sacher cafe - home to the original sacher torte ! small queue outside to get in at 11, not that there wasn’t enough tables inside - think they were waiting for the daily delivery of cake - the lorry was being unloaded right on the street in front of us - there goes the illusion, it’s being made on an industrial scale in a warehouse (no doubt) somewhere on the outskirts of Vienna! Anyway, we were in ! - cafe und kuchen - it was yummy but rich.

Took the Ubahn to see the gardens of Schönbrunn- decided we’d seen enough ornate rooms, silver, gold etc for now and needed a good stretch of legs before tomorrow. Some bits of the garden you pay to get in - orangery and privie gardens - they were ok but again we were expecting a level of care that you’d get with National Trust but no - it’s a bit half-hearted really. The public bits were wide open avenues with statues and fountains and also woodland. The woodlands were lovely, few people and several red squirrels. There were some little hidden gardens as well, which we found - along with a significant infestation of brown marmorated stink beetle in one of their ‘secret gardens’ (photo) - worrying for the fruit crops! They clearly use the Schönbrunn for many events / business functions and Lindt were just setting up one - hence the photo!

Back via the ubahn to the Naschmarket for a potter then back to the flat to see a bit of the cricket before dinner at a local cafe.

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