Thursday, October 11, 2012
Vienna Day 3
We got an earlier start today at 10:00 and took the subway back to Karlsplatz for our departure point. We had in mind to visit Imperial Hofburg Palace and the "Sisi" Museum today since they are all tied together. The palace was built by the Hapsburg dynasty starting in the 13th century, the Hofburg forms a magnificent ensemble of architecture and museums set around historic squares. Picturesque parkland flanks it on both sides. Home to the Hapsburgs for about 6 centuries, this jigsaw puzzle of colossal buildings was designed to impress monarchs who visited Austria's most famous family and to wow the masses. It's easy to feel stunned by it all, walking around the palaces it feels like a city within a city. Monumental buildings symbolize the culture and heritage of the Hapsburg, who deemed no rulers should use rooms of his or her predecessor-so that each one reworked the lavish interiors. The complex spans several centuries of architecture, the oldest sections date from the 13th century, the newest from the end of the nineteenth.
We started our tour in the treasury viewing old crowns, clothing, ceremonial swords, wardrobes and clothing of worn at coronations. It's amazing that everything has been preserved for so long a period of time and many pieces on display almost look new. We walked through room after room of these pieces and you could almost feel the history of each piece. The embroidery on all the clothing was impressive and some of the mantels worn by the kings were really magnificient. After we finished in the treasury we went on to the "Sisi" museum.
Elisabeth of Austria (24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898) was the wife of Franz Joseph I, and therefore both Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. She also held the titles of Queen of Bohemia and Croatia, among others. From an early age, she was called Sisi by family and friends.
Although Elisabeth had a limited (but significant) influence on Austro-Hungarian politics she became an historical icon. The Empress is now thought to have been a non-conformist who abhorred conventional court protocol, as well as a free spirit, who valued an individual sense of freedom above anything else. Following the suicide of her son Rudolf, she withdrew from public life. She was murdered by an anarchist in Geneva, Switzerland in 1898. Elizabeth is the longest serving consort of Austria.
Most amazing was the silver and gold collections of serving dishes and porcelain. We went through many rooms of silver and goldware before we even got to the dishes which were so numerous it was mind boggling. I took as many pictures as I could but it doesn't even come close to what we saw. We could easily go back and spend a whole day in this one museum.
I finally found out how to take pictures in a dark area so we went back to St. Stpehens to take more ppictures, then went to dinner a Figlmullers, a restaurant famous for it's snitzel. We were luck to get in because it was so packed with people but I must say I didn't think the meal was so great.
Mamy wcze艣niejszy pocz膮tek dzi艣 o 10:00 i zabra艂 z powrotem do metra Karlsplatz naszego punktu wyj艣cia. Mieli艣my na my艣li, aby odwiedzi膰 Cesarski Pa艂ac Hofburg i "Sisi" muzeum dzisiaj poniewa偶 wszystkie one s膮 ze sob膮 powi膮zane. Pa艂ac zosta艂 zbudowany przez dynasti臋 Habsburg贸w pocz膮wszy od 13 wieku, Hofburg tworzy wspania艂y zesp贸艂 architektury i muzea po艂o偶one wok贸艂 historycznych plac贸w. Malowniczy park boki to po obu stronach. Domu do Habsburg贸w przez oko艂o 6 wiek贸w, to puzzle z kolosalnych budynkach zaprojektowano zaimponowa膰 monarch贸w, kt贸rzy odwiedzili w Austrii najs艂ynniejszy rodzin臋 i wow mas. 艁atwo jest poczu膰 si臋 oszo艂omiony tym wszystkim, chodzenie wok贸艂 pa艂ac贸w czuje si臋 jak miasto w mie艣cie. Monumentalne budynki symbolizuj膮 kultur臋 i dziedzictwo Habsburg贸w, kt贸rzy nie zak艂adany w艂adc贸w powinien u偶ywa膰 pokoje o jego lub jej poprzednik, tak, 偶e ka偶dy z nich przerobi艂 bogate wn臋trza. Kompleks obejmuje kilka wiek贸w architektury, najstarsze cz臋艣ci z 13 wieku, najnowsze z ko艅ca XIX wieku.
Zacz臋li艣my nasz膮 wycieczk臋 w skarbcu ogl膮dania starych koron, odzie偶, ceremonialne miecze, szafy i odzie偶y noszone w koronacji. To niesamowite, 偶e wszystko zosta艂o zachowane przez tak d艂ugi okres czasu i wiele sztuk wystawianych prawie wygl膮daj膮 jak nowe. Szli艣my przez pok贸j po pokoju, z tych kawa艂k贸w i mo偶na poczu膰 histori臋 ka偶dego kawa艂ka. Haft na ca艂ej odzie偶y by艂 imponuj膮cy, a niekt贸re z nad kominkiem, noszone przez kr贸l贸w by艂y naprawd臋 magnificient. Po zako艅czeniu w skarbcu pojechali艣my do "Sisi" muzeum.
Elisabeth Austrii (24 grudnia 1837 - 10 wrze艣nia 1898), 偶ona Franciszka J贸zefa I, a wi臋c zar贸wno cesarzowa Austrii i kr贸lowa W臋gier. Ona r贸wnie偶 posiada艂a tytu艂y kr贸lowej Czech i Chorwacji, mi臋dzy innymi. Od najm艂odszych lat, by艂a zwana Sisi przez rodzin臋 i przyjaci贸艂.
Cho膰 Elisabeth mia艂 ograniczony (ale istotna) wp艂yw na polityk臋 Austro-W臋gier sta艂a historyczna ikona. Cesarzowa jest obecnie uwa偶ana by艂a nonkonformista, kt贸ry obrzydzi艂 konwencjonalnego protoko艂u s膮dowego, jak i wolny duch, kt贸ry ceniony indywidualne poczucie wolno艣ci ponad wszystko inne. Po samob贸jstwie jej syna Rudolfa, wycofa艂a si臋 z 偶ycia publicznego. Zosta艂a zamordowana przez anarchist臋 w Genewie w Szwajcarii w 1898 roku. Elizabeth jest najd艂u偶szym ma艂偶onk膮 porcja Austrii.
Najbardziej niesamowite by艂o srebrne i z艂ote kolekcje serwuj膮ca dania i porcelany. Przeszli艣my przez wielu pokoi srebra i goldware przed nawet dostali艣my do potraw, kt贸re by艂y tak liczne, 偶e to polnych. Wzi膮艂em tyle zdj臋膰, ile tylko mog艂em, ale to nawet nie zbli偶y艂 si臋 do tego, co widzieli艣my. Mogli艣my 艂atwo wr贸ci膰 i sp臋dzi膰 ca艂y dzie艅 w tym jednym muzeum.
I w ko艅cu okaza艂o si臋, jak robi膰 zdj臋cia w ciemnym otoczeniu, wi臋c poszli艣my z powrotem do St Stpehens zrobi膰 wi臋cej ppictures, nast臋pnie udali艣my si臋 do obiadu Figlmullers, restauracja znana jest snitzel. Mieli艣my szcz臋艣cie, aby dosta膰 si臋, poniewa偶 by艂o tak pe艂ne ludzi, ale musz臋 powiedzie膰, 偶e nie s膮dz臋, 偶e posi艂ek by艂 tak wspania艂y.



