K & N

Yesterday night we went to the Heurigen. Heurigen are sort of like Viennese beer gardens, only they're all about wine, not beer, and they're often tucked away in back gardens next to vineyards. We always go to the same Heurigen, we've been going there forever. It's one of my favourite places in Vienna, one of my favourite activities: walk up the hill, find a table, drink strawberry punch, eat spinach strudel, take it easy. When we walked back home, we sang sentimental songs and danced down the deserted streets for a bit.

'We' - that's my brothers and I. We've always been close, but ever since my annus horribilis (break ups, goodbyes of all sorts, university-related trouble, dissertation-writing and a whole lot of anxiety) these two have become even more important. 'You guys are a bit strange', that's what my brother's friend said the other day. I guess that's true, and that's what I'll miss, that sort of easy companionship that comes with knowing (and living with) someone for decades. One of the strangest things about leaving Vienna (leaving for more than just a year) is knowing that we won't be able to do silly things together on a daily basis - such as being confused about Star Trek or singing along to Take That or throwing things at each other. I have weekend visits to look forward to - but whose clothes will I borrow? And who will cut my hair when I'm gone?

staring at the sky

This is my favourite colour palette.

No surprise then that I enjoyed an exhibition simply named 'Clouds'. Out of all the exhibitions I've seen in the last two months, that one was probably my favourite. You may remember that I love staring at the sky. I loved sitting on my rooftop in Durham and watching the clouds change. I love seeing different cloud formations in different countries. An exhibition filled with pictures of the sky? A dream. Afterwards I went home and conducted the most soothing google search ever.

I've been to a lot of museums and galleries lately. Partly it was research for my new job, partly it's because there are some really good exhibitions on at the moment. Here's what I liked especially:

Vienna - Saul Leiter in the Kunsthaus, Wolken in the Leopold Museum, Fotos in the 21er Haus, Bosch Bruegel Rembrandt Rubens in the Albertina, August Sander in the Galerie Johannes Faber. We also went to the Esperanto and the Globe Museum, always enjoyable.

London - the glass gallery in the V&A is one of my favourite places in the world. I wanted to see the Pompeii exhibition in the British Museum, but it was sold out and I thought, Well, maybe if I move to London I'll go and see it. Obviously I didn't believe that would ever happen, but... I guess now it has. Two weeks!

Rome - this was my favourite picture in the Vatican Museum, Meriel didn't approve.

pink

The best museum shop I've ever seen. Because colour-coordination is everything.

sculpture

Frazzled nerves, wishing I was back here again. The Musei Capitolini are a dream. It was so peaceful when I was there, just me and dozens of German-speaking students on a schooltrip with their Latin class. I listened to the teachers' lectures and felt at home. 

when we went to Rome

A month ago I took the night train to Rome. What I liked best: climbing over a fence to enjoy a perfect view of St. Peter's, excellent ice cream flavours (rice! rosemary! sage! basil!), speaking Italian, ancient sculpture, aimless walks, you know the deal. It was good. 

I started reading Memoirs of Hadrian after observing (and laughing at) other tourists who took pictures with a giant statue of Antinous.* I wouldn't say that I like historical novels per se - in fact, I hardly ever read any - but I love fake autobiographies, especially fake autobiographies by Roman emperors. They just have so much potential to make the reader relate to the past. Years ago I read Julian by Gore Vidal, and that was the first time I actually realised that maybe one doesn't have to be an academic, a historian, to make the past come to live. That writers might actually be better at that.

*Note: in Roman museums Antinous is described as 'Hadrian's favourite', whereas in the British Museum in London he is 'the great love of his (Hadrian's) life'.

ch-ch-ch-changes

It's been a while. I went to Rome. On the day I came back from Rome my boyfriend came to Vienna. Three days later I spilt a glass of water over my computer and it broke. Then I went to Durham for a few days. Enough to keep anyone busy.

But when I was in England I also went to London for a day. For a job interview. And I got the job. And I danced around in my pyjamas a lot.

I'll be moving to London in less than a month.

Rome

Bye endless winter! I'm off to Rome tomorrow to 1) hang out with my friend Meriel, 2) see everything, 3) not wear tights. 

I went to Rome with my father when I was sixteen, maybe seventeen, years old. Back then I was a moody teenager who mostly wanted to read Harry Potter (yes! I regret nothing). My dad is a classicist which made him the perfect travel companion. I expect this trip to be slightly different - it sort of feels like a girly spring break, only with churches and ruins instead of bikinis and guns. Just my kind of thing, then.