Vienna, AT / Prague, CZ: The spiciest obituary it has ever been my pleasure to read
My husband and I recently returned from a trip for his birthday, for which he wanted to go big and definitely not go home. Thus, we went to Vienna for four days, then Prague for four more. My husband loves opera and going to one of the great opera capitals of the world, Vienna, suited him well. The opera we saw in Vienna though, suited neither of us well.
But we'll get to that. First though, when you travel for about fifteen hours straight after having worked an eight-hour day before driving from Greenville to Charlotte, flying from Charlotte to London, sitting around at Heathrow on a layover, flying from London to Vienna, and then sitting on the train from the airport to the central city, clutching your enormous suitcase lest it hurtle off on its own and injure a bystander, what you see your first night in Vienna is whatever is still open late enough for you to see it, and whatever will let you in despite the fact that you are giving off visible stink lines like in a cartoon. Hours-long flights do nothing good for a person's hygiene. What was open and willing to permit entry to two smelly tourists turned out to be the Kunsthistorisches Museum, open late on Thursdays. We staggered around, dead on our feet, and I actually remember very little of what we saw beyond these photos. I know there was a lot more to it though. Thursday, January 11, 2024 Vienna, Austria: Visiting a Total Kunst https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds This was our first dinner in Vienna. My husband is one of those people who wants to eat what's local to wherever we're visiting, but with both of us exhausted and smelly, we understood we were eating at a tourist trap. It was what was available near the hotel and, most importantly, open. The food called itself by the authentic names, but it wasn't authentic. The wienserschnitzel was basically breaded cube steak, and my goulash tasted like Dinty Moore's finest -- but it was hot, it was plentiful, and it all tasted just fine to us. Sometimes needs must. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Note this cake. Considering that coffee, confections, and pastries are an integral part of Viennese culture, and that coffee, confections, and pastries are an integral part of my identity, not to mention my wobbling gut, everywhere we went I kept an eye out for cakes. I actively and aggressively sought them out. This wasn't bad at all. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds |
I'm looking forward to the rest of your trip!
I'm glad that I live close by to so many airport options. There are quite a few airports within a few hours for international flights, and even more options for national flights. |
Quote:
|
I'm looking forward to the rest of your trip too!
I've never been to Prague, but I've been to Vienna, and it's one of my favorite cities. I have really good memories of Vienna. Did you find the people to be very friendly? That was my experience. |
The amount of neoclassical buildings in Vienna is amazing.
|
Quote:
|
Saturday, January 13, 2024
Vienna, Austria: Mew in the Zoo As the residents of any former imperial capital will surely tell you, sometimes there is baggage that comes with all that grandeur. Palaces litter the landscape. Grand parks and gardens taking up large areas of the city. Statues all over the place. And someone has to maintain all of that detritus of conquest now that there are no more emperors. Vienna, once the capital of an enormous swath of central Europe, has been faced with the task of what to do with its imperial leftovers. It has elected to transform it all into a machine specially designed to surgically extract money from tourists' wallets. There are three especially significant palaces in Vienna: Schönbrunn, Hofburg, and Belvedere and we eventually visited all three. And Vienna, like any good tourist town, has honed the craft of soaking tourists to an artform. You can go into the palaces of course, but you can't take pictures. The more you want to see the more you have to pay. However, sometimes you can still get a decent deal in spite of it all. Schönbrunn Palace was the first one we visited and in addition to getting to tour a portion of the palace you also get access to the palace's absolutely vast gardens, which are so large that they can comfortably accommodate the Imperial Zoo. It's a two for one. Go for the palace, stay for the elephants at Schönbrunn, while Belvedere houses two art museums (each sold separately), and Hofburg houses a convention center and is still also the official residence of the Austrian president. You've got to do something with a palace if you have one lying around, let alone three, so you might as well try to make them pay for themselves. Our first palace was Schönbrunn, where we walked around inside, not taking pictures like the dutiful little tourists we were, before heading out to the gardens. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds It was frigid the entire time we were in Austria and the Czech Republic. Everyone was taking pictures of everyone else out walking around on this frozen fountain. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Not only was it cold, but it was windy, and most of the animals at the Imperial Zoo had the good sense to stay inside. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds The Imperial Zoo is well-acquainted with the trope that elephants are terrified of mice. To prevent stampedes in the elephant house, apparently, there are... https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds A sign near the giraffe exhibit explained that when the very first giraffes arrived at the Imperial Zoo in the 1820's it ignited an absolute sensation in Viennese society, to the point that the giraffes inspired fabric patterns, a cake designed to look like giraffe hide, and even a waltz. This might sound silly until you consider that modern day sensations mostly revolve around TikTok dances and idiotic "challenges." We are no different from our ancestors whatsoever. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Do you know what's illegal in the US, but not illegal in Austria? "Doctor" fish, that's what. Stick in a hand or a foot, and they congregate to nibble off your dead skin. There was a tank of doctor fish in the greenhouse, so I gave it a shot. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Schönbrunn Palace is accessible via public transit (as all palaces should be, really), so after spending literally all day there we headed back to our hotel near the Karlsplatz station. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds This was the lobby of our hotel. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds |
Quote:
|
Sunday, January 14, 2024
Vienna, Austria: In Which Statues Critique Meat Thrusting Vienna seemed to be very big on breakfast. It seemed that most cafes and restaurants advertised that they offered it, including this place around the corner from our hotel and across the street from the opera house. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Of course, considering that I had decided I was absolutely participating in Cake Quest '24, when I saw that this cafe also had a dessert case I decided it's never too early for cake. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds The stop today was Hofburg Palace, which today houses museums, a convention center, and the official residence of the president of Austria. After having visited Schönbrunn the day before, honestly we were a little palaced out and decided to save a little money, not go in, and only walk around the gardens. We did decide to pay the nominal fee though, to go inside the Butterfly House at Hofburg Palace because of course it has one. And why not? When you rule an enormous chunk of central Europe, why not build yourself a butterfly house? All the leading emperors are doing it. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds A statue entitled "The Grindr Hookup Who Wanted to Cuddle". https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds This was interesting. In Michaelerplatz, just northeast of the palace, some of the square and the ground beneath it has been peeled back to reveal several layers of ruins dating all the way back to the Romans. Little signs indicate what's what. There are Roman ruins, medieval ruins, a 17th Century building, and a 19th Century drain all layered atop one another. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Inside the Butterfly House: https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds The Plague Column, erected in 1694 to celebrate the end of the Great Plague of Vienna in 1679. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Something I found deeply funny was not the way the human figure had been pressed into service in Viennese architecture, holding up doorways or balconies, holding up the buildings themselves sometimes, but the way that very often, either the human figures looked extremely put-upon, or else they looked as though one had just said something to appall or offend the other, as with this doorway. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Amusing anecdote: I took that photo of the doorway while my husband bought food from a street cart. That transaction started a joke that ran the rest of the trip. You see, the street cart sold sausages and hot dogs and was run by an attractive Middle Eastern man who took his meat, thrust it into a bun, and gave it to my husband. We talked at length about how he had thrust his meat into the bun and then gave his meat to my husband. For the rest of the trip we kept an eye out for other attractive Middle Eastern men who might be willing to give their meat to my husband -- for a reasonable price, of course. Maybe that's what appalled the men holding up the doorway. I don't know. I've got to say... The Vienna waterfront along the Danube River, was not at all what I was expecting. It's like they put so much into the rest of the city that they had nothing left for the riverside. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds In this photo is the oldest church in Vienna, St. Rupert's, whose building dates partially from the 11th Century and partially from the 13th. A church has stood on that same site though, since approximately 740CE. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds The look of a man pondering whether he wants double meat, double cheese, or both on his six-inch ham on whole wheat. Definitely extra onions, though. That's a given. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds We had to take a breather at our hotel before heading out to dinner at an Indian restaurant where I spilled curry on my sweater. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds After dinner it was off for dessert, this time at a Vollpension, a restaurant whose mission is to connect older generations with younger ones. It employs grandparents and incorporates their treasured family recipes into the menu. It's decorated like your grandmother's tacky living room. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Then back out into the cold. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds |
I'll have to look at your last post later, but what did you think of the desert area in that conservatory? Did it feel like being out in Arizona or something?
How did it feel after you had the doctor fish work on your hand? |
Hey, I don't see any EU flag over this imperial town. Not a single one! :irked:
While we have plenty of them over here in Paris, to remind us about our duty towards the European community. That's how the French nationalists say - this EU ideal is stupid. We're the only ones to believe in it and should stop being that naive. They could do an effort in that matter. Come on, show your Euro pride! My country is a net contributor to the EU budget too, huh. That means we give more money to the EU than we get from it. Still, the EU flag is all over the place in Paris. Edit: my bad. There it is. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...112_144734.jpg There is one to begin with. Lol. |
Quote:
As for the doctor fish, I really don't know how to describe the sensation... I guess it just felt like dozens and dozens of little nubs bumping relentlessly against any exposed skin. Apparently doctor fish are big in central Europe. Prague in particular was absolutely infested with Thai massage places, many of them with tanks of doctor fish. You'd walk by and see some hapless person with their feet in a tank, just sort of staring into space self-consciously while this blur of little dark shapes swarmed around their feet. Quote:
|
^ The point I made was only about the political will to make the population of a member state feel like it's been committed to the project of a federal EU, to some greater or lesser extent.
It was a bit ironic because the French centrist parties seem to have been preaching in a desert in that matter so far. A flag may seem dull, it's nonetheless something of a symbol. And when you've always seen it over your place, you end up with a feeling that it makes some sense somehow. It was nothing related to the currency you had to use anyway. Of course Austria belongs to the Eurozone, whereas the Czech Republic wouldn't meet all requirements yet. It's only a matter of time before they get in. |
Monday, January 15, 2024
Vienna, Austria: Authoritative Declarations on the Nature of Art This was the view that greeted us each morning from our hotel room. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Our last day in Vienna was filled with more palace antics, this time at the Belvedere Palace, which houses two art museums. The Upper Belvedere is older art while the Lower Belvedere is a modern art museum. Each sold separately, of course. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds I'm not a fan of modern art, especially if it's of the "banana taped to a wall" genre. Despite the fact that most of the art at the Upper Belvedere was of the sort that obviously took skill, talent, and effort, an ultramodern interloper stood out in the midst of actual artworks. That blank white square on the floor is the art in this room. I initially thought it was the platform where some large sculpture had been temporarily removed or something, and if you looked closely you could see what appeared to be collected dust, hair, and detritus like you'd find collected on any large white square of flooring. According to the explanatory plaque however, that was the art, and the artist had meticulously recreated dust and hair of friends and family so that the square would appear just like any similar large white square of flooring frequented by their friends and family. That isn't ingenious. It's stupid. It's a wall banana, and you get wall bananas when a culture gets so beaten down and/or drunk on its own masturbatory self-affirmation that the very idea of "talent" inverts on itself and you actually, seriously start to believe that literally anything is or can be art. It's what happens when the line between talent and outright bullshit gets pulled up like painter's tape. By contrast, I could actually appreciate the big sculpture of the spider lurking in the Belvedere gardens. It's modern, even ugly, but you can tell that at least it took some effort -- and if you wanted to, you could make a case that it's representative of the kind of evil that can lurk beneath a relentlessly cultured, relentlessly beautiful facade. Together with its location, you could even call it a metaphor for the kind of dynamics that landed a place like Vienna in something like the Third Reich. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds This painting, from a series called The Terrible Mothers spoke to me. I bought a print of it in the Belvedere gift shop to add to our collection of creepy art at home. We'll probably put it in the dining room. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds I made a point of photographing every cat in every painting in the Belvedere that I could find. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Another delicious meal of thrusted meat. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Dinner that night was at a place that promised filling portions of tasty, traditional Austrian food. It delivered exactly that, but it turns out that Austrian food is still Austrian food. There is a reason no one will ever confuse it with Italian, Indian, Caribbean, or Mexican when it comes to flavor. However, 10/10 for the decor. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds This was the bar at our hotel, where we would retire to eat cakes collected en route from dinner and I would drink surprisingly delicious cappuccino while my husband enjoyed an adult beverage. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Note the offering on the right. That is "sisitorte" a cake named after Empress Elisabeth "Sisi" of Austria, who has something of a Jackie Kennedy mystique about her. There are entire museums devoted to her. And this cake, which consists of a layer of dense chocolate cake, red courant jam, another layer of cake, more jam, more cake, and is topped with marzipan. I loved it, and I'm going to try to reverse engineer the recipe. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds |
More! I want cake. I have spoken.
Can't wait for Prague |
Quote:
|
Now, before we get into the real meat (and cake) of Prague, I would like to first discuss with you the hotel where we stayed. It was the Art Deco Imperial Hotel, which I chose solely for the name, which drew me in to look at its photos and then I was smitten. The price was right. We ended up in a corner suite on the fifth floor, where we enjoyed what was perhaps the finest hospitality experience we've ever had in travel.
We've stayed in a great many hotels around the world, many of them, like the APA Hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo, very comfortable and very modern. Others, like the ME Hotel in London were terminally chic, of the sort where you have to just be innately hip in order to even find your room's door in the black painted, dimly lit hallway because it's set flush into the wall. Hip people just know the door is there. We aren't hip, and had to grope for it every time. We've stayed at a charming but cramped townhouse converted into a hotel in Paris, unremarkable historic properties in Vancouver and Toronto, an historic but down at the heels hotel in Chicago, unremarkable modern properties in New York and Boston, an ugly concrete relic from the 70's that overlooked the Post Office Tower in London, an airport hotel that had the charm of a water treatment plant at Heathrow, various chain motels that should have been condemned in Atlanta and Fort Lauderdale, and more in other locations that were too bland to even leave a memory. But this hotel in Prague was the perfect blend of beauty and comfort. I loved coming back every day and seeing the tilework. I loved the views from the room. I only wish we had been able to eat in the restaurant itself, but it turns out that they're usually booked out a week in advance, so all I could do was press my face to the glass, watch my breath bloom and retreat, bloom and retreat until I unnerved the seated diners, and take a photo or two with my phone. These photos, in fact. Tuesday, January 16 - Sunday, January 21, 2024 Prague, Czech Republic: Enjoy Your Stay Exterior: https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Vestibule: https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Restaurant: https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Lobby: https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Since we were on a corner, our room faced out in two directions. These were the views, at various times of day and in various weathers. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds |
Tuesday, January 16, 2024
Prague, Czech Republic: The Titillation Before Dinner The long and short of it is that our very first day in Prague was mostly spent fighting with balky machines at a laundromat, because we'd only packed a week's worth of clothing in order to save space in our suitcases. We needed to wash away the filth of Vienna in order to begin collecting the filth of Prague, and the washing machines weren't especially interested in letting us do so, let alone the dryers. But in the end we got it taken care of, although the process involved having to ask at three different businesses if we could break large Czech krona notes, and eventually having to negotiate the process, because nothing is so repulsive to Czech business owners, apparently, as their country's own currency. In the end we ended up having to purchase coffees, a chocolate tart, and a piece of carrot cake to make it happen, and we sat there chewing, drinking, and watching our clothes thrash around behind the glass. And once that was all over, we headed over to our hotel, were utterly charmed, unpacked, then headed out to the Sex Machines Museum and then dinner. These photos are fairly tame, considering what all you could view at the Sex Machines Museum. The titillation: https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds The dinner: https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds |
Wednesday, January 17, 2024
Prague, Czech Republic: The Fog in Prague Moistens Mainly Dogs. The first thing you need to know about Prague is that because it is in the Czech Republic, it is contractually obligated to speak Czech. Prior to going on this trip my husband endeavored to learn enough German to get us through Vienna, and got to the point of being able to hold basic conversations. It was certainly enough to get by as a casual tourist. It seems relatively easy to learn once you accept that the guiding principle of German, a language which sounds like angry people coughing (this is to differentiate it from Dutch, a language which sounds like angry people burping), is that one must never settle for one syllable when eight will do just as well. Thus, the word for "goose" in German is something like "das güsenhönkenpüpendëmön." Czech is an entirely different kettle of fish or, as the Czech would say. "kotlík na ryby." Czech is one of the few languages on earth to dispense with letters entirely, consisting solely of a blizzard of accent marks: little u's, little v's, little o's and apostrophes wagging this way and that. The only guiding principle in Czech is that the more accent marks you can squeeze in, the better. I watched an interview on TV one night with some poor man who had three accent marks in his name alone. Perhaps being assigned so difficult a language is why we were warned ahead of our visit that Czechs are a dour, scowling people who detest tourists and actively discourage commercial transactions. We did not make the mistake of asking how to experience the city "like a local," but did read a few online threads asking such and were struck by how similar those threads are whenever anyone anywhere asks about how to experience any city, anywhere, "like a local." Pro tip: The only way to experience any city like a real local is to locate a dismal suburban apartment, sit in the living room in the dark, and frown at a blank wall. Locals don't "do" their cities, and God help them if they are found to be consorting with a tourist attraction -- none of the other locals would let the offender sit with them at lunch anymore. No, the only way to experience a city like a local is to openly and loudly disdain interacting in any positive way with any possible reason that a tourist might have to visit the city, be it Biltmore in Asheville, the Statue of Liberty in New York, or the Old Town of Prague. You must feel nothing but the bitterest contempt for tourists and tourist attractions and be ready to express it at a moment's notice. That being said, despite the warnings and the discouraging online posts, we observed the Czechs to behave in shockingly humanlike ways: We saw several of them smiling, heard some of them laughing right out on the street, saw the occasional held hand or embrace, and Czechs seemed more or less willing to exchange money for goods and services, despite not wanting to do so with paper, strongly preferring credit card transactions instead. We also saw a great many citizens of Prague out on the streets walking small dogs, many of them (the dogs) wearing just darling little coats and sweaters. The Czechs: They're just like us. In fact, we only encountered one dour scowler the whole time, when we entered a shop that closed at 7PM at 6:58 with the intention of purchasing two pieces of pre-sliced cake from a cooler. Instead, the woman behind the counter scowled at us, pointed to her watch and tapped it, and scowled us back out the door. It was okay. We were coming back from dinner and were pretty full anyway. And all that being said, this was our first real day out in Prague, doing Prague things. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds The famous -- extremely famous -- Prague astronomical clock. If you want to see it without having to stand ass cheek to humid ass cheek with thousands of other tourists, do what we did: Visit Prague on a Wednesday in the bitterest heart of winter and go see it early in the morning. You'll be rewarded with the 15th Century equivalent of virtual reality when all the little automatons do their animatronic dance. We passed by again on Saturday afternoon and the clock was thronged with tourists, phones in the air to capture the moment. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds The Charles Bridge offers a bridge and bridge accessories. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds A very good boy indeed. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Prague Castle, the largest ancient castle complex on earth. It hosts multiple museums, cathedrals, palaces, gardens, and is also the official residence of the Czech president. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Everything you just saw since the last mention of Prague Castle was still part of Prague Castle. It goes on forever. An Italian restaurant whose promise of grilled octopus seduced us and lured us in. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds A water goblin. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds This is "chimney cake" a delicacy you absolutely must not partake of if you want to experience Prague like a local. It's basically dough rolled in cinnamon and sugar, roasted over a fire then filled with either whipped cream or ice cream, and accoutrements. Locals don't eat them. Locals, like locals everywhere, eat gruel flavored with bile and loathing. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds By this point it was starting to snow. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Dinner was Chinese. It wasn't bad at all. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds |
All times are GMT. The time now is 11:55 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.