Diary of B-city: Vienna

Monday, March 12, 2012

Vienna - Part II - digression - SPOILERS!!!

Vienna for me is not plain.

Sometimes I get angry on the cities, because they let the government make them ordinary, just like any other city, with similar "nice" bistros with flowers and chairs outside, annoying souvenir shops, pedestrian areas with "alive statues" and ice-creams at any time of the year. Well, sounds like fun, but can you imagine having the same things in each city you visit WHEREVER you go???

What is traveling for you, if not "I-have-taken-picture-in-front-of-....all-these-statues"?

I mean, there is so much of each special time in the city you want to visit - like 18th century classical music in Vienna, 19th century artsy Paris, Renaissanсe Italy and so on - just on the streets, without a need to visit museums. Or maybe it's my permanent hate for the culture-consumption, which you take with eyes shut and don't ask for something unique. ~~Then I tried couchsurfing~~.

From the other side musicians can get really inspired in Vienna, realizing that The City Of Music Can Really Exist, and Music Can Occupy The Heart Of The City. It's a bit exaggerated now, becoming a brand, a worldwide business. But what can you expect from silly city-governors? They suggest you what you ask for - lazy sightseeing. You don't have to run around the streets in urgency to hear a piece from Beethoven anymore. The shops of LP's, CD's, grammophone plates, music scores, whatsoever are stuffed in Vienna. Just ask. And pay.

Also I am annoyed, that the city like Vienna could stand in one list "To Visit" along with Brussels, London and Istanbul. You Check it, collect magnets and travel further. Everything is mixed up, everything appears the same. Beethoven's music in the shop in Peru, turkish doner in Vienna, russian matreshkas on the streets of Paris... Globalization. No authencity.

But I think, it's great to meet the city from its different sides, and museums are not always so bad. I don't believe that the horses were so happy back then, but at least you can practice with your new camera as I did back in 2009 ;)

Vienna - Where Have You Been??! Part I

Vienna equals Atmosphere.

It would (possibly) be not so amusing for you in Vienna, if you don't know anything about Classical Age of Music or Art-Nouveau, or haven't heard of Apfel Strudel.... Of course, you can try the apple cake on your own kitchen at home, buy a handbag with a print of Klimt's "Kiss" and go to youtube to listen to Mozart, but in Vienna it all gets special. It all becomes brand.

Generally speaking, Vienna is super diverse. It's perfect for hungry shopaholics (not like Berlin, of course, but still..), it's full of marginals and prostitutes, it's a small paradise for baking-fans, and much much more!...

But if you judge the city by its centre, then Vienna's mainstream is Music. It's definitely a Kingdom of Music. Let's say, if you do a Tour of 7 days in Vienna and wish to see both mainstream and special, there are few must-do-s.

1. Museums of composers.

Honestly speaking, I expected more from visiting home-museums. For instance, Mozart's home museum is situated in one of his multiple apartments (as he was constantly changing them), and almost doesn't include any of his personal belongings. Mostly, things like "a pot from-the-times-of-Mozart" stuff. Also, huge pictures of him in profile, some clothes from his Mason-Loggia membership, instruments of-his-time which you cannot touch, his death mask, his handwriting, some video installations ... "Atmosphere" rate: 4/10.

I have also visited Schubert's, Beethoven's and Haydn's home museums. Let's say, Haydn was 5/10, Beethoven 3/10 (too much expectations maybe), Schubert 4/10. By the way, you should also consider the placement of the museums. Don't even try to walk from one to another in one day!