The Sisi museum

Empress Elizabeth or Sisi was the wife of Emperor Franz Josef. The story is they never spent much time here together or apart. They spent more time elsewhere and apart. Sisi traveled a lot and preferred Budapest in Hungary which the Hapsburg Empire ruled over. She is much loved in Hungary and there is this huge statue of her in Budapest. She was later murdered, a tragic and unhappy life not unlike that of Princess Diana.

While the Hofburg palace is immense, only some parts of it are worth the time to visit unless one has all the time in the world. Sisi, it seemed never ate with the family, preferring to stay in her room, probably starving to maintain her 22 inch waistline. It is such an irony especially when you see the sumptuous dinning utensils and kitchenware. One imagines huge and scrumptuous meals and dinner parties. "In spite of severe dieting and fanatic exercise, age took its toll. After turning 30, she allowed no more portraits to be painted and was generally seen in public with a delicate fan covering her face (and bad teeth)." (Rick Steves' guide to Eastern Europe.)
This is an incredible display of kitchenware. It reminds me of Martha Stewart's private collection, a career of almost 40 years, all the stuff she ever owned and used in her books, magazines and TV shows are in a warehouse in Manhatten and they are all catalogued. I look at my own miss matched stuff and I think to myself, 'I'm happy.'