Vienna/Florence

Well there's absolutely no way I'll be able to get in everything about my three days in Vienna or my first day in Florence, but I'll try to hit on the best stuff.

Vienna
First off, everything went *so* smoothly when I got there -- too smoothly, I thought, so I was waiting the whole time for Hell to break loose and when I didn't I was very suspicious. I immediately found an ATM to withdraw euros, it worked, and (and this is maybe the first time this has happened all trip) I found my hostel without any wrong turns or getting-losts. It was very unnerving.

In the end, nothing bad happened in Vienna, and the weather was absolutely phenomenal. I even bought shorts because I didn't have (and hadn't needed) any up to then, but of course it's raining in Florence so I still haven't used them.

Now that I'm actually sitting down to write, it's occurring to me that since I don't have my journal with me I'm not going to remember most of what I did... my memory's been shot for the last month. But here's me trying...

One of the museums (I think it was the Leopold Museum) had an exhibit of Robert Hammerstiel, a Holocaust survivor. His stuff was amazing, abstract-type paintings with this feeling of impending doom in every one. His earlier work is all dark colors, but I guess a trip to New York in the 80s convinced him that bright colors were the way to go, and his later stuff is brighter and seems less fitting to me, but sometimes the juxtaposition between the dark and the bright works perfectly. Hammerstiel believes that as one of the few survivors, it's his duty to record the history through his art; here's his quote:

I overcame the life of a rat in my childhood and youth; many of my friends were
tortured to death. I often herar their warnings at night, I ought to do
something for them, I am the one who survived and I am responsible for ensuring
that we do not forget.

Anyway, some of my favorite paintings were "Tragedy, Dignity and Finally Bread," a triptych that reminded me of the stories I've read about smuggling into the ghettos, and "The Conversation," which depicts and kid standing in the shadows, overhearing a conversation of two adults. Obviously there's more to both than that, but I guess if you're interested you can look it up.

The Oberes Belevedere (I think) had a painting I liked by Josef Danhauser called "The Game of Chess." It depicted a young woman beating an older man in chess, and in the background was a sculpture of Omphale and Hercules (because Hercules was Omphale's slave). I like when art depicts women in control... doesn't happen enough.

On my last day in Vienna I went on a tour of the Parliament. The tour was given in both German and English, which they do a lot here, so you just kind of wait while the guide is speaking in the other language. On the German/English tour I did of the synagogue, the guy would keep his explanations to about two minutes before switching to the other language, but the woman giving the Parliament tour was all about the long stories. In German. Seriously, the German part would always last twice the time the English would last. I feel like I should have gotten it for half-price.

And finally, the Haus der Musik. It's this really interactive museum where you can do things like add sound bytes to the "Brain Opera," this strange amalgamation of sounds and music that you compile with big computer chips generated by visitors throughout the museum; conduct your own virtual orchestra; and create music based on your voice. As for the brain opera, one way to generate sounds is through a word association game. I think my words ended up being Bush, Monkey, Force, Head. But it's their fault because they said "evolution," which clearly made me say "monkey." Then when it looped around again I couldn't help but say "Bush," and in the end I had Bush Monkey Force Head. Apparently that's my subconscious.

Now, Florence, but I don't have much time.

I got here on an overnight train at about 6:30 a.m., so after checking into a hostel, I figured I might as well get an early start on the day since I'd read about long lines getting in to some of the places. I got to the Galleria dell' Accadamia before it even opened, and was in the first group that was let in to see Michaelangelo's David. I was kind of expecting a similar experience to the Mona Lisa, where it's been played up all your life and then you get there and think, "So that's that." But in reality it was amazing. You turn into the second room of the museum and see it at the end of this corridor, towering above everything else that lines the walls leading up to it. The detail is so precise and amazing; you can see the veins on his hands and feet and the creases around his knuckles. I also read that if you stand in the same position he's in, with a sling over your shoulder the same way, your muscles will react the same way Michaelangelo sculpted his. It's pretty amazing to see.

I also saw the Uffizi, which I guess is one of the most famous art museums in the world. It has the work of all the Ninja Turtles, and a lot more. Unfortunately I was so tired after the overnight train, two other museums, the Duomo, and an hour-and-a-half wait throughout which the two people in front of my in line made out non-stop, that I could only spend two hours there and wasn't taking much in.

Anyway, I've gotta get this thing posted before this place closes. More from Florence another time...