Vienna, 2 of 6

We did not want to get up today. When we finally did, it was close to 11 and we headed into the city to find the National Treasury. The metro stop we got off at was pretty close but we went in the wrong direction at first and had to turn around. Then we found the palace complex and walked around it for a while. We came around the side to a Butterfly House and around the next corner was the National Library. The building was immense. When we found the Treasury, we realized that it was closed for cleaning so we decided to go see the Imperial Apartments instead. The first part was the Silver Kalbmen which was all of the dinner plates and services they used on a daily basis to eat from. They were huge, and very expensive looking. Rooms and rooms of plates they used for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and different sets for state meals. A lot of the plates were made out of silver - apparently they didn't start using porcelain until they had to melt all the silver down to finance the fight in the Napoleonic Wars. There was even some plates from Marie Antoinette's house.
The second half of the Apartments were Franz Joseph and his wife Elizabeth's apartments. Franz Joseph and Elizabeth led pretty tragic lives. They were married in 1854, and Elizabeth never really fit into life at the court. They had four children, the first of which, Sophie, died as an infant. Then, their third child and only son Rudolph created a scandal involving a mistress and a suicide pact, the end result of which both he and his mistress ended up dead. After Rudolph's death the heir was Archduke Franz Ferdinand and he was assassinated (started WW1). Elizabeth herself was stabbed to death by an anarchist. Franz Joseph and Elizabeth's fourth child, Valerie officially recognized the end of the Habsburg monarchy and renounced all rights toward it after the end of WW1. The renunciation allowed her to keep her home and possessions. Their second daughter, Gisela, had married into the Bavarian kingdom and so did not have to renounce anything.
The Apartments themselves were beautiful. The drapery and all the walls and carpets were deep shades of red. The salons and little meeting rooms were adorable and you could just imagine them sitting there. Elizabeth had a very strict workout routine and also was one of the first people to have a bathroom inside.
After the Apartments, we wandered outside smack into a political rally about genetically altered food. There were lots of balloons and everyone seemed pretty genial and excited to be there. A large crowd. We took the metro to a large outdoor market to look around and find some food. It was a bit of a struggle because Rima doesn't eat pork and Laura-Nelle doesn't eat seafood, so it's hard in a country whose national food is weinerschnitzel. We found a Mediterranean place which was a little sketchy but ok and it was decent food. After we walked through the market which was also a large flea market, L-N and R went back to the hostel because they weren't feeling well.
Terry and I kept going. We went back through the market and up the street some. We walked past the Vienna Opera house and I picked up some postcards. We watched a man on the street do a spray paint painting that was really cool. On the way to the hostel, the Billa was closed. We went downstairs and had snacks and drinks instead. L-N, Terry, and I watched some of "Deutschland Star" which is American Idol in German. It was hilarious to watch and most of the performers sang in English.