My kids call the Lainzer Tiergarten “Sherwood Forest” and they were so excited to go spend the afternoon there. We also stopped by the Hermesvilla – Sisi’s Castle of Dreams.
The Hermesvilla is a little palace that the Emperor Franz Josef built for his wife Elizabeth in the Lainzer Tiergarten, which used to be in the imperial hunting grounds. There were stables for her horses and the Emperor and Empress spent time there every spring. It is named the Hermesvilla after a statue of Hermes which is found in front of the palace. There is a beautiful fountain and garden area that the kids liked exploring.
We had a small snack in the beautiful garden and then went inside. It is a small museum and we probably only spent about a half hour there, but there are some beautiful rooms. Kids are free, so I only had to buy a ticket for myself.
There is gorgeous woodwork in the wall paneling, ceilings, and doors. Elora liked the staircase and asked if we could build a house with a staircase like it. The stained glass was really pretty as well. There was a display case with really big sea shells that had designs carved on them and a really beautiful porcelain clock. I also read that it was one of the first buildings in Vienna with a telephone connection.
The most ornate room is Sisi’s bedroom. There are beautiful paintings on the ceiling and walls depicting scenes from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. Elora and Marion pointed them out and talked about how they know that story. I was impressed that they could see the paintings and recognize what play they were from! James was just happy wandering around, meaning that the museum worker followed us everywhere.
I like that you can take pictures (no flash) and really enjoyed the rooms with the beautiful murals, tapestries, and ceilings. There are only a couple really ornate rooms, but I am glad I finally got to see the inside of this beautiful place.
We explored the grounds a little more before heading back into the woods.
James kept trying to run away from the camera to hide in the bushes.
There were some fun hollowed out tree stumps full of pine cones near the Hermesvilla. There is a sign telling guests to try to throw pine cones into the tree stumps, but James wanted to take them out and shove them in his backpack. Elora collected lots of little wild flowers to take home and dry. She said this is her very favorite place in all of Vienna. I am pretty sure she would live in the woods if we would let her.
There are some little signs in the shape of a pig that we followed around because Marion was convinced if we followed them we would find wild pigs. We didn’t find pigs, but we found this hollow tree which has a bee hive in it and watched the bees come and go for a little while. We also enjoyed talking about what Oliver would be doing if he were with us (he is terrified of bees).
We went a little ways off the path and found a cool fort made of sticks. I took this picture from far away because as I started to walk towards it I realized I could see multiple spiderwebs with spiders on them between me and the fort, about at the height of my face. I opted to sit down under a tree with James. Christiana said she loved the forest because the trees were calming and peaceful. It was the perfect day with a nice cool breeze and clouds rolling in and out. We left the forest just in time and got home as the very first drops of rain started to fall. It was nice to enjoy the rainstorm from inside the apartment.
