During the summer of 1999, I had the pleasure of spending several days in Vienna, staying with acquaintances very near to Schoenbrunn Palace. Although busy most of the time, I and some friends made a sidetrip to see the palace, originally a hunting lodge for the royal family but transformed during the reign of Maria-Theresa into a grandiose Rococo residence. One could easily be forgiven for calling this Austria's Versailles, as the gardens were originally designed by a pupil of Le Notre and the palace exhibits the same passion for the ostentatious and the sublime. Yet, it is this profligacy that lends Schoenbrunn its beauty and its character. Royal families during the 18th century were an industry in and of themselves, and there is no more telling example than the palaces they inhabited, each larger and more fabulously decorated than the next. During Maria-Theresa's reign and just beyond the Austrian empire arguably reached the heights of its influence, both upon the politics and the art of Europe. Schoenbrunn is the monument to their ascendancy.

The complex is close to the centre city and is easy to reach via underground or even walking. Regarding tickets, there are numerous options that combine various elements of the site. A relatively all-inclusive ticket costs 13 euro for students.