I was determined to get another Guesswien jacket on this trip to Austria.  I bought a blue one in Madrid's El Corte Inglés while I was a student there over twenty years ago. However, since losing weight last 2005, I could no longer wear it.  Marc was able to find one store that specifically sold Guesswein jackets right in the Stephenplatz area much to my delight.

The mall looked small on the outside but it had several floors with many stores and boutiques.

The Guesswein Boutique was located inside this mall.

This was the store I had been yearning to visit since I bought my Guesswein fall/winter jacket ages ago in Spain.  I don't know now, but back in the day when I lived and studied in Spain, wintercoats and jackets from this Austrian designer and manufacturer were sold and worn by hundreds of Spanish men and women.

The store's sales associate was a very kind young lady who looked for the right size for my stature.  Unfortunately, everything in the men's section was too big while the ones from the children's were too small.  She recommended we went to Loden Plankl right across from the Hofburg Palace.  She was quite surprised we had no clue what she was talking about.  "Haven't you done any sightseeing yet?," she asked.  It turns out the palace she was talking about happened to be one of the major attractions in Vienna if not the most important.  Reading the Frommer's book that night made us realize that the Hofburg was indeed the place where we needed to begin our sightseeing from on our very first full day in Vienna.

Along the way, we did see Loden Plankl and tried out some Austrian jackets.  The men's jackets just like in Guesswein were big if not bigger.  Luckily, some of the young men's ones did fit me perfectly on the shoulders although they struck me as a little short in length.  Anyway, I ended up buying one only to find out that it matched my Japanese made slacks perfectly.  Up to this day, I am kicking myself for not buying more given the jacket's reasonable price.

Back to sightseeing, Marc and I went inside the Hofburg Palace and bought the ticket that allowed admission to three attractions.  The Holfburg Palace and Museum, the Schonbrunn Palace, and the Furniture Museum.

One thing I will remember about Vienna is the abundance of men and women all over the city selling tickets to concerts and other cultural activities.  Some dressed in period costumes while others dressed in tuxes like the men on the right of this palace entrance.

There were several rooms for people to visit inside the Hofburg.  However, It was only the room where the china were kept could be photographed.  It was the very first room we all got to see and it was rather big. It was very opulent given all the china used for different occasions and festivities.  Here were the images we saw.

Besides the china displayed in the room, there was also some information about the Foot Washing Ceremony conducted by the emperor during Holy Week.  It was mentioned that a select group of poor men and women were invited for the ritual, then to dinner, and lastly given a small sized bag or purse full of silver coins.

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