Schönbrunn Palace is architecturally reminiscent of Versailles.  The main difference between them is that maintenance seems to have been halted at Versailles when the King's head was lopped off; Schönbrunn makes you wonder if the Emperor might still be in residence.  It's well-kept, freshly painted, dusted, waxed, and polished.

Like Versailles, there are extensive gardens behind.  These are not as extensive as Versailles'...  very little can match those...  but it has The Gloriette, and from the top of that hill all of Vienna is at your feet.

We went to see the palace on a rainy day and skipped the gardens because the weather was so awful.  The next day was nicer and we went back to catch up on what we missed.  Like Versailles, there is a small charge for the tour of the palace, but the gardens are free.  While having coffee in the cafe behind The Gloriette we overheard some youngsters talking about the World Cup of Soccer then in progress.  The young woman who seemed to be the taskmistress told them "We have three museums to do tomorrow, and we're doing them before any of you turn on the telly to watch football."  I assumed she had a rigid itinerary and didn't want to slip it.  Later we found them all downslope with cameras and sound equipment, and it was only then we realized this was the "Lonely Planet" crew doing a segment on Vienna!

Since it was still early, we decided to take our landlady's advice and trip up to Grinsing for dinner.  We took the U-bahn to Nussdorf Strasse, the closest connection for the 38 tram which takes you into Grinsing, a quiet little suburb of Vienna noted mostly for its vinyards.