There were two princesses, one called Elisabeth and the other Margaret. This is a case of royal parallelism, I’m not talking about the UK longest reigning monarch and her sister.
In this story Margaret is the older sister, yet Elizabeth still becomes Queen – how? Margaret is to be the arranged bride of Franz Joseph I, and she is presented to court along with her younger sister as chaperone. It’s a storyline right out of Bridgerton book 2, is it not? Instead, Franz Joseph (Franzi) falls in love with the chaperone, not his intended, and marries her aged 16.
Franzi’s mummy is definitely not amused, and makes the royal couple’s life very difficult. Consequently they spend quite a lot of time in the countryside, not in Austria, but in their Budapest country home, which is given them as a wedding present by the government of Hungary.
It is at the Royal Palace of Gödöllõ we spend this morning. Although Elisabeth (Sisi) delivered four children to Franzi, the mother-in-law from hell keeps them and makes Sisi’s existence increasingly difficult and she takes to heroin to make life a little more bearable. This does not improve when their only boy Rudolf kills himself in a suicide pack with the woman he is forbidden to marry. Sisi spends from June to December here every year.
Her rooms are quite beautiful, and reflect her love of the colour lilac, whilst the more formal rooms are traditional. The estate grows as more and more staff are needed, it becomes the largest palace in Hungary, bigger even that the one overlooking the Danube in Buda, soon to become Budapest.
There is a theatre, extensive gardens, stables and many opulent rooms, we are able to see quite a few, plus a quick visit below stairs. We also sample the cake which Sisi allegedly enjoyed most, a multi-layered chocolate cake which is excellent.
Sadly, Sisi was murdered in Switzerland aged sixty, although she was still the longest reinging Austrian Empress. During her time here there is more than a suggestion that her fourch child was in fact from Andrassay, he of the avenue where the Opera House is, the first prime minister of Hungary.
After WWII the palace fell into disrepair and became an old people’s home under communism. Today it is well on the way to being restored, and an hotel will eventually take up one of the wings which is still derelict.
On our return we pass Hero’s Square which we don’t have time for this trip. We skip lunch after the huge cake, pop back for a quick tech support job, and then head off upriver past parliament and take the Margaret Bridge to Margaret Island – so now you know why these are so named? Well no, that’s just fanciful, infact this Margaret is Saint Margaret from C13!
The island is a good mile long, and is a park with many attractions including fountains, formal gardens and a thermal spring. On that note, there is a good reason Budapest has many thermal baths, here the earth’s core is as thin as it ever gets, so allowing many opportunities for these springs and baths.
We walk back on the Buda side and cross over the Chain Bridge to rejoin Viking Kadlin in time to get some Spanish done, and start prepping photos and writing.
After an excellent dinner of smoked trout on beetroot, apple and horseradish, we have staeak and chips, then Hungarian trifle.
We head upstairs to watch Budapest at night, from the lights on Castle Hill, all the way to Parliament, chatting to fellow customers. As we say goodbye to this wonderful city, the Pálinka, – traditional plum schnapps – is uncorked!!
