Aug 19 - Day 19 in Vienna

Today I visited the beautiful Belvedere, once Prince Eugene of Savoy’s palace, but now home to a wonderful museum filled with Klimt and other great artists’ works!

This has to be one of my favorite museums ever, as it features Klimt’s beautiful “The Kiss” as well as his amazing “Judith I”. Additionally, the museum houses a few of his unfinished works – which make me wonder what more he could have given us.

The Kiss is the climatic piece from his ‘golden’ period. In it, he gives us all the classic things we expect from Klimt, but with even greater beauty, depth, and gold. The lovers are in a sea of poppies, completely in harmony – but they are on an abyss. I would never have noticed that, if not for the great audio guide, and it certainly adds another layer to the otherwise entirely joyful painting. Yet, it is also a bit unusual for a Klimt - usually it is his women who are the powerful, dominant figures, but here, it seems the man is in control.

Next to The Kiss is a fascinating painting by Segantini called “The Evil Mothers.” It’s a rather terrifying symbolic work, showing the intertwining suffering of nature with a mother (who is like a tree, with her baby rooted to her). It is quite a different feeling than “The Kiss,” and I loved the juxtaposition of it in the gallery. Other works I enjoyed were by Schiele and Rodin (my favorite sculptor). Overall, I must say the museum made quite an impression! It’s a truly wonderful place and I hope I can come back here again before the trip ends.

Next up was the excellent movie, The Third Man. I love that it is played on the big screen here in Vienna! Seeing bombed out Vienna – the same places I walk around yet are so different than what I see today – was extraordinary. It gives a great perspective on what it was like in post-war Vienna, with no roof to Stephansdom, the four in a jeep, and the huge black market in Vienna. Orson Welles did a stunning job, making quite the impression with not a huge deal of screen time (he especially excels in the scene on the ferris wheel). The soundtrack is unforgettable – played on the zither! – and the angles of the film fascinating. Then, of course, there are the great lines – including this one, added by Welles himself: "In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed — they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

After that fantastic movie, it was off to a popular site in Vienna – Tichy’s ice cream! I had to get the famous Eis-Marillen-Knödel! The day ended with a trip to the popular Rathaus for dinner and a movie.