Music and royals

On our trip, in countries beyond Austria, people were not so strict about wearing masks indoor. You could even enter Hungarian shops, not only restaurants, without a mask.

We spent almost 2 h to find parking in Vienna. So many one-way streets and construction sites made driving very complicated.

We walked around the huge city with all the beautiful houses. That already made us so hungry that we sat down for lunch at a Chinese restaurant (different Chinese vegetables, mushrooms, noodles).

Next, we visited the catacombs and the North Tower of the ‚Stephansdom‘. In the catacombs unser the church and under the dome square, we saw many coffins, urns, and bones *ooohhh*

Afterwards, we had fun in ‚The House of Music‘. We walked up stairs that made tones like on a musical scale.

We composed our own waltz by rolling dice. The number determined a part of the melody.

We could hear as if we were a cat or a turtle. We heard how music sounds in different environments (long hallway, stadium, bathroom). We could hear what the baby hears in the womb.

And finally, we got to conduct the ‚Wiener Philarmoniker‘.

It was already dark when we found a vegan restaurant for dinner. We had a burger, a wrap, and sweet French fries.

The adventure of the day was not only finding parking but also getting back to our car. Somehow, the app via which we entered the underground parking by car didn‘t offer a way to get back into the building. Luckily, somebody who worked there left the building to late and helped us get into the garage *wow*

Today, we spent the day at Schönbrunn Palace. In the morning, we visited the zoo. With „we“ I mean for more than 1 hour Alan with Erna + Wilma, separated from Magda and me. Magda couldn‘t enjoy the animals as much. She wanted to find the other three.

Alan had all our phones, so I tried to call him from a phone that I got from the zoo staff. No reply. Alan was announced – nobody showed up. Eventually, Magda saw Erna and we were all happily back together.

Schönbrunn Zoo was established by the Habsburgs in the park of Schönbrunn Palace in 1752 and is today the world’s oldest zoo that is still in operation.

Next, Magda & Erna got lost in a hedge maze. When we found them, they decided to rather find the middle of the maze together ;oP

In the castle, we had a lot of fun at the interactive kids museum. We tried on princess dresses, played hairdresser on wigs and had a royal feast.

On a guided tour, we learned that the name ‚Schönbrunn‘ originates from a well that was found on the grounds.

Schönbrunn Palace in its present form was built and remodelled during the 1740–50s during the reign of empress Maria Theresa who received the estate as a wedding gift.

What we learned about the royal live of Maria Teresa‘s and her kids time. The empress had 16 children, of which six died on different infectious diseases.

Around 1000 servants took care of cleaning, laundry, cooking, heating, lighting, dressing, bathing, emptying the toilet (which already used some isolated running water system) etc.

The royals took a bath once a month, still with a dress on so their maids wouldn‘t see them naked. They already brushed their teeth and had a dentist check on them twice a week!

It was very popular to wear wigs made of hair from poor people who used their hair as an income source.

Fleas and lice were a big problem. As a trap for fleas, the royals put tiny cages in their hair. In the cage was cloth drained in blood and honey. The fleas were attracted by the blood smell, m through little holes in the cage and got stuck on the sticky honey.

On the way back to the car, we saw a wild fox*wow*