Two days in Vienna...not enough part 2

  As previously mentioned, we didn't have tons of time in Vienna so we had to pick and choose.  The Imperial Treasury, one of Beethoven's 39 (literally) apartments and the apple strudel demonstration were just right for our group.  

  From history class you hear of the riches of aristocracy often tied to the Holy Roman Empire.  Well After visiting the Schatzkammer, German for the Imperial Treasury, my appreciation for things my history teachers probably said (but I wasn't listening) has grown immensely.  This place had some pretty amazing jewels (pun intended).  The photos will walk you through a few highlights...I must admit that I'm relatively skeptical of some of European museums, churches, historical sites, etc due to claims of authenticity when what you see looks quite the contrary.  For example, this museum has a tooth that supposedly belonged to John the Baptist (the picture didn't come out well).  In the same display, it has a beautifully ornate small box in which lies a piece of wood reportedly from the manger in which Jesus Christ was born.  Really??  I have a hard time believing these two articles are authentic.  However, the pictures below try to capture some truly unique treasures.        

This gold "Potence (chain of arms) of the herald of the order of the golden fleece" dates to 1517 was worn by knights.  I bet it weighs 10 pounds. The Order of the Golden Fleece was one of the most prestigious orders in the Middle Ages and still exists today, alongside the Order of the Garter. The current head of the Order is Karl Habsburg-Lothringen. It was founded by Duke Philip the Good and Princess Isabella of Portugal in 1430. The Legend of the Golden Fleece goes back to antiquity, a well-known Greek myth, according to which Jason and the Argonauts stole the Golden Fleece from Colchis.  How's that for crazy.

No kidding...this is an 8-foot-tall narwhal tusk that was thought to belong to a unicorn.  It was valued more than gold because many believed it had healing powers!

The "Sabre of Charlemagne," from Eastern Europe dates from 900-950.  It was made of steel copper. The hilt has wood, fish skin, gold, silver and precious stones.    

Burgundian Court goblet, 1453/67, is made of rock crystal, gold, enamel, pearls, diamonds and rubies...I told the Journalist this almost 2 foot tall goblet is not in our budget!

This 1571 Spanish gold ewer and basin were used for imperial baptisms...wow!

Super fancy silver tray used during foot washing ceremonies or so Google translate tells me dating from 1670-1675. 

Stephan Bocskay's "Turkish" crown,1605, of gold, precious stones, pearls and silk weighs a little over 4 pounds.  This was a gift from the Ottoman empire to Bocskay, prince of Transylvania, who helped expel an enemy to the empire from Transylvania.       

You can't visit Vienna without being approached by a dude in tights, a curly white-haired whig and a dress coat all in Classical musican fashion asking if you want to go to a concert.  Supposedly, these dudes are not really offering you a hook up to a concert, but they will happily take money from unsuspecting, unaware tourists.  We opted for an authentic Beethoven apartment.  It was a nice walk that led us past a few cool churches and an amazing city hall where we later had an Austrian lunch.  I've seen a lot of drawings of Beethoven.  Comparing the images I've seen with his death mask created a new more flat-faced Beethoven.  What do you think?

Beethoven's death mask...his face is much wider than I thought it was.  There is some disagreement as to how exactly he died...isn't that always the case?

For me, this sculpture matches with the above death mask.  The death mask from the wiki link above leaves me with questions.

Pianogurl in Beethoven's Wohnung Heiligenstadt apartment in Vienna

Pausing for lunch, we enjoyed some local Austrian cuisine.

One of the other highly recommended things we visited was the famed apple strudel demonstration at Schonbrunn (see our first Vienna post for more on this amazing complex).  I like apple strudel and had no clue it had Austrian origins.  The show was about 45 minutes or so.  The gal gave the presentation in English and German as we sat around small round tables eating our strudel.  Her showmanship was great, her wit delightful and her talent for ensuring the strudel dough was impeccable was awesome.  To boot, you get the recipe, she tells you how to make it while showing you at the same time. Throwing the dough to increase its size is just one part of the show...perhaps part of the coolest for me.  The kids really enjoyed her show and were very impressed with her baking talents.  For us, this was a delightful, fascinating break from the heat that we'd recommend to anyone going to Vienna.  

It's pizza crust, it's pie crust ...no it's Apple Strudel dough.

Here we find the "guts" of Austria's famous Apple strudel at Schonbrunn's strudelshow. 

Later in the day as we walked through the market, we found this interesting poster plastered on the wall.  For me, the contrast between Strudelshow and fish model is a bit jarring! You can still throw a fish in the air!

What the heck?