There was a storm last night in Vienna :( it carried on into Monday morning so we spend a couple of extra hours in bed... Was quite nice to have a lie in!
Once the rain died down a bit we decided to go to the hofburg palace which housed the hasberg empire. As we first entered the palace we walked through a display of the royal silver collection. There was different types of silver and gold crockery, linen for tables and centre pieces for dinners and occasions. Most of the crockery was owned by empress Elizabeth as she designed new crockery for different occasions and she would also take a travelling set with her as she liked to travel a lot.
When we went for lunch at the cafe we discovered that hafiza's purse had been stolen so we had to contact her bank and cancel cards etc. Stressful time!
We carried on the tour around the hofburg palace and went into the Kaiserappartments which was where Franz Joseph I and Empress Elizabeth both resided. The rooms depicted much of their characters with a study room for Franz Joseph where he used to do his work and a gymnastics/drawing room for empress Elizabeth where she used to exercise or write poetry. The rooms were decorated beautifully with silk, paintings of family members on the walls and extravagant chandeliers.
Leading on from the Kaiserappartments was the sisi museum. Sisi was the nickname for the empress Elizabeth given by Franz Joseph I. She was an interesting character. Married to Franz Joseph I at just 15 she felt that she had lost out on her childhood and didn't like the way of her life. She felt very trapped and secluded from real life. Empress Elizabeth would write poetry to describe her feelings and she often liked to travel to escape from the pressure of royalty. She was sadly murdered by an Italian assassin. The museum kept snippets of her poetry and her clothing from her coronation and wedding. Their dresses had tiny waists and huge poofy skirts as traditional royal dress would.
Once we finished at the hofburg palace we went to the shops and walked along and just mooched around watching small groups of bands playing on the street. Had dinner at an Austrian restaurant and headed back to the hostel.