Carol is a huge Billy Joel fan. She has to be, she grew up in Queens and moved to Long Island during her youth. I'm fine with Billy (not sure how he feels about me), but, let's face it: since we are in Vienna, I had to use that song title. Out of all of his songs, it's definitely one of them.
The neighborhood we stayed in was very residential (apartments), but not many restaurants right nearby. I found, aptly, the Budapest Cafe only about 400 meters away, and it was open. It is a cool place, and the food was good. We each ordered the Donau (which is German for "Danube"), and the eggs came cooked onto the thin ham. We'd never seen it prepared that way, but it worked well. The bread was, not surprisingly for Europe, really good. We need someone to do an investigation as to why basic European bread is tastier than American bread in general.
After breakfast, we tromped the 2.4 kilometers to the Hofburg Palace. Given how crowded things were in Budapest (on a weekend!), we didn't want to wait in a long line. Except I bought tickets for the Treasury, not the Imperial rooms. The Treasury was fine (and, of course, there was no line). After that, we stopped for a snack at the palace cafe. It was pretty fancy and mighty tasty.
Then we went off to the Imperial rooms as well. There was essentially no line, so we zipped along. We blew through the silver portion of the tour, because. . .well, we didn't care. The Sisi museum was interesting -- we had done it back in 2011, but it wasn't long and was worth doing again. Murdered in 1898, the Empress Elisabeth was the Princess Diana of her time -- beautiful, a little overwhelmed by it all, and eventually died a tragic death. Elisabeth was older, and a little nuts, but there are parallels.
The Imperial rooms are the best part of Hofburg Palace. Huge and ornate, they help explain why monarchies were replaced. Spending money on these huge palaces that should have gone to help feed their subjects is the ultimate in really bad leadership. However, these palaces are fascinating to look at.
I can not help but admire the craftsmanship that went into the design of each room and each piece of furniture. No matter what, THAT is art, and I am glad it still survives.
Part of Hofburg Palace.
The famed Swiss Gate.
Very cool clock.
Close-up of the Swiss Gate.
I'm pretty sure this was the model
for George III's robes in Hamilton.
Royal crib. Imagine being six
months old and waking up to having
this carved eagle staring at you.
No wonder so many royals
had mental health issues!
The tongue makes a statement. Not
sure what exactly the statement is.
Someone was having a bad day.
Inspired by this, we're adding one
of these to our stairs at back home.
I'd still bet on the lion.
His agony symbolizes fans of the Houston Astros
as they watch their team blow a two run lead
late in Game 7 and have the World Series
slip from their grasp.
This is the way to decorate above an arch.
No angel of mercy, this.
Outside the Palace
If there is a tower or steeple with
a clock on it, odds are good that
a picture will show up on this blog.
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