Happy Easter everybody! I wish I could say that I was writing to you from somewhere wildly exciting, and I would be, except that just about the entire continent of Europe is overcast this weekend with a good chance of rain. I wanted to go here:
but
Logarska Dolina, Slovenia will have to wait for better weather. I opted to stay in Vienna. Not that Vienna isn't wildly exciting, of course. Where else would I get to wander through Easter markets? Since I never did make it out to the Christmas Market at Schönbrunn Palace, I decided I definitely shouldn't miss the Easter market that runs daily from the 24th of March (at least this year) through Easter Monday, 10:00 - 19:00.
There was almost a hint of sun trying to break through the clouds this morning, so to take advantage of a guaranteed window of dry I headed out to Schönbrunn. The market really only covered about a quarter of the main courtyard, following the line of the eastern wall, which surprised me a little, but what it lacked in size it made up for in interest and folksy charm.
The first thing that struck me was the amazing smell which pervaded even with the scent of rain lightly on the air. I could tell immediately that there were lots of baked goods, as well as other things that seemed distinctly Easter-y, like honey and lavender. I also noticed how much entertainment there was for the kids (note the far left of the above photo - two boards that you slid your feet into where everyone had to coordinate to walk). You could also give stilt walking a try, or if you weren't feeling up to that you could just follow this chicken around (the picture doesn't really show it but there's a trail of kiddos).
The stands themselves were as diverse as those at the Christmas markets, and most of them were themed, as you would expect.
There were plenty of non-themed stands as well (note the critters), including some gorgeous Polish ceramic dish ware (I didn't know Poland was known for its ceramics, but the woman was very proud of importing it from there) and some letter writing and desk supplies made in Budapest. I might have indulged the wannabe old-fashioned writer in me.
I can hardly go to Schönbrunn without at least taking a quick peek at the Gloriette, so I detoured around to the back of the palace as well.
Even without everything in full bloom yet, there's something about this view that always puts me in a better mood, even if I'm already in a good mood. I took the opportunity to test my new camera with panorama capabilities as well.
I think I still need to tinker with it a bit, but it has a lot of potential. I also noticed something I hadn't ever picked up on while galavanting around the palace gardens before: some of the trees that line the walkway actually grow sideways.
Maybe that's not quite accurate, perhaps they're only trimmed, but I suspect that they've been trimmed thus for so many years that they've been trained to just start growing that direction. I like to think that I hadn't noticed that before only because every other time I've seen it has been in summer or fall when all of the branches are sporting a full array of leaves. At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Although spring is well on its way in Vienna, the greenery and blooms are only just coming out at the palace, perhaps since they do so much landscaping there. I'm glad that it's not all in full bloom yet, though, because I would hate to have missed that and now I'll have an opportunity to catch it. Fingers crossed I'll get to see everything on a warm sunny day!
Still, it's hard to complain with what's out there right now...
