It was, once again, a pleasure to be with Elizabeth. I had already told the girls that I was her Fan Girl and she was taken. They quickly fell in love with her too. We had lunch together with Priya and Rachel. It was fun to talk. Rachel picked her brain and Elizabeth was eating it up. We talked religion, politics and everything in between. And she remembered my children! How cool is she!
But let me digress .... this morning I got to Karlsplatz a little early. I went up and sat near the Stats Oper as I waited. Ascending to that view every morning is magnificent to say the VERY LEAST!!
Elizabeth did NOT disappoint. I don’t know if there was anything I learned new, but she did leave some things out that we saw last year. She was cognizant of the girls and how tired they were. They walked MORE than I did and were exhausted this morning. I love Vienna - and to hear if from the lips of someone that was born here and has lived in the city center her whole life, full of love and admiration for the city, is wonderful! Maybe she did talk about Sisi more, the beautiful yet unhappily married daughter of the Habsburg family. I don’t know a lot about her.
Each year Albertina, though beautiful, gets more boring. Did I just say that out loud? I usually can handle it, but when I see that the students are tired and not into it, I am more conscientious and this time they were all tired. Because there was an event tonight, all of the staff was running all around us, furnishing were moved and chairs set up .... rooms roped off. It wasn’t typical. I’m not sure if this was flustering to the guide, or to the girls, but it felt more boring and out of place this time around. I have seen it MANY times so it doesn’t thrill me any more. But I still ask questions and listen intently.
Picasso bis Monet was pretty ok too. I’m not totally into art, though I love art myself. No one cried when they saw an actual real original Monet, like Lisa did last year. But, the guide DID have this handy APP that when opened and viewing a painting, you could see the actual place that was being depicted. For instance, Monet’s pond, tho beautiful, is impressionistic. The actual pond is equally as beautiful. I’m just more into realism in art. Picasso’s painting of his girlfriend is crazy to me. HE is crazy to me. But when I saw the actual picture of his girlfriend (at 20 when he was 60), my feeling magnified. He WAS crazy! Or at least his impressionistic style is crazy to me. The other painting of one of his muses tells a much funnier story. (I’ll share it later....basically, he painted 60 portraits of this young 18 yr old girl whom he fell in love with. She didn’t feel the same. After 60 paintings, he painted her no more. However, he gifted one to her and after his death she sold it for a LOT of $$$).
The rest of my day was very relaxing. I took a scooter to the Volks Oper and walked through the Volksgarten full of ROSES of every color. It was beautiful — pictures NEVER do it justice. But the smell was divine too. This weekend is the Live Ball at the Rathaus so it is all closed up in preparation. I rode the train home for the evening. Stopped and got a Duner Sandwich and made my way to my apartment where I ate and chilled for a very long time. Read blogs and commented then wrote my own.
