Sunday, September 18, 2011
We saw her!
I have to separate this set of pictures from the rest and give them their own blog entry. There was perfect synergy between our spring movie choices (Cave of Forgotten Dreams) and summer travel (Vienna), as we saw the Venus von Willendorf in real life at the Natural History museum! It was super awesome--she lives in a small, darkened wooden house. Pictures are totally permitted, though it's hard to get good ones with no flash. It looks like a small, sturdy toy.
nary an e-note
I was apparently not as awesome at journaling as I thought, as I have nary an e-note on my last two weeks in Vienna (except a quick one about how we met Austrian teachers at a little soiree at the US embassy. We also got to hear a plug for the US foreign service, to which I say a big, “no, thank you.” It was weird because it seemed like a recruitment spiel, though to the wrong audience).
I do have lots of written notes on the magic flute and Kant (!). That man was a total ass when it came to issues of women, minorities and external beauty (the qualities essential to a woman are chastity and loyalty to a man; an “instinctual” man (ie not European) should not be expected to behave with honor; if you are pretty, then you must be morally good. Woman should attempt to be as pretty as possible in order to fulfill their moral potential.). But writing about Kant is best left to 19 year old college students! I do want to tell you a little bit about what I read whilst in deep study and contemplation: a book of letters that W.A. (Mozart) wrote to various family members and friends. He was such an irreverent cad with a ribald sense of humor! He loved poop jokes (truly my kindred spirit) and puns. He also ended most of his letters home with some mention of kissing the hand of someone 1,000 or 10,000 or one million times (a plug for the metric system?).
Some of my favorite Mozartisms:
On diarrhea (nickname for):
“Don Caccerelli”
On money matters (bad with):
“I would like to have all things that are good, genuine, and beautiful!—I wonder why it is that those who cannot afford it would like to spend all they have for this sort of thing and those who could afford it, don’t?”
On wishes for kissing:
“I am well. God be thanked and praised, and I kiss mamas hand and my sister’s face, nose, neck, and my wretched pen, and her rear end if it’s clean.”
A typical ending to a letter:
“I kiss your hand 1000 times and embrace my dear sister with all my heart and remain forever….
Your obedient son”
I do need to post some picture for the last few weeks in Austria, otherwise I will be left with the nagging feeling of jobs left undone.
We took a weekend trip to Salzburg! It's the birthplace of Mozart and since I was deep in study of the man and his operas, I had a burning desire to go.
This restaurant was visited by Constantine.
I really liked this cemetery
Me with the Alps and bucolic countryside in the background.
The view of Salzburg from Hohensalzburg Castle.
The castle had a marionette museum.
I could not convince life partner to go on the sound of music tour with me.
Quite frankly, I am not a SOM junkie, so the tour was sort of a disappointment, but I did get to see some of the area around Salzburg. This is a quaint town near the Red Bull headquarters where Mozart's mom was born.
The town where the SOM church is located.
The Pegasus fountain!
These are the gardens of Mirabelle park, home of the Pegasus fountain and nightly classical music concerts. We went to one here our first night, and it would have been awesome were it not for the 30 teenagers in attendance from the People to People program (do not like that program for its ability to ruin perfectly good acts of tourism with large crowds of badly managed children).
During our last week, NWB spent a lot of time at the Naschmarkt, buying smelly cheeses and local wines. This market was mentioned in the latest edition of the National Geographic Traveler magazine!
We went to the Natural History museum in Vienna.
There were rooms upon rooms of minerals.
There was an awesome collection of space toys.
Before we caught our train to Italy, we spent a few hours at the Schonbrunn zoo, where life partner was deeply moved by a nursing baby elephant.
Italy (pictures), or bust!
I do have lots of written notes on the magic flute and Kant (!). That man was a total ass when it came to issues of women, minorities and external beauty (the qualities essential to a woman are chastity and loyalty to a man; an “instinctual” man (ie not European) should not be expected to behave with honor; if you are pretty, then you must be morally good. Woman should attempt to be as pretty as possible in order to fulfill their moral potential.). But writing about Kant is best left to 19 year old college students! I do want to tell you a little bit about what I read whilst in deep study and contemplation: a book of letters that W.A. (Mozart) wrote to various family members and friends. He was such an irreverent cad with a ribald sense of humor! He loved poop jokes (truly my kindred spirit) and puns. He also ended most of his letters home with some mention of kissing the hand of someone 1,000 or 10,000 or one million times (a plug for the metric system?).
Some of my favorite Mozartisms:
On diarrhea (nickname for):
“Don Caccerelli”
On money matters (bad with):
“I would like to have all things that are good, genuine, and beautiful!—I wonder why it is that those who cannot afford it would like to spend all they have for this sort of thing and those who could afford it, don’t?”
On wishes for kissing:
“I am well. God be thanked and praised, and I kiss mamas hand and my sister’s face, nose, neck, and my wretched pen, and her rear end if it’s clean.”
A typical ending to a letter:
“I kiss your hand 1000 times and embrace my dear sister with all my heart and remain forever….
Your obedient son”
I do need to post some picture for the last few weeks in Austria, otherwise I will be left with the nagging feeling of jobs left undone.
We took a weekend trip to Salzburg! It's the birthplace of Mozart and since I was deep in study of the man and his operas, I had a burning desire to go.
This restaurant was visited by Constantine.
I really liked this cemetery
Me with the Alps and bucolic countryside in the background.
The view of Salzburg from Hohensalzburg Castle.
The castle had a marionette museum.
I could not convince life partner to go on the sound of music tour with me.
Quite frankly, I am not a SOM junkie, so the tour was sort of a disappointment, but I did get to see some of the area around Salzburg. This is a quaint town near the Red Bull headquarters where Mozart's mom was born.
The town where the SOM church is located.
The Pegasus fountain!
These are the gardens of Mirabelle park, home of the Pegasus fountain and nightly classical music concerts. We went to one here our first night, and it would have been awesome were it not for the 30 teenagers in attendance from the People to People program (do not like that program for its ability to ruin perfectly good acts of tourism with large crowds of badly managed children).
During our last week, NWB spent a lot of time at the Naschmarkt, buying smelly cheeses and local wines. This market was mentioned in the latest edition of the National Geographic Traveler magazine!
We went to the Natural History museum in Vienna.
There were rooms upon rooms of minerals.
There was an awesome collection of space toys.
Before we caught our train to Italy, we spent a few hours at the Schonbrunn zoo, where life partner was deeply moved by a nursing baby elephant.
Italy (pictures), or bust!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Week 2, part zwei
Look at what I found! A blog entry that I started in Vienna, but never got around to uploading (needed to add pictures)! This is the summary of the second part of week 2 of the institute (which was in early July)! There were 4 weeks total, so these questions remain: will I get around to posting pictures from weeks 3 and 4? Will my favorite pictures from Venice ever grace this blog? I say a resounding YES to both questions (but when? I say a resounding "I have no idea")!
Thursday: Today we continued talking about the Abduction, and then went to the library established by Josef II. Until this point, there was no public library, but because he embraced enlightenment values, he created a library so that all could be educated. It’s exactly what I imagine MY library to be like some day!
After that, we went to the Demel pastry store, which catered to Sisi and other royals and has been around for like 200 years! We went to celebrate the 34th birth year of one of the institute participants, who is awesome and teaches music in swampy Florida (where you can apparently buy houses for 90K, which is confusing to someone from the bay area).
Friday: Today we went to the Instrument museum, where we saw Beethoven’s piano and a really stark portrait of the guy. The keys were incredibly worn down due to his deafness and subsequent banging on them to hear. We saw really cool pianos that were built into game boards and pieces of furniture.
Saturday: We took a train to Melk, toured the humongous abbey there and then took a boat ride down the Danube. The boat ride was awesome because we got to see lots of castles—some still functioning and others crumbling.
Me in Melk
The town was very small and cute. We ate a traditional German meal before we went to the abbey. The vegetarian option at the restaurant was stinging nettle ravioli, which were really good.
The inner courtyard and a long hallway of portraits.
The abbey was impressive in its museum exhibition design. Every room was distinct and loud.
The abbey had nice views of the town and the Danube.
The view of the abbey from the banks of the Danube.
From the river boat!
Sunday: We went to Schonbrunn, which is home to the second largest gardens in all of Europe (the largest are at Versailles). We toured the imperial apartments where we were introduced to Joseph II’s unhealthy approach to life, “You should work until you are exhausted”. That guy got up at 4 am and then worked until bedtime, not even stopping to take meals (they were brought to him). He was married to Sisi, who had hair down to her ankles (took 3 hours to do) and refused portraits after she turned the decrepit old age of 30 (she didn’t want to look bad).
We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the apartments and it was a rainy day, so my pictures are sparse.
Of course, we did have to take a pastry break.
The gardens were opened to the public in the late 18th century (another enlightenment outcome).
Thursday: Today we continued talking about the Abduction, and then went to the library established by Josef II. Until this point, there was no public library, but because he embraced enlightenment values, he created a library so that all could be educated. It’s exactly what I imagine MY library to be like some day!
After that, we went to the Demel pastry store, which catered to Sisi and other royals and has been around for like 200 years! We went to celebrate the 34th birth year of one of the institute participants, who is awesome and teaches music in swampy Florida (where you can apparently buy houses for 90K, which is confusing to someone from the bay area).
Friday: Today we went to the Instrument museum, where we saw Beethoven’s piano and a really stark portrait of the guy. The keys were incredibly worn down due to his deafness and subsequent banging on them to hear. We saw really cool pianos that were built into game boards and pieces of furniture.
Saturday: We took a train to Melk, toured the humongous abbey there and then took a boat ride down the Danube. The boat ride was awesome because we got to see lots of castles—some still functioning and others crumbling.
Me in Melk
The town was very small and cute. We ate a traditional German meal before we went to the abbey. The vegetarian option at the restaurant was stinging nettle ravioli, which were really good.
The inner courtyard and a long hallway of portraits.
The abbey was impressive in its museum exhibition design. Every room was distinct and loud.
The abbey had nice views of the town and the Danube.
The view of the abbey from the banks of the Danube.
From the river boat!
Sunday: We went to Schonbrunn, which is home to the second largest gardens in all of Europe (the largest are at Versailles). We toured the imperial apartments where we were introduced to Joseph II’s unhealthy approach to life, “You should work until you are exhausted”. That guy got up at 4 am and then worked until bedtime, not even stopping to take meals (they were brought to him). He was married to Sisi, who had hair down to her ankles (took 3 hours to do) and refused portraits after she turned the decrepit old age of 30 (she didn’t want to look bad).
We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the apartments and it was a rainy day, so my pictures are sparse.
Of course, we did have to take a pastry break.
The gardens were opened to the public in the late 18th century (another enlightenment outcome).
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