Vienna day 2

We woke up fairly early on Tuesday to get a start on our day. Morgan had expressed interest in seeing the Spanish Riding School, so Scott, she and I made our way over. The school is located in one wing of the Hofburg Palace (one of 3 or 4 in Vienna), so it was a pretty extravagant building by default. There were several hundred people already in line and inside, so once inside we stood and watched for an hour or so. The school was housed in a long threatre-like building with 2 viewing levels supported by massive columns. The ceilings were supported by huge stone arches and decorated like that of a medieval cathedral, with large sculptures on either end. It was slightly reminiscent of the colosseum on the inside (even though I’ve never seen it). Oh yeah, horses train and perform there on a regular basis. We were only there for a training session, but the riders had the horses doing several drills and exercises in quite elegant fashion set to Classical Viennese Music. If Austrian women are anywhere near as obedient as the animals, I may have a change in location very soon. We found seats on the upper level and watched for a bit longer before leaving.



We waited in a nearby cafe on the grounds of the Hofburg for Shane, who was coming from a seminar that ended up being cancelled. Can’t a guy learn some stuff? We had really expensive coffee and headed over to the Kaiser-apartments located just across the courtyard from the school. Our ticket included audio tours of the Royal Silver Collection and the Sisi Museum (Empress Elizabeth), parts of which we intended to skip. The tours were structured in a way that you were forced to walk through all of them, so Silver and Sisi it was. Much along the lines of the Treasury we toured yesterday, we again saw that the Habsburgs and other ruling families of the Austria-Hungary empire had no qualms with proving their superiority through whatever means necessary. It was more than just silver; gold, precious stones and work from the hands of the best artists in the area adorned the most magnificent collection of dinnerware I’ve ever seen. It might be the most impressive viewable display in the world. Entire sets of ware created for individuals or families, designed to reflect their story and their current level of status. Some empresses had an entire set simply for traveling. Everything was either or out bronze silver, or gold. None of this glass or metal crap. A different plate for each part of a course. A different glass for each beverage. These are the apparent luxuries available when pillaging, plundering and ruling over most of Europe for 500 or so years. Must keep this in mind. One humorous display involved a ceremony which the people of Vienna performed to remind themselves of humility. It involved washing the feet of 10 paupers, but of course had its own set of highly stylized basins & other ware and was basically a huge celebration. Nice try Vienna. You couldn’t be humble if you tried. And that’s why I love you.



The Sisi museum was actually kind of interesting. Sisi (Empress Elizabeth) was a normal girl who just happened to get involved with the heir to the Austrian Empire, Franz Joseph. We followed her life from just before their involvement to her death. In between, we were shown how conflicted she was about entering in to the public limelight, her obsession with her looks and weight and her general state of constant depression. She and FJ became estranged as she would essentially leave the palace to go on road trips with her homies all the time. She took a lot of shit for this form the public, but FJ was such a good man that he claimed it only made him love her more. She grew to become known internationally, which many claim only contributed to her emotional struggles. She was murdered by an anarchist who stabbed her in the chest with basically ended up being a prison shank. Hardly the way a empress should be killed. Show some class, anarchists.



We finally got to the Kaiser-apartments, where we saw the living quarters of Sisi and Franz Joseph. Scott may have mentioned earlier that we saw their living quarters yesterday. Let’s not get confused here between the summer residence (Schonbrunn, yesterday) and the winter residence (Hofburg, today). The apartments here were much like the ones seen at Schonbrunn. We saw further evidence of Sisi’s eclectic and conflicted personality by the way in which her rooms were decorated. For someone who avoided the pressures of being one of the most powerful and important women in the world, she sure knew how to utilize the perks. In contrast to the plain and simple decor of the hard working FJ, Sisi’s rooms were decorated in the most luxurious examples of Rococo style that I saw anywhere in Vienna. Hard carved wooden moldings painted with bright gold adorned the walls and ceilings. Also present were paintings of her family and children by the most well known artists of her time.

Unfortunately, the tour didn’t include the Great Halls where grand feasts were held for some of Vienna’s most esteemed royalty. I want my money back.



We were all super hungry, so we went to had pizza and beer a ways down the street. After recharging, we walked around the state/govt buildings (Prathaus, City Hall, etc...) No shortage of magnificence in the construction of these buildings either. I believe these buildings are currently being used for modern Viennese government. It must be soul crushing for city and state workers in the US to come to places like Vienna and see that state employees literally work castles adorned with sculptures from antiquity.



We had a little time before dinner, so we made our way over to the museum area. We decided on the MoMuk (modern art). Probably the most impressive exhibit was the Photorealists, a modernist movement based on photographs. I walked around the half of the first exhibit admiring photographs, until I realized that they weren’t actually photographs. Even after reading the blurb about the movement and the artists, there were a couple pieces where I argued with myself over the whether or not it was a painting. At some point, the Photorealists and Warhols turned in to some pretty inventive “pieces” about porn and sexuality. Museum time started to end for us when the blood became a main fixture in the exhibit. Shit got out of control when we hit the piece with the replica of human bodies tied down with rope and and plastic wrap onto a bed. We left immediately after, mostly because the museum was closing, but I’m pretty sure we would’ve left anyways.



We got back to the house and needed more food ASAP. We left around 9 and couldn’t find anything open. Berlin is nice because a lot of restaurants and bars are open late. Vienna should take notes. We ended up eating at the same place we ate the first night, but it was a bit more crowded this time. We all tried something different; Scott got boiled beef with applesauce/horseradish sauce (yes, you read that right), while I tried the Wienerschnitzel (veal scallope schnitzel). Mine pretty good, I don’t think Scott was as happy with his. But it’s all part of the experience. Morgan and Shane both had egg battered Schnitzel. We headed home after a bit and setup camp. Shane, Scott and I watched the second half of Home Alone. Went to bed exhausted.