Das Sissi Kammer

So here I am in Vienna, assigned rather to my surprise to a hotel so totally Viennese that it doesn't quite seem serious.

I would almost not be surprised to learn that I was the subject of some kind of practical joke, although it's a reputable enough establishment, with a long list of TripAdvisor testimonials (mostly positive, but not a few with the same slightly belwildered air I have - I mean, those curtains!).  The usual bland business hotel was, it turns out, all booked, so my colleagues on this side of the water went ahead and put me up in what looks more or less like what I imagine a lady-in-waiting at the Hofburg might have lived in (the specific impression that's sticking with me is dear Miss Martita Hunt as the put-upon Baroness in Anastasia, actually).

I'm off to an impromptu dinner party this evening, as my Sandlands pal The Librarian happens to be in town and knows amusing people, and then tomorrow I will do what little needs to be done for the rest of the week and then head out to see a little of the city.  There's a Fabergé exhibition that looks pretty must-see (including four Imperial eggs on loan from Moscow), and I think perhaps I'll try and find some music.  Not neglecting, of course, one's Aperol ration...