On Saturday, Sidney and I were picked up by our friend Reinfried (a friend of my aunt and uncle whom they met when they were recently in Vienna) and his wife, and our first stop was Cafe Sperl for a Franziskaner, espresso with whipped cream. Then we all went to the Naschmarkt, a large permanent open air food bazaar and flea market that extends forever.
It can be likened to Seattle's Pike's Place, or even a larger version of the town farmer's markets in Davis, except with an attached flea market. We spent two hours walking around, visiting the different stalls. Apparently the flea market is run mostly by the gypsies selling stolen goods, so we spent a little less time there and a little more time with the food. The food stalls were everywhere - spices, tea, breads, desserts, fish, meats, vegetables - the whole place smelled exotic and delicious! We walked past a small hungarian booth where the men were handing out
samples of some sort of bread. Luckily, we stopped to sample, because it was the most amazing European version of a churro and pretzel mixed into one cinnamon sugar swirl. The actual name is 'kurtos kalacs' where round hollow rolls are caramelized with sugar in a standing roaster and then rolled in different sugars of cinnamons when still hot. They really were the most delicious things. After our pit stop, Reinfried and his wife Andreas wanted to take us to a small pub-like place for the best goulash in the city. We entered the tavern and it was filled with both locals (lots of adorable older men) and smoke! I have never been around so much smoke, nor have I ever inhaled that amount before. However, the goulash and bread were so good, as was the bear, that the smoke was soon forgotten (rather, ignored). The lunch conversation was interesting as well - politics soon came up, and it was interesting to get yet another viewpoint on America and politics, this time from a true Austrian (versus an American canon in Austria). He was talking about how Austrians tend to distrust and hate the conservative Republicans and those leaning towards the right, and how they tend to favor the left and the Democrats in American politics. He also said that Austrians absolutely HATED President Bush and they tend to be pro-Palestine. It was interesting that these particular points came up (on his own prompting), illustrating that these are some of the foremost issues discussed in Austrian politics. It was also interested in seeing first hand how American media is used in other nations. Reinfried mentioned that the only political news ever heard or seen on TV in Austria is skewed to the left, and highly liberal, with heavy criticism of the right. As I said last time, this magnetism of the Austrians to sway more left than right might be related to their attempt at disconnecting themselves from religion (associated with the right; interesting enough, less than 1/3 of Austrian Catholics now attend church) and religion's role in their ravaged past and attempting to embrace a new culture (more tradition, less conservatism). Nonetheless, it was interesting to discover how Austrians perceive American politics and how much of our politics are filtered to them through the media and propaganda.Saturday afternoon, we spent our time at the Imperial Treasury, but only got through half before it closed, forcing us to come back for another two hours on Sunday.
Sunday morning Sidney and I decided to attend mass, the first mass service for both of us. We got up and made our way to Oberlaa Cafe, the best coffee and tortes in the city so far, and had the best melange. Then we attended the 11:00 latin mass at Peterskirche (part of the Opus Dei within the Catholic denomination) off of the Graben. Since it was all in German and German-accented Latin, neither of us were able to understand a word of the service, but it was a wonderful insight into how the Viennese, and the Catholic in general, participate in religion. In all, the music was absolutely beautiful, the hymns coming from the top organ level in the back of the church and resonating throughout the high cathedral.
After mass, we were starving so we walked to Cafe Central for lunch. (Can you see our trend of cafes and tortes here???) The guide book mentioned that the place served mainly to tourists, but it didn't seem overly run with tourists. Our lunch was amazing - tuscan bread with chopped
eggplant, mozzarella, tomatoes and olive tapenade. We also ordered Wiener Eiskaffee thinking we would get regular coffee in ice - not quite. We should have known since Europe doesn't generally have ice, but we were served tall glasses of Viennese coffee with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and topped with whipped cream - I have never enjoyed coffee so much!After lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the Imperial Treasury. The treasury is absolutely amazing - it is now housed in the Hofburg (palace of the Babenbergs originally) and consists of the prince's removable wealth or things that were able to be converted to money. We bought the long tour, thus it took us two full afternoons to make it through the exhibit. The relics were from a variety of time periods, collected by emperors over time to prove their legitimacy as absolute monarchs of the Holy Roman Empire.
There were many styles of design, showing both the range of time periods covered by the relics and an attempt to find a style which suited the monarchy aptly (a search for a suitable culture). Most of the relics, however, were either baroque or renaissance, and were either religious or secular (clothing). There were pieces of the original cross included in the crosses used by the emperors, the nail which pierced Jesus' right hand, parts of his loin cloth, his facial impression on a cloth, parts of his manger, the holy grail (the bowl which collected Jesus' blood) etc. The pieces of Christ's life were verified by the popes in those days, but it is hard to separate legend from fact when determining the veracity of such objects. There were also extensive relics of the Order of the Golden Fleece, established in 1430 by Philip III to celebrate his vast empire, and later seen as a royal privilege reserved for knights and those bestowed with honor. We were also able to see the crown of the Holy Roman Empire and the other coronation relics and vestments used by past emperors. The religious artwork etched onto each piece and the symbolism in the craftsmanship and goldsmith work is stunning - it shows a direct connection between throne and altar, allowing each ruling emperor to justify and legitimize his own power and authority to rule. 
There truly was an excess of grandiose and pomp throughout the exhibit, from the embellished cross, swords, and crowns, to the multiple altar relics and copious numbers of vestments used for ceremonial processions and coronations. Every piece of clothing was embroidered with gold and velvet, in dark red and purple hues, and each piece worn by a knight was embroidered with the knight's coat of arms in three separate places. The various designs not only honored the knights that wore them, but they were visible representations of the knight's authority and rule. Each ceremonial robe had a cape to match and gloves and shoes and hats, placing the ruler or emperor high above the common citizen and closer to the glory of God. The religious symbolism stitched onto the robes and inlayed within the designs of crowns and swords further served to establish the emperor as an earthly manifestation of God's glory and power. Also, the transition from one generation and ruler to the next meant more relics and ceremonial robes and accessories were commissioned, expanding the image of the ruler's power, and increasing his own belief in ruling over his subjects. The sheer amount of gold and accumulated wealth helped in establishing the notion of ruling absolutely - the wealthier the monarch, the farther from the citizens he became, and the more his own agenda determined the welfare of the society. Thus, throughout the generations of hereditary rulers, absolutism became more firmly established in the minds of the Habsburg emperors. The baroque style, as well, contributed to this marriage between throne and altar and in the growth of absolutism, introducing more ornate decorations and robes and furthering the religious symbolism inlayed in the vestment's patterns and the crowns engravings. Thus, the pure ceremony of the coronations of emperors, kings, and the Holy Roman Emperor were of the highest importance, since these were the times when the ruler's power was most publicly seen by the citizens and other rulers. The ceremony and the treasury of the ruler was the foremost manifestation of his right to rule and his power to rule.
Sunday night was our night at the opera. We went to the last showing of Johann Strauss II's Die Fledermaus, an operetta (a comedy rather than an opera [tragedy]) about mistaken identity between a husband and wife. It was an interesting show with a typical Viennese interpretation of humor, but the lead singer was extremely talented. Afterwards some of us girls headed to a small restaurant for some much needed dinner - luckily there was one open late on a Sunday night. Since this is a Catholic country, everything is closed on Sundays except cafes in the morning.
Tomorrow is class again, and a short week before we head to the Alps!
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