Vienna

Hello!

Look at that, back on the posting-train! Please excuse the occasional misplaced "z" since these German keyboards are a bit odd.

I was thinking about my 3 days in Vienna as I was walking to this internet cafe and I thought I would start by writting about what fantastic weather I have had. I was told that it snowed here a few days before I arrived, but I could see no evidence of it. I have had 3 sunny days and the temperature has been warm enough for November. This picture shows the run and is a picture of the Kuntshistoriche Museum (my favourite museum in the world).No need to buy that ski jacket yet. But of course as I was thinking that some big black clouds rolled in and it poured. It wasnt the rain I minded so much as the wind, which rendered my umbrella fairly useless. The wind just blew the water into my face, soaking my front completely but leaving the back of mz body completely dry.

Aside from that, it has been a great few days. I have walked around Vienna more than I thought possible, but it is great to get some exercise and to be around a big city after Weymouth. My hostel is simple, but nice. Since it is low season there are only 4 of us staying there right now, which is good because there is only one toliet and 2 showers (if you asked me thís ratio should be reversed). There is a lockout from 10am until noon, so everyone is up at around the same time, we eat breakfast together and then head off. At night we come home and all chat and make dinner. It is a great atmosphere.

I have been doing a lot of typical stuff in Vienna. Visiting palaces and museums, drinking coffee in coffeehouses and soaking in the atmosphere of this amazing city. One of my favourite monuments here is the Soviet War Memorial. Not something you see too much of in Europe, but this is a huge structure dedicated to the memory of the Soviet soldiers who liberated Vienna and all the inscriptions are in Russian.

I also went to the Impreial Treasury. Lets face it, the Hapsburgs were very powerful for a very long time. They ruled an empire that streched from the New World to Holland, Spain and into the Balkans and in the process they picked up a lot of cool stuff. Most of it has ended up in the treasury. There is the 10th century crown of King Otto I (or II, they dont know), the horn a unicorn (actually from a narwhal whale), a piece of the true cross and the spear that pierced Jesus' side. Not bad little set of toys.

In the afternoon of the second day I went for stoll around the Belvadere Palace that was build for Prince Eugene and has a great view of the city of Vienna. I walked around the vast gardens for while. Here is a picture of me in some bamboo. Am I in China? Nope just Vienna.

I decided that since Vienna is one of the great cities of modern art I should give the modern art museum a try. Generally, I find there is a lot not to like about modern art. I find that it tends to be either overly pretencious or completely incomprehensible. But this museum had one thing that attacted me to it: on the side if a house that looks as if it is falling off the top of a building. I had to give it a shot. I didn't like all of it, but there were some interesting pieces. One was called "Fat Car" by Edwin Wurm. It is a porche that has been made fat. Every part of the car is bulging from the seats to the metal. I dont know what else to say except that it is a fat car and it sits next to a fat house in a big room. I liked it a lot.

I also stopped by the military history museum. The Hapsburg conquered a lot of people for a long time and fought a ton of wars, so there was a lot of cool stuff there. Perhaps the most intersting and morbid is the exhibition of Franz Ferdinarnd (the guy, not the band). His assassination in Sarjevo led to the start of World War I when Austria tried to punish Serbia for the killing and Russia came to Austria's aid. After that it was off to the races with everyone declaring war on everyone else. The exhibition on Franz Ferdinand (who was a member of the Hapsburg family) includes the sofa on which he died, the clothes in which he was shot and the car he was in when he was shot (which I snuck a picture of). The audio guide points out the bullet hole in the car where the first shot went through the metal and into the stomach of Sofia, his wife, and killed her. The audio guide even points out the bullet whole on the uniform where the bullet entered Franz, hitting his neck and killing him. There is still a lot of blood on the uniform. Quite the exhbit. Those Viennese certainly do like their death.

So that has been my stay in Vienna. I am leaving tomorrow, though I still undecided as to where I shall go. Perhaps Salyburg or maybe Krakow en route to Warsaw. I leave you with 2 strange signs that I snapped pictures of while out today:

This is some graffiti I found. For some reason someone reallz doesn't like Nemo. I am suprised they don't mock his gimpy fin.

I dont know what these guys want to do with my bulbs, but I wouldnt let someone near me if they drove a van with this on the side. If someone can translate this I will be forever greatful.