The view up the street from the window of our first hotel in Vienna. The street looks rather quiet now but it was alive with much action throughout the 5 nights we stayed there. We stayed at the Hotel-Pension Suzanne, which was fairly reasonable and quite closely located to all of the major museums on my list to see. We were lucky to get a breakfast, found a Starbucks right on the corner, as most places only serve espresso and cappuccino kind of coffee. We either walked or took the Ubahn (which was quite easy to navigate). By afternoon the corner in the upper lefthand portion of the picture would be carpeted with people. The crowds crawled the stores and tourists toured along the Karnternstrasse tugging at their pockets for wallets/money to purchase their souvenirs.

Brenda from inside the Kunsthistorisches Museum. There are quite a few sections to this museum and the palace itself is quite impressive.

This is a shot of the oldest church in Vienna– St. Ruprecht. I think this church, tucked in amongst the towering, regal architecture, is a real gem. We stumbled upon it our last day in Vienna (before heading out to Cesky Krumlov). It was old and felt old.

Our second hotel in Vienna. This hotel is sandwiched in an “alley” and butts its right-hand side against an old monastery ( I think). The mural on the left-hand side of the picture, which you just get a peek of in this picture, seems to indicate that might be the case.

We found evidence of superhero activity in St. Polten–

and the occasional Ariel sighting in Cesky Krumlov.

I will continue to add some pictures and stuff over the next few days, but check out the flickr on the sidebar for more photos of the trip.

…von St. Pölten, Austria.  Today we rode the train (I was a train virgin) from Wien to St. Pölten. Quite an interesting ride, seeing the countryside from the window of a train. Right now we’re at the Cinema Paradiso, a bar/cafe that gives free internet access to customers willing to purchase their products. So I’m having another bier, they’re cheap over here ($.79 (Euros) in the store), in fact often the beer is cheaper than water, and b’s having some more kaffee, and we’re posting while asking some nice young man beside how the hell to spell things.  The research has been going well; we’ve hit every museum and art gallery that could be possibly be associated with my project, often taking in more than mz fair share of divine art( the Mumok (Museum of Modern Art for example had a Yves Klein exhibit which included most of the blue series, as well as much art that included text and art), and then some. We’ve been to the Belvedere (a castle) which houses many artists, and wandered the gardens (which can’t even be described). We’ve wandered the garden of the Shönbrunn Palace, which are outstanding and immense. We’ve walked miles and miles in admist the cigarette smoke, the diving pigeons, the crowds, and the beautiful weather. Vienna is everthing and nothing like I expected it to be. The buildings are old and built one on top of each other.  So far I haven’t had to use much german as most people can speak English, although here in St. Pölten, they don’t quite speak as well, so I’ve had a chance to use my spattering of german rather hesitantly, but often successfully (probably due more to their knowledge of english rather than my knowledge of german). Navigating is the easiest. The germans are very efficient. The train was smooth, the U-bahn is easy to find/use; most of all, we’ve been getting by quite well. This is day 7 and one more week to go. Tomorrow more trains and a ride to Tulln. On the 18 we leave for Cesky Krumlov.  Computer connections are getting smaller and smaller. Tschüss!

…in more ways than one, burned itself out to find me here sitting with one week remaining on a trip I’ve been planning for months. I’ve spent the week trying to figure out a plan of research, and I’m slowly losing myself in the daydream of being on a Vienna street, watching the Viennese saunter past me, looking at the architecture, and immersing myself in the culture.

Last week I also read a book recommended by Brenda Schmidt (and borrowed from B, thanks) and by Lorri Neilsen Glenn (Halifax poet laureate). It was Joel Hynes first novel Down to the Dirt. It was a fast read as it was quite engaging. I enjoyed the narrative, which used three different narratives to portray the character of Keith, and how the slide into addiction/dysfunction coincides with the slide from the triple narrative, to a single narrative voice. “Gritty” is a very accurate description.