| [ |
mood |
| |
 hopeful |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
:radiohead:::the bends: |
] |
i'm sitting on the 2 euro per 25 minutes computer staring out at the rain falling upon the hostel courtyard...
it's been windy in vienna...probably some personal sybolism.
for the first 2 hours of the day, i wasn't sure if i was going to move on, where i'd go, or if i'd stay put.
i stayed put until tomorrow morning when i'm planning on leaving for munich.
i noticed that the belvedere palace housed quite the collection of artworks, including gustav klimt's "The Kiss".
after quite the journey of trying to navigate to that side of town, i arrived there.
but not without a little sidenote.
just before entering the palace gates, a chubby, older greek man starts asking me if i needed to know how to get to the palace, etc....then, as the greeks will do, he starts talking to me about how he owns the souvenier shop across the street, and promptly instructs me to follow him. so i did.
he orders something in greek to the guy outside, and takes me in...the other servant guy brings me a glass of some fruity drink...and that's what nikolas told me it was, a fruity drink...i don't think it had alcohol in it, as i didn't get a buzz, but one can never be sure.
he told me to come back after the museum and he would take me to "nice greek restaurant in town tonight." the radar started going, wondering if this was good or bad...
he seemed harmless enough.
so, i went into the museum.
first, this museum sits upon a hill on the outskirts of vienna with sprawling gardens stretching out from all sides...these europeans really like they're extravagent gardens.
you can see stephensplatz tower rising above the whole city.
i was moved to write on the steps in the garden, then i went inside...
i knew they had klimt, but i didn't know they had monet, manet, lieberman, and renoir, all in the same room...that's not inlcuding the van gogh and rodin upstairs...
i suppose i wasn't expecting to see "the kiss" so soon for as i turned the corner into the room where it is housed, i fell mentally paralyzed, and tears just welled up.
to see a piece that you have admired for so many different reasons, in person, sends a jolt through.
i was so struck by the many emotions, that i had to take a seat and start writing about it.
that painting is truly amazing, and large--about 6'x5'...the way the gold refelects makes the faces disappear from certain angles, leaving only the flowing robes they wear to show, but they look as one.
it's not sensual, to me, as much as complete admiration for the other...
i couldn't pull away, and once i left, i disallowed myself to go back into that room because it was too powerful.
ok, so ate lunch in the gallery cafe and headed back to mr. greek.
turns out he owns 6 flats in corfu, greece.
hmmm.
we agreed to meet for dinner at "nice greek restaurant".
my guard is still up as this guy may have other intentions...he knows i don't drink.
and i won't be riding in any cars with him.
he gave me discounts galore on my souvenirs, and tried to give me a scarf with klimt art on it that costs 70 euro...i declined.
men.
now i am here.
there's a lot of spinning going on.
i sure wish i could be on the bench from yesterday.
|