Day 19- art, art and more art
5:11pm, something I just noticed, they don't have root beer over here. Boo-urns. Anyways. yesterday I had enough of musicans for a while, so I decided to hit the art gallery. Well the main reason I wanted to go to the Belvedere gallery was because they have Klimt's famous painting The Kiss (kuss) there. It was pretty cool seeing it. It is pretty big, I just kinda stood there in aww. I also saw some of Auguste Renoir's work (After the Bath, and Bather with loose blonde hair), The Plains at Auver by none other than Vincent Van Gogh(though I don't think much of him), and there was also a Claude Monet painting. (Sar, you would have appreciated it more than I did.) There was this one artist Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, who was fantastic, the detail in his work is incredible. There was this one painting he did of a woman in a dress and a shawl, I was blown away, the dress looked so real, and the detail in the shall was amazing I was very bad, and took pictures even though I wasn't allowed, which was tricky after I attracted the attention of security by asking them to take a picture of me infront of The Kiss, after that he kept his eye on me, but I got it when he wasn't looking, I just hope it worked. I was really naughty and touched one of Klimt's paintings,(one with a lady in a pink dress). I couldn't resist.
The Belvedere is a former palace (well two buildings). The Hapsburgs had three (The Hofburg, Shonbrun, and the Belvedere). Anyways , the admission price (5€) covers enterance to both the upper and lower Belvedere, but you don't have to go on the same day. So I just went to the Upper (Obres) Belvedre, because I had to dash off to the Opera, but I couldn't resist, having a bite to eat the Belvedere Cafe before.
I got a standing ticket to go see Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) (If you click on videobeispiel they have a video clip of it). Now this I liked, although I would have enjoyed it more had I not been grumpy because I lost my ticket for the Belvedere. This was my second opera. (The first being Falstaff in TO). The cool thing about the Staatsoper, is that they have individual translation screens so you can understand what the heck they are singing about. The story was pretty neat too. I have found a synopsis for you guys in english.
So today, I went on a tour of the Rathaus (Which I thought was parliament, but is actually the city hall), little did I know until I started on the tour, that it was in German, still though I got to see the council chambers, which is a mish mash of design, frescos, elaborate ceiling decor, stained glass window, carved wood, and a huge chandelier, which weighs either 300, or 3000kgs (as I said it was German), but I will go with 3000.
After that, I went back to the Belvedere, because I wanted to see the lower part. On the way there this lady on the tram started giving me trouble because I had my leg tucked under me as I usually do, and I told her I didn't speak German, but she kept on yapping at me. I accidently stepped on this other ladies foot, and then I am sure both of them started talking about me in German, let's hope they think I am American as opposed to Canadian. Anyways it sucks I had to buy another ticket, so I quickly went into the Upper Belvedere to go see The Kiss one last time.
The buildings are about a 10-15 minute walk apart, and are seperated by an elaborate garden, with opulant fountains and statues. I thought the Hofburg was oppulant, that was nothing compared to the lower Belvedere. There were rooms that had marble floors, ceilings and walls, although there some frescoes on this wall. This was all baroque style. This one room, the room of grotesques, is wall to wall painting so was the ceiling. One room was called the gold wardrobe. No wonder people revolt against monchary, with the way they spend money on marble and commissioning artwork. The Upper Beveldre, had it's moments, too. I guess the Hapsburgs liked to outdo their predecessors. I just hope the pics, I once again shouldn't have been taking turn out so I can show you guys. It makes me wish I was born into royalty and lived in a palace like this (simplified of course). When I see old buildings like this, I can easily see them years ago, with horse drawn carriages racing up to teh I am being to realize what a game of chance life is: class, gender, nationality.
Anyways, the main reason I wanted to go to lower Belvedere, was because it is home to a
Jacques-Louis David painting, that I have seen a couple times in school. I forget the name, Napoleon at the St. Bernard's pass or something like that. It's pretty big. I can't believe the size of some of these paintings and the effort that must have gone into it.
The Belvedere is a former palace (well two buildings). The Hapsburgs had three (The Hofburg, Shonbrun, and the Belvedere). Anyways , the admission price (5€) covers enterance to both the upper and lower Belvedere, but you don't have to go on the same day. So I just went to the Upper (Obres) Belvedre, because I had to dash off to the Opera, but I couldn't resist, having a bite to eat the Belvedere Cafe before.
I got a standing ticket to go see Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) (If you click on videobeispiel they have a video clip of it). Now this I liked, although I would have enjoyed it more had I not been grumpy because I lost my ticket for the Belvedere. This was my second opera. (The first being Falstaff in TO). The cool thing about the Staatsoper, is that they have individual translation screens so you can understand what the heck they are singing about. The story was pretty neat too. I have found a synopsis for you guys in english.
So today, I went on a tour of the Rathaus (Which I thought was parliament, but is actually the city hall), little did I know until I started on the tour, that it was in German, still though I got to see the council chambers, which is a mish mash of design, frescos, elaborate ceiling decor, stained glass window, carved wood, and a huge chandelier, which weighs either 300, or 3000kgs (as I said it was German), but I will go with 3000.
After that, I went back to the Belvedere, because I wanted to see the lower part. On the way there this lady on the tram started giving me trouble because I had my leg tucked under me as I usually do, and I told her I didn't speak German, but she kept on yapping at me. I accidently stepped on this other ladies foot, and then I am sure both of them started talking about me in German, let's hope they think I am American as opposed to Canadian. Anyways it sucks I had to buy another ticket, so I quickly went into the Upper Belvedere to go see The Kiss one last time.
The buildings are about a 10-15 minute walk apart, and are seperated by an elaborate garden, with opulant fountains and statues. I thought the Hofburg was oppulant, that was nothing compared to the lower Belvedere. There were rooms that had marble floors, ceilings and walls, although there some frescoes on this wall. This was all baroque style. This one room, the room of grotesques, is wall to wall painting so was the ceiling. One room was called the gold wardrobe. No wonder people revolt against monchary, with the way they spend money on marble and commissioning artwork. The Upper Beveldre, had it's moments, too. I guess the Hapsburgs liked to outdo their predecessors. I just hope the pics, I once again shouldn't have been taking turn out so I can show you guys. It makes me wish I was born into royalty and lived in a palace like this (simplified of course). When I see old buildings like this, I can easily see them years ago, with horse drawn carriages racing up to teh I am being to realize what a game of chance life is: class, gender, nationality.
Anyways, the main reason I wanted to go to lower Belvedere, was because it is home to a
Jacques-Louis David painting, that I have seen a couple times in school. I forget the name, Napoleon at the St. Bernard's pass or something like that. It's pretty big. I can't believe the size of some of these paintings and the effort that must have gone into it.
posted by Kristin @ 1:22 pm
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