With the Hofburg Imperial Palace, we complete visiting the 3 largest Palaces in Europe in order of size, Versailles in France, Hofburg Palace in Austria, and Palacio Real de Madrid in Spain. They have all been grand and imposing, and that is their purpose.
The Hofburg Palace, and in particular the most recent (turn of the century addition) is the most imposing. It also carries the dubious honor as having the balcony from which Hitler addressed the Austrians after he marched in and annexed their country.
Originally, there was to be a mirror of this crescent shaped structure built, but after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand bringing about the start of WWI, the Hapsburg Dynasty and the plans for its construction came to an end.
We toured the Royal Apartments as well as a special museum dedicated to Sisi (she is quite the thing in Austria it seems - people often call her the Austrian version of Princess Diana).
The tour begins with a massive display of all the silver and china used in the palace for royal events. These go back to the days of the Hapsburgs, and are still used to this day for very important State Dinners and Functions.
It is magnificent to see the opulence of the dining service. I don't think I'd know what to do if I were ever invited to such an affair. Not that I can image being summoned to something like that. . .
One unusual note is that the custom napkin fold at State functions is a closely guarded secret. Only a couple people on the staff know the secret fold. I guess this gives them "Job Security".
Tony and I followed the tour upstairs , but we weren't allowed to take any photographs. It was very much like most of the other palaces we've seen, with large meeting rooms and the imperial bedrooms for both the king and queen. The palace is decorated as it was during the reign of Franz Josef I and Elizabeth (Sisi) in the 1800's. There certainly seems to be an affinity for this period in regards to the Imperial regime.
Sisi, being a long suffering "victim" of monarchy was the first ruler to have a modern heated bathtub and flushing toilet facility installed in the palace. We saw the table where she would have her long hair combed for hours at a time by staff, and we saw her personal gymnasium where she would work out to maintain her figure. Sounds like a terrible life, huh. . .
We then visited the Royal Treasury to see the crown jewels. One interesting note was that the Orb symbol signifying the world power of the ruler is round. The sphere was a symbol of the earth long before it was known that the earth was round - let alone acknowledged by the church as such.
One fun item, that I'd never seen before was the tusk of a Narwhale. Throughout history, these have often been mistaken for Unicorn horns. The Narwhale is also mentioned in 20,000 leagues under the sea as the possible cause for the mysterious sinkings. It was really cool to see one in person.
The jewelry was amazing, but what impressed us most were the royal gowns. Many were over 1000 years old and in incredible condition! I asked an guide if the gowns were recreations, and he assured me they were the originals. Silk can really, really last a long time.
I'm not sure how these gowns were stored so well for so long. Unbelievable.
We exited the palace back into the city. Unfortunately, this side is undergoing restoration, but there are some pretty cool sculptures showing people being turned into sea monsters.
Sorry, monster geek, remember. . .
I'm easily entertained.
Thankfully, Tony is also easily entertained, and we went for some wonderful Gelato at Zanoni and Zanoni, one of the nicest Gelato shops I've ever been to, ever. . . Really really nice, and the weather was cooperating, so we were able to sit outside and enjoy it.
It is just down the street from St. Stephens Cathedral, and we decided that now was a good time to go inside at last and check it out. We tried earlier, but there was a service going on. I don't like to play tourist when people are trying to worship.
It was later in the afternoon, and the sun was just right so that the stainglass windows were bathing everything in beautiful colors.
We saw the small chapel inside the cathedral where the funeral for Mozart was held. Sadly, his remains were placed in a mass grave as was the custom at that exact time, and so there is no burial marker. There is a small plaque for him in St. Stephens.
That evening, Tony and I went for a traditional Viennese dinner.
I tried the Tafelspitz, a beef and broth with vegetables and pureed spinach. All of it was delicious. I also tried a light Austrian wine.
For dessert, it was a lovely sultry evening, so we decided to hit one of the small ice cream carts and have a cone while we wandered through the lovely nighttime Viennese Squares.
No comments:
Post a Comment