Gruss Gott,
I always carry an umbrella in Europe, a practice that has served me very well over the years. As I set out it began to sprinkle and a bit later there was full blown rain. In July. I loved it!
I had an easy stroll back through the Hofburg complex to find the Imperial Treasury, but when I tried to call up my Vienna Pass I got . . . nothing. After numerous tries, I asked the guy at the ticket office, who realized I needed to tap into the museums free wifi network. That did the trick, and I was launched.
This is the sort of museum I enjoy, but I'm not sure about the general public. It's mostly Imperial and Liturgical Regalia, and most of the museum is dimly lit in order to preserve the colors of the various talbards, copes, capes, etc--intricately and marvelously embroidered in gold and silver thread. I couldn't help wondering how much those garments weighed.
Some jewelry, mostly from chivalric orders is displayed along with precious objects of gold, silver, and amber, some heavily bejeweled. I would say the most popular exhibits are the crowns, and the Hapsburgs did collect quite a few. There are several Austrian State Crowns, but also one from Hungary taken from a would be Protestant usurper and the crown of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia created by the Congress of Vienna to the dismay of the Italian inhabitants of those regions.
The photo is of the cradle of Napoleon's son. After discarding Josephine, Napoleon persuaded the Hapsburgs to cough up Princess Marie Louise to be his new Empress. After his fall she returned to Austria with their son, who was given the courtesy title King of Rome. The cradle is so full of imperial iconography, I wonder how the poor child slept. Unfortunately he died young
I strolled around in the rain walking down Graben named after a defensive ditch that used to mark the ancient boundary of the city. Touristy shops and cafes and food outlets were open, but nothing else was. Still the scene was lively.
I am not having apero this afternoon. After I left the museum, I went to Demal--pastry makers to the Imperial Court, but now purveying to us plebs as well. There's a cafe, a take away window for hot drinks, a shop--and (slurp) the pastry counter. I got something called a Dorycake. I have no idea what this is, but it sure looks lush. To accompany this treat I have a nice cup of green tea in hope that the polyphenols will counteract some of the sugar.
I'm going to force myself to have a taste, because we understand I am only eating this to be polite. There's an extremely moist cake layer topped with a rich tasting but magically light chocolate mousse. It's wonderful. These things don't come cheap. I paid nearly eight euros for it.
Before coming home I made another stop. This time at Nordsee, a fast food chain specializing in fish and other seafood. You can sit and eat, but I went to the take away counter for some fish and chips. They do it well in continental fashion. I eat a lot of fish on the Mediterranean Diet. The fries-well--they are a very rare treat, and anyway, I am on vacation.
Well, the portion of fish while tasty is meager and the proportion of breading to actual fish is a bit much. It comes with tarter sauce which is good. The chips are nice and thick and crisp. The dish goes well with some chilled Gruner Veltliner.
Servus
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