Updates from Vienna:
-There is a John Lennon wall in Prague!! I went there this past weekend, but we failed to find the Lennon wall. I intend to go back and seek it out.
-There is snow on the rooftops this morning! It's a bittersweet reaction for me. Seeing snow reminds me of our lovely winters in Michigan (hah...), but also reminds me of how I'm happy to not see snow everyday of winter. Hmm. We'll see how long it lasts here.
- We have another excursion to the UN today, which I ultimately decided to not attend, due to the fact that sleeping seemed more important to me this morning. I'm glad, though, that I did sleep. I've been coming down with something the past couple of days, and resting definitely gives me the ability to keep going...so, I'm not burned out, and I good to go for the rest of the day.
- Today, after our German course, we're visiting the Mozart Museum for our Music course! This, I am very excited for! I'm also doing a project on Mozart, which is due rather soon...so, it will be good to immerse myself in a little Mozart history.
- I've always appreciated the Arts...in some way, be it small or subtle, but being here in Vienna, my eyes are being opened to a whole new way of appreciating the Arts, and I've been enlightened, several times already, by different pieces of artwork, or classical music, or structures. There is so much history and meaning behind so many things here....and it pulls you in very quickly. I love it. I admire the people that study the Arts, because it really is so deep, and there is so much to learn and understand and know. And besides, you cannot appreciate what you do not understand. In order to understand a piece of artwork, you have to know the time it was painted, and how the painter was feeling, and the century it represented, and how society felt towards this, etc...and then, it becomes alive.
Yesterday we toured The Belvedere, which used to be a palace for the royal family, and is now a museum of classic and rare works of art. We saw a lot of Gustav Klimt's work, and there were so many pieces that just looked like "art" from the surface. You walk by, look at the painting, and tilt your head in thought for a minute or two...then shrug, decide it's nice, and walk to the next one. BUT, with Klimt, if you look beyond the painting itself and into the meaning of the painting, there is SO much more to see! It really was so fascinating. I think I'll go back, perhaps another time, and study some more of his work. It's all really great.
- Ah. It's Thursday. :) This makes me smile. Thursdays are so nice, because I know the weekend that lies ahead will be both fulfilling, productive, and rejuvenating. In all senses of the words. I plan to stay in Vienna this weekend and just see some of the highlights of the city, walk the Ringstrasse, and get familiarized with the history around me. I also intend to sit in a Viennese cafe and catch up on a lot of my readings for classes. I have my Mozart paper to do as well, and mostly just getting organized with my course papers and such. It will be nice to get things in order a little more. And I intend to just relax, take my time, and enjoy myself. I love being here, but we are always on the go, always moving, and usually rushing. It will be nice to set my own pace, take whatever train at whatever time, and walk at whatever pace to whatever destination.
I'm aiming for the Stephansdom this weekend, and maybe one of the recommended restaurants from my Top 10 Vienna book (thanks Adam and Katie!). I'd also like to catch a concert this weekend, and maybe even tour one of the many well-known museums. I'll let you know how all of that goes! :)
Alright.
I must go get some things in order, and then head to the cafe to catch up on some homework and reading before class.
Thanks for tuning into my blog! Hopefully it's not too boring. I'll try to be more descriptive and give you guys some insight on the history of some things here next time around!
Auf Weidersehen!
