Schonbrunn: a Summer Palace in Winter

Rosa Room at the Schloss Schonbrunn. Photo credit: www.schoenbrunn.at.

December doesn’t have the perfect weather, and certainly not the perfect season to see a palace built as a summer residence, which has a name that means “Beautiful Spring”. However, if you ever find yourself in Vienna, spare a few hours and visit the Schonbrunn… even if it’s hailing outside.

Inside the palace, I first noticed a repeating colour story: Pure white wall decorated with stucco in gold. Then I began to greedily staring at the silky dresses in the oil paintings, the puffy damask chairs with dainty legs, the complicated clock in gold sculpted with little angels which was placed religiously on top of a marble table, and the elaborate ceramic stove with floral detaills around the corner… Everything screamed “craftsmanship”. I walked through rooms after rooms, every room has a different atmosphere and style, but I didn’t see a single corner which wasn’t decorated lavishly.