A Birthday Week to Remember

What an interesting way to spend my first week as a 23 year old.  We traveled on my birthday from Seatac, so it technically became the shortest day in my life because of the time zone changes.  Vienna is a wonderful city which holds an ability to increase the interest of a tourist at every turn. Once lost in the city, the mind does not wonder to worry but to curiosity of the next street or monument.  I have spent at least more than a couple of hours wandering around the city on my own, walking wearever the wind takes me. I walked through many little corner shops and even sat in a park and observed the surroundings and sounds that rise and decay within the environment.  

I visited multiple cathedrals in the city.  What was interesting about each location was the decorations that were still present for the advent season.  I did not expect them to be present after epiphany since most religious spaces use this religious holiday to symbolize the end of the advent season.  I have never seen cathedrals decorated for the holidays before and I can only describe the space as an ethereal addition to a religious setting. A smile was brought to my face because of the beauty of the trees to the tabrasties and the stain glass.  

One of the major highlights of this past week was attending my first ballet performance.  I was enthralled by the connection between the dancers and the orchestra. There was a fluidity of the movement of the string bows and the dancers arms.  Each moved together to match the style that was portrayed. Each theme was portrayed very articulate during every dance and even when themes reoccurred, I was still finding new things to admire about the craftsmanship.  I also enjoyed the plot that was present in Onegin. It was very dramatic and I was interested in every character’s development and the major “fight” scenes. 

During this trip, I also wanted to experience the city in the style of an artist.  For the drawing that is present, I found inspiration in Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s work.  We visited his collection in the Kunst Historisches Museum. Bruegel was the most important artist in the Dutch Golden age painting, he was known for his landscape and peasant scenes.  While observing his collection, I noticed that his trees were shaped to be minimal at the base and then presented the branches of the tree towards the top. He also used different shades of colors to symbolize depth within his painting.   The drawing is located on the back side of the national library.

I cannot wait to revisit Vienna at the end of this trip.