While still in Salzburg, Patrick went to the Billa grocery store to get some food for use in Vienna, because the stores close at 6, and we would not get off the train until 8:30, so while I finished up at the conference, he went to the store. He bought the yummiest bread, which I have been consuming over the last few days. It is wedge shaped, and is kind of a carrot bread, and the entire thing was baked coasted in sunflower seeds. Imagine a texture more like a fruit bread, only bready not cakey, and savoury instead of sweet. I really like it.
He still has swelling in his hands and feet, and there are these weird nodules that you can feel and that move, so right now today on July 13, there are some of these hot spots in his left palm for the first time, instead of being limited to the backs of his hands.
Today Patrick and I went to meet Hadis and her friends at St. Stephen's Church, and I took a lot of pictures. I will try to remember the order and also what they are. (Wish me luck! I will need it!)
My first photo is of the parliament building. (I just said to Patrick, testing my faulty memory: "This is NOT the parliament building?" And he said, "That IS the parliament building.")
Natural History Museum:
This horse statue is important because it is balanced on only two legs--two points of contact. Most horse statues have at least three points of contact. It shows one of the generals in whatever war. (Seems like there was a lot of war going on, sad to say. Actually a field marshall who worked against Napoleon in that particular war.)
Here is what is now the National Library, but the balcony above the entry is notorious for being a place where Hitler stirred up the people to support his regime, so now nobody is allowed to speak from that balcony ever again.
This was just a little window display we passed that was all about Mozart and music, and I thought it was cute, so I took a picture.
In the Hapsburg Square or compound which is very large, this was the back side of the church that is still in use. I thought it had cool statuary on the sides, but I am not sure this picture does it justice.
The Albertina is the Modern Art Museum. Or at least, more modern than the other art museum shown earlier. Are you impressed that I had no people photo-bombing my picture? I had to wait carefully for that moment!
At this next place, a little triangle in the middle of the street--before WWII, there was an apartment building on the triangle. During the war, it was bombed and the people were killed. I believe it was 80 people. The sculptures on this spot are memorials to them.
This is one of Patrick's favorites. It is a memorial of nails. Back in the day, if a person apprenticed as a blacksmith, they would have to go to Vienna to be certified as a journeyman. Part of the ceremony was to pound a nail of one's own making into a log. This memorial log has so many nails pounded in, as people did this over centuries.
Approaching the church where we are supposed to meet Hadis and her friends. Patrick talked about the spires on this church, which were made at different times and in different styles.
And then we found her. Or rather, she found us! I recognized her from pictures, however. She is very pretty and very nice. One of her friends took our picture. I would rather have had a close up of the people, but she (the friend) was trying to do a nice shot with the church, I think.
Patrick told me a lot about frescos, where the paint is a part of the art, not painted onto the art. So the color is more permanent and retains its color value over time. Okay, my definition was not that great, so here is what AI says:
"Fresco is a technique of mural painting execured on freshly laid lime plaster, where pigments are applied while the plaster is still wet. This allows the pigment to bond with the plaster as it dries, creating a durable and integral part of the wall. The term "fresco itself is derived from the Italian word "fresco," meaning "fresh." "
Here are some frescos from our walk around the church and vicinty:
Here is the Library of the Austrian Academy of Sciences:
Jesuitenkirche, Vienna:
Another fresco, this one on the side of a random building. This is important, because it is a medieval fresco found underneath the more modern exterior of the building. It shows a wolf and a cow (wearing glasses) playing a game of backgammon. Here is a link that explains about this fresco.
Ankeruhr (Anker Clock) in Vienna. Had we waited eight minutes, the action would have started, but we did not wait. I told Patrick that someone else had surely made a video of it and uploaded it to YouTube, and I was not wrong!
The Verweerungsbrunnen (named after the depicted scene of the marriage of Mary and Joseph by ahigh priest) is a fountain on the Hoher Market in the first district of Vienna. Which is where these photos were taken--the first district.
The Jewish museum in the next two photos. I took the second one because it looks like there is an attic on top of an attic! Really I guess the first row of dormer windows are the top floor, and the second row of dormer windows were in the actual attic. But I feel like this is unusual, so I took a picture of it.
This is the oldest fire hall in Vienna, and is still in use today. Patrick pointed out the rounded garage openings for the fire trucks that are from that older era.
I do not remember what this is! Maybe you can tell me? I tried Google Images, but didn't come up with a name for it:
This is also in Michaelplatz, and shows through excavation how the city of Vienna is built upon medieval ruins, which are in turn build upon Roman ruins. Under the streets there are Roman ruins and Patrick even pointed out an eatery that has rooms to rent that go down a couple of levels, so that the actual walls of Roman ruins are a part of the walls in the rooms you might stay in.
More about Roman ruins in another post!
1 comment:
That's so cool! Thanks for the info!
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