It's midnight in Vienna, and I am writing this as a sit on the floor, in the dark in a corner of the hotel room. Walter is asleep.
Walter and I had a spectacular day visiting the Kunsthistorisches Museum, which houses perhaps the greatest singular collection of art treasures I have ever witnessed. Where else can you compare three Rembrandt self-portrait paintings next to each other with a fourth on the opposite wall? Walter was especially intrigued by Rubens' Head of Medusa and the The Allegory of Vanity by Antonio de Pereda y Salgado. What I loved, in particular, was that the palatial 19th century building which houses these masterpieces was originally designed as a museum so each room of the museum was an artwork in itself.
In the afternoon, I met Bill's cousin Kinga at the Sacher Coffee House, across from the Vienna Opera House and kitty-corner from where Bill's grandfather Hashagen first met his third wife. Cousin Kinga treated us to the most Viennese of afternoons. Walter enjoyed Weinersnitzel, and we both relished out Sacher-Torte, a luscious raspberry? chocolate cake with cream. We had a delightful time with Kinga and her seven-year old son.
Next we headed back to the ninth district to a contemporary restaurant where I met members of the Austrian Young Americanists symposium, which includes graduate students in American studies from around Austria. Tomorrow I will give an address on American culture post 9-11. Walter will head out with a sitter to explore the Natural History and the Haus der Musik museum.
Guten Nacht
Martha
No comments:
Post a Comment