i was in vienna for christmas, but i must confess i didn't do a full, ssp-worthy job of exploring the place. it was a family trip: my family flew over from their various perches in california, montreal and toronto to celebrate the holidays in mitteleurope, and most of my time was spent doing that sort of thing, rather than riding the metro to the end of the line and walking back in with my camera finger prepped.
even so, i feel like i did see enough of the austrian capital to form an impression, and that impression was: wow, this is a lot better than pristina. that's my impression with a lot of european cities lately. perhaps i really am growing out of my skin-of-my-teeth/seat-of-my-pants/five-spanish-guys-snoring-in-the-hostel-bunkbeds-across-the-room years.
vienna is approximately the size of metropolitan vancouver, but is more impressive than all but a very few north american cities. history helps. the public realm and general aesthetic is neat and eclectic, mannered. i appreciate this. in the canadian forum, we are having a sartorial discussion right now that has basically divided itself into a clean "those are terrible shoes"/"you can't tell me what to do, you superficial snob" duality, as north america can be very manichean sometimes. i do appreciate an environment in which some things "are just done." i don't find it oppressive, i find it liberating.
on to the pics.
this was a really excellent (i assume) metaphorical painting of 19th century europe being assaulted by 20th century ideologies.
see you next trip!
Linear Mode
