Christmas day castles and cathedrals in Vienna

On Christmas day there was snow and ice on the ground as we crunched over the stones at Schonbrunn, the imperial summer palace of the Hapsburg dynasty. We only managed to visit nine of the 1441 rooms,but that was enough to learn of the grandeur and wealth of a family which ruled the Austro-Hungarian empire for 500 years.

We heard the strains of a choral mass from the private chapel, as we drifted down a wide staricase, but that was the nearest we got to church this Christmas. We focussed on Maria Theresa, rather than the Virgin Mary, and on her son Franz Joseph, rather than Jesus.

Maria Theresa was known as 'the mother in law' of Europe, because she carefully married most of her 16 children off into European ruling families. Franz Joseph gave his name to a glacier in NZ, so there is a little connection there.

In Schonbrunn Palace, we saw portraits of all the family on the walls,including a series of delicate oil portraits by one of the daughters. The family were all very talented in art and music, and seeing so many pictures of them all, and where they enjoyed thier summers, it was quite appropriate to compete the life cycle by later visiting their last resting places, the crypts and vaults , under a Capuchin monastery.

There lie Maria Theresa and her beloved husband, holding hands in death, plus all the children, grandchildren and great grand children, up to the present day. The last Hapsburg is Otto, now 90 and living in exile, who is often seen at the crypt, where his place stands waiting.

It was lovely to walk around a fairly quiet Vienna on Christmas afternoon, to admire the Winter Palace, the Cathedral,the Opera house, and all the grand buildings of this most appealing city, then to go back to the Hilton for a perfectly designed light Christmas supper. Having spoken with most of our dear far flung family, we were content.