All these visits so far, except the concert of course, are free to the public to wander and enjoy the basics, the grounds in this instance. Palace entrances are about 12-15 Euros per person..
The Palace is in a very big, but tidy garden and is pretty well contained, as it was built as a summer residence...for the annual holidays. Franz Joseph and his wife, Empress Sisi, lived in this summer residence and in the awesome Hofburg Palace in town, for the rest of the year.
The theme of my upcoming 30 Day European tour in Jan next, is... Good Kings, Music Masters, Revolution and Romance.
Franz Joseph, the late Emperor of the then vast German-Austrian-Franco-Bohemian and elsewhere Empire at the time, is my hero.
He and young King Ludwig of Lower Bavaria are the good kings and are my soul mates. And to them I dedicate this upcoming tour.
What a week it turned out to be.
I couldn't get a bus out from here on Friday, so I decided to stay the weekend...then the buses were booked out on Monday, due to the holiday weekend, so it's all over to-morrow now, Tuesday.
My bus for Prague leaves at 1pm and I arrive at 5pm. So, all up I had 7 nights unexpectedly in beautiful Vienna.
And I spent a months budget in a week, but I allow that for here because it's just so elegant and it is beautiful and makes me feel beautiful...
Prague is different.
It is!
It just is...
It's unpretentious,
...but you need a Viennese break to smarten yourself up a tad, every few months I'd say for me.
I feel the culture of places very keenly and these 2 have won me over from the start.
So, it's Bohemian Historic Prague for one part of me and Cultured Elegant Vienna for the other part of me.
Now I understand how and why Christine loved 2 men. The Phantom and Raoul.
One she needed for the rhythm of life, regular, disciplined and organised motherhood, yet free in a way she couldn't describe, but needed to have... and the other she wanted and needed, again in a way she found hard to describe ...
This darker, almost dangerous side that made her artistic soul soar, satisfied that inner urge and completed her in a way she never knew before, but was unsustainable as she well knew. But that did not stop her desire and longing for it... even though her marriage forbade such ideas, she was tormented every day with longing...
She needed and wanted both and was twisted every way...so much so that she could not decide and finally just allowed fate to make the decision for her.
I feel this too, but understand my loves a little more, as I am single and my children are grown and are not in the mix of emotions as it was for her...
So I can make my own decisions and partake of both loves over time for a season or seasons...allowing me to freely satisfy those inner urges and desires one can't always explain to others...
Indeed, I am blessed and very thankful. Thank-you.