Editing Empress Elisabeth of Austria (section)

===Travels===

[[File:Sissi's desk in Achilleion.jpg|thumb|Elisabeth's desk at the [[Achilleion (Corfu)|Achilleion]] in Corfu]]

On her imperial steamer, ''Miramar'', Empress Elisabeth travelled through the [[Mediterranean]]. Her favourite places were [[Cape Martin]] on the [[French Riviera]], and also [[Sanremo]] on the [[Italian Riviera|Ligurian Riviera]], where tourism had started only in the second half of the nineteenth century;{{citation needed||date=September 2022|reason=Genoa and its Riviera already appeared in "The Voyage of Italy" by Richard Lassels (1670)}} [[Lake Geneva]] in [[Switzerland]]; [[Bad Ischl]] in [[Upper Austria]], where the imperial couple would spend the summer; and [[Corfu]].<ref>Haderer, Stefan, ''Where an Empress used to lodge: Imperial residences of Empress Elisabeth of Austria'', Rosvall Royal Books, 2009, pp. 44–45</ref> The Empress also visited countries not usually visited by European royals at the time: [[Morocco]], [[Algeria]], [[Malta]], [[Turkey]], and [[Egypt]]. About her travels, she commented: "If I arrived at a place and knew that I could never leave it again, the whole stay would become hell despite being paradise".

After her son's death, she commissioned a palace on the Island of Corfu which she named "[[Achilleion (Corfu)|Achilleion]]" after [[Homer]]'s hero [[Achilles]] in the ''[[Iliad]]''. Emperor Franz Joseph was hoping that his wife would finally settle down at the Achilleion, but she soon lost interest in the fairytale property. The building was purchased by [[German Emperor]] [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Wilhelm II]] after her death.<ref name="Bowers Bahney 2015" /> It was later acquired by the nation of [[Greece]] (now the [[Greek National Tourism Organization]]) and converted to a museum.<ref>{{cite web |title=Welcome to Achilleion Palace |url=http://www.achillion-corfu.gr/default_en.html |website=achillion-corfu.gr |publisher=Hellenic Tourism Properties S.A |access-date=23 December 2018 |archive-date=2 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402095310/http://www.achillion-corfu.gr/default_en.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Newspapers published articles on her passion for [[equestrianism|riding sports]], diet and exercise regimens, and fashion sense. She often shopped at the Budapest fashion house, ''Antal Alter'' (now [[Alter és Kiss]]), which had become very popular with the fashion-crazed crowd. Newspapers also reported on a series of reputed lovers.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} Although there is no verifiable evidence of her having an affair, one of her alleged lovers was [[George "Bay" Middleton]], a dashing [[Anglo]]-[[Scottish people|Scot]]. He had been named as the probable lover of Lady Henrietta Blanche Hozier and father of [[Clementine Churchill|Clementine Ogilvy Hozier]] (the wife of [[Winston Churchill]]). Elisabeth encouraged her husband [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph]]'s close relationship with actress [[Katharina Schratt]]<ref name="Bowers Bahney 2015" /> to assuage his loneliness during her long absences.

On her journeys, Elisabeth sought to avoid all public attention and crowds of people. She was mostly travelling incognito, using pseudonyms like "Countess of [[Hohenems|Hohenembs]]". She also refused to meet European monarchs when she did not feel like it. On her high-speed walking tours, which lasted several hours, she was mostly accompanied by her Greek language tutors or her ladies-in-waiting. Countess [[Irma Sztáray]], her last lady-in-waiting, describes the reclusive and highly sensitive Empress as a natural, liberal and modest character, as a good listener and keen observer with great intellect.<ref>Haderer, Stefan, "Empress Elisabeth's Final Odyssey", ''European Royal History Journal'', Issue 64, Vol. 11.4, Aug 2008</ref>

While in Greece during her travels at the age of 51 (1888), Elisabeth got a tattoo of an anchor on her shoulder to reflect her love of the sea.<ref>{{cite web |title=Austria's free-spirited Empress Sisi and her life |url=https://www.austria.info/en/culture/sisi-empress-of-austria |website=www.austria.info |access-date=2 April 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

Almost all of the 10 companions who traveled with Elisabeth during her various journeys were in their mid-twenties and of Greek origin. The most famous one was Constantin Christomanos, a future playwright and theater director, whose memoirs of Elisabeth were banned by the Viennese court. The others were the lawyer Nikos Thermoyanis, Roussos Roussopoulos, who thanks to Elisabeth became an honorary consul in Budapest, Constantin Manos, who became a resistance fighter against the Turks in Crete, and [[Marinos Marinaky]], a future sportsman and co-founder of the famous Greek football club [[Panathinaikos F.C.|Panathinaikos]]. The last tutor who accompanied the Empress was the English-Greek Frederic Barker. He also served as a middleman for negotiations to sell the [[Achilleion (Corfu)|Achilleion]]. After Elisabeth's death, Barker continued to stay in touch with the imperial family and became a [[Freemasonry|freemason]]. On her voyages, Empress Elisabeth was also attended by a Swedish therapist, Arvid Ludvig Kellgren, to whom she even wrote romantic poetry.<ref>Haderer, Stefan, ''Im Schatten Homers'', NeoPubli Vienna, 2021</ref>