Day 112/365: Vienna: Day 2: Schoenbrunn + Tiergarten

[nanila]

Humuhumu colours in a castle in her colouring book. Keiki looks through his green 'noculars at his toys on the table (green dinosaur & tentacle). The Schoenbrunn Palace, summer residence of the Hapsburgs, is in the background.

We spent our second full day in Vienna in the grounds of the Schoenbrunn palace and the Tiergarten (Zoo). Our first stop after disembarking from the U-Bahn at the Schoenbrunn station was the cafe, to refuel with coffee and cake.


Keiki and Humuhumu build castles out of the stones in front of the palace.

Afterward, we meandered toward the zoo. On the way, we encountered a red squirrel.


Keiki tried to approach the red squirrel stealthily.


His plan was foiled when his sibling noticed the squirrel.

As you can see from the two photos below, the main charm of the formal gardens when you're a small child is the opportunity to hunt for bugs in the rigidly ordered hedgerows.





And do dances along the paths.


At last we approached the zoo, and paused as usual to admire the ornate Palmenhaus.


According to Keiki, the important thing in this photo is not the pretty church. It is the tractor.


Keiki hitched a ride on Granddad's shoulders to the zoo. Granny walks in front (she's in the hat and the pink top).


Humuhumu zooms ahead. I cannot tell you how appropriate that Rainbow Dash backpack is for her. She attracted so much (positive) attention from everyone as she ran around the city.


We entered the zoo in time to see the panoas being fed.

The red panda also favoured us with its company.


Red panda washes its tummy.


Red panda climbs over a log.

Keiki made the acquaintance of a lizard.

I kid you not, this chap ran across his very large enclosure just to go eye-to-eye with Keiki. They were absolutely riveted by one another.


For context, here they are together.


Humuhumu speaks no evil with the monkey statues.

We lunched at the cafe in the middle of the Tiergarten.

Keiki and Humuhumu enjoy their apfelsaft gespritz.

And then we went to visit the penguins.

Keiki and Humuhumu at the penguin enclosure. They spent a good half hour entranced by the penguins' antics.


To be fair, they are pretty good antics.


Humuhumu and Keiki climbed a tree.


And a baby elephant statue.


The tusks as well.


We went to visit the seals. I don't think they liked the heat much. This was the most active one, and all it could bring itself to do was occasionally wave a flipper feebly as if to say, "...Hot...so hot..."


Humuhumu had a go on the climbing wall above the polar bear enclosure. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the polar bears were decidedly not venturing outside.

And then it was ice cream o'clock again.

From left to right: Granddad, Granny, Humuhumu, bloke, Keiki sitting on the bench across from the water buffalo enclosure. Bloke has finished his ice cream. Everyone else is still working on it.


Humuhumu and Keiki have a squiz at the water buffalo.


We headed back toward the entrance via a small childrens' play area. Keiki and Humuhumu had a sit-down on a wooden lizard.


Humuhumu navigated a tunnel.


We admired the dexterity of the baby goats clambering over the roof of their presumed accommodation.

Finally, we said goodbye to the Tiergarten and walked back to the U-Bahn, sun-baked and satisfied.

Comments

[pbristow]

"As you can see from the two photos below, the main charm of the formal gardens when you're a small child is the opportunity to hunt for bugs in the rigidly ordered hedgerows."

To be fair, the hedgerows are probably not looking their best this time of year. =;o}

[LOOKS THROUGH REST OF THE LOVELY PHOTOS, WITH WISTFUL SIGHS]

Please can I be one of your kids? Just temporarily, I mean. You won't have to pay for me to go to college or anything... =:o]

[nanila]

I think the hedgerows were biding their time, as there was snow on the ground the previous week! The leaves were just starting to emerge while we were there.

Heh. I'm just imagining how surprised Humuhumu and Keiki would upon suddenly acquiring an *older* brother...

[ironed_orchid]

That looks like an excellent trip to the zoo.

[nanila]

It was. We somehow managed to time our arrival and perambulation around the zoo to coincide with lots of feedings. I'd never even seen the pandas before!

[ironed_orchid]

I am rather enamoured of the red pandas.

[cmcmck]

Always a lovely spot to spend a while! :o)

[nanila]

Oh yes. I also look forward to the day when we can take the children *into* the palace. This was not the time/weather for it, though!

[silveradept]

That looks like it was a really good time for everyone involved. Rainbow Dash-child looks like she was having a very good time of it, indeed.

[nanila]

It was a wonderful day. We were all shattered that evening (and the next day!).

[worlds_of_smoke]

Oh, man. I LOVE zoos. It sounds like you had a great day. :D

[nanila]

It was exceptional. We'd been to the Tiergarten the previous year on a sunny day, but it wasn't as warm as this, and we didn't time the visit perfectly with the feedings!

[hamsterwoman]

I remember those monkeys from our own visit, almost 10 years ago now!

Keiki and his soulmate lizard are very cute!

And I had no idea the zoo there had giant pandas -- how cool that you got to see them!

[nanila]

Were they in with the meerkats then as well? Last time we saw the meerkats being fed. That was adorable.

Peeling Keiki away from the enclosures was one of the most difficult tasks of the day. :P

We were very pleased to walk in just as the pandas were being fed. That was a stroke of luck!