Date of visit: 1 - 3 September, 2007 旅遊日期：9月1至3日
Vienna is a witness to some of the most extraordinary histories, which has still left some of their marks today.
維也納有一段不凡的歷史，至今仍能看到留下的痕跡。
The city was the political centre of the Habsburg family and its empire, which at one stage stretched far westwards and eastwards (the Plaza Mayor in Madrid is one of the symbols of their rule). Some of the territories were gained through marriage into other European royal families, and through their helm at the Holy Roman Empire. In more recent history, it was the assassination of the heir to the Habsburg throne in Sarajevo in 1914 that directly triggered World War I. The Habsburgs are certainly a most influential royal family in the course of history.
維也納是歐洲一大皇族哈布斯堡（Habsburg）的統治中心，該家族曾統領歐洲多國，透過婚姻「滲透」其他皇朝以擴張領土——包括西班牙，馬德里的大廣場（Plaza Mayor）就是其標記——又把持神聖羅馬帝國的帝位，到1914年其繼承人在前南斯拉夫被暗殺，觸發第一次世界大戰，可見其影響了。
The Habsburg family left Vienna with many treasures. Of course they include castles - two, in fact, with Hofburg in the city centre (Old Town) and Schönbrunn a bit out of town. Hofburg comprises a large cluster of buildings enclosing many courtyards and is surrounded by squares large and small. One can easily spend a full day visiting every single building at Hofburg!
哈布斯堡皇朝留給維也納的東西可多呢！首先不用說就是兩座皇宮，一座是位於市中心的Hofburg皇宮，另一座是稍遠的美泉皇宮（Schönbrunn）。Hofburg佔地甚廣，建築群四周及之間有大大小小不同的廣場和庭園，如要由頭到尾參觀一遍，花上一整天絕不出奇！
The Heldenplatz in front of Hofburg Hofburg前之Heldenplatz廣場
Top left: Burgtor; top right: National Library 左上：城門、右上：國立圖書館
Burghof, enclosed by the imperial apartments
Burghof 庭園，為皇室宮殿所包圍
Left: Schweizertrakt (Swiss Wing); right: Josefsplatz
左：瑞士衛隊樓、右：約瑟夫廣場
Michaelertrakt (St. Michael's Wing) and underneath the dome of the wing
聖彌格樓及其圓頂下的通道
The Hofburg is also home to the Spanish Riding School (Spanische Hofreitschule), established by the Habsburgs to train classic equestrian skills, which are to date preserved and practised in the original forms. I watched a gala performance that lasted 80 minutes divided into 7 sections. Under the melodies of classical music, the horses demonstrated a variety of gaits and other techniques like standing on the hind legs and leaping in the air. The 8 riders, meanwhile, were putting on different formations when riding or trotting together.
Hofburg皇宮有個西班牙騎術學校（Spanische Hofreitschule），是皇室創立、孕育高級騎術之地，現時仍保留當年的傳統和技術，我參觀了一場騎術表演，表演分七部分，全長80分鐘，在悠揚的古典音樂下，馬匹展現不同的步姿和動作，例如凌空踢腿及用後腿站立，騎士一行八人繞埸時又會排出各種陣勢。
（Sorry, no photography allowed during performance! 表演期間謝絕拍照，所以未能登出。）
The other palace, Schönbrunn, is the summer palace of the Habsburgs. I think this palace overall shows more splendour and grandeur than Hofburg, especially in the different halls and guest rooms with their individual style and decorations. Schönbrunn was also the place where Mozart rose to fame, at the tender age of 6, after his performance won the heart and mind of the queen at that time. The palace opens to a garden, and its baroque style is rather reminiscent of Versailles at first glance. However, the two gardens are set apart, in an important way, by the slope of the hill. Since Schönbrunn's garden slopes uphill (unlike the Versailles), it makes so much sense to erect a building (the Gloriette) to provide a look-out for the whole garden. There is a zoo as a part of the garden of Schönbrunn. It is the oldest in the world, and can date back to 1540 when the royal family first kept some rare animals as their private collection.
美泉皇宮則是哈布斯堡皇室的夏季行宮，各宮室的裝飾，總的來說比Hofburg華麗，尤其是各式各樣的會客廳及舞廳，莫扎特六歲時，也曾應皇室邀請前往美泉皇宮演奏，甚得當時的皇后寵愛，莫扎特也因此成名！皇宮有個大花園，驟眼看來，佈局跟法國凡爾賽宮相似，同屬巴洛克風格，但最不同之處，就是美泉皇宮花園的斜坡，從皇宮出來是向上（而非凡爾賽宮般向下），所以在花園山坡最高處，便建了座凱旋門（Gloriette），在凱旋門的瞭望層，便可俯瞰全花園的景色。花園內有個動物園，是全世界歷史最悠久的，早在1540年由當時的皇帝奠下動物園的雛形。
The Schönbrunn palace (left) and the view of the garden from one of the rooms (right)
美泉皇宮（左）及其花園（右，從宮內其中一個房間攝）
The views around the Round Pool fountain
圓形噴泉四周的景致
The Obelisk Fountain 方尖塔噴泉
Left: Neptune Fountain; right: The Roman Ruin
左：海王噴泉、右：仿羅馬廢墟
The Columbary, an enclosure for doves
鴿屋
The Palm House (left) and the garden nearby (right)
棕櫚屋（左）及附近的花園（右）
The Gloriette and the view of Schönbrunn from the roof of Gloriette
凱旋門及從瞭望層俯瞰美泉皇宮
Yet another pretty palace in Vienna is the Belvedere. I could only afford a brief visit as it was almost dusk when I was there. The garden is laid out on a rising slope in a way resembling the Schönbrunn. At the top and bottom of the hill stand the Lower Belvedere and Upper Belvedere palaces, while a fountain is featured half-way up the hill. It looks like that architects of royal gardens in the 17th to 18th century all have a similar taste!
講到皇宮，也得順帶一提美景皇宮（Belvedere），那天我祇是在黃昏匆匆在花園遊了一圈，花園佈局倒也有點像美泉皇宮，山坡之底部和最高處，分別建了下美景宮殿及上美景宮殿，上坡的中間也有座噴水池，看來17至18世紀的各個皇室，對花園的品味也大同小異！
The Red Army Memorial (Denkmal der Roten Armee), right in front of Belvedere when approaching from the city centre
紅軍紀念廣場，從市中心臨到達美景皇宮必會經過
The Lower and Upper Belvedere Palaces (left and right, respectively)
下美景宮殿（左）及上美景宮殿（右）
The other part of the Belvedere garden over the hill
翻過上美景宮殿後的花園
Comments