Days 3-5: A kiss to remember

My days in Bratislava were filled with amazing science coming from all around the world, interesting people, thought-provoking research, zero alternative facts.  The conference gala on Day 3 was held in another castle, this time in Austria.  For the price of 120 Euros and a conference registration of about 700 Euros, you too can get a bus ride to Schloss Hof and be serenaded by a quartet while you eat, and treat yourself to great-dancing afterwards. 

Schloss Hof, Prince Eugene of Savoy’s country estate

The dinner service was well-choreographed with impressive precision. 

During the last conference day (Day 4) at Bratislava, I was disappointed to hear that the tour to Devin castle ruin was cancelled.  The organizers showed me the list of registrants: 1.  And yes, you can probably guess who that one was.  Argh. Humans! Seriously, out of ~1200 congress attendees, I was the only 1 interested to see the castle ruin? Who are these people?! How can my colleagues endure looking under the microscope for hours, but not be interested in seeing a ruined, historic castle from the Neolithic age? Sometimes, humanity fails me.

But I quickly got over it.  I contemplated going to the ruin myself and looked at the bus schedules etc., but in the end, the pull of seeing Vienna again was stronger.  Truth be told, apart from Devin, I felt that I've seen most of the things that Bratislava has to offer in the 4 days of my stay. I had great dinners and amazing walk with wonderful views, but otherwise, nothing to write home about in terms of exciting happenings. 

I decided to hop on the earlier train to Vienna.  The train station in Bratislava is quite small and easy to navigate. While all info are in Slavik, it wasn't hard to decipher the codes since I had a working WiFi at my fingertips.  One thing they don't tell you is that there aren't any escalators or elevators (at least I didn't see any!) so travelers have to lug their heavy suitcases up and down the stairs. 

2nd rendezvous with Vienna

In contrast, the Wien Hbf is big, very modern, and with escalators - woot, woot! The lines at Hbf can a bit confusing with the long names of destinations, but I researched my way en route from Bratislava.  I bought a 24h Vienna pass and boarded the U1 in the direction of Leopoldau and got off Karlsplatz, which is a short walk to my hotel at Das Opernring.

I chose my hotel well... The view from my window (State Opera) makes me want to sing, operatically!

The location of my hotel can't be beaten.  It's along the periphery of the first district, Inner stadt, diagonally across the State Opera.  It's walking distance to most museums, to the Naschmarkt, and has multiple tram lines station that can take me to most places of my interest.  I requested for a room with a view, and got it. (Again, it never hurts to ask!) I had a wonderful sitting area, but I wasn't going to sit long - I need to see this city and I had only a day and a half to see my top picks.

At this point, I just finished reading The Painted Kiss and was extremely intrigued by Gustav Klimt and Emily Floge.  Will the art seen in real life reveal the true nature of their relationship? The historical fictional novel portrayed them as "maybe" lovers, and google research wasn't revealing much.

First stop - The Belvedere

Everything is better with ice cream

The Belvedere is a actually a complex comprising of 2 palaces - upper and lower, the Orangery, and the Palace Stables.   It was the summer palace of Prince Eugene of Savoy. The Upper Belvedere museum houses many of the artwork of Klimt alongside Egon Schele, etc.  The buildings are set in a Baroque park landscape in the third district of Vienna - close enough to commute to, but not swarmed with tourists.

Waterfalls and beautifully landscaped garden in between the 2 palaces

Now, I'm no art maven and cannot tell for certain the styles I like.  All I know is that there are paintings that move me and more that don't do anything for me.  Take for instance the Mona Lisa at the Louevre.  To say that I was disappointed when I saw it is an understatement. But maybe my expectation was just higher. It just didn't evoke any emotion from me. Nada. Same with most of Picasso's work, Matisse's, Cezanne's, etc.  In general, I find Van  Gogh's landscape paintings evocative, but his portraits not so much.  I had never been a fan of cubism, nor the random-sized dots and squares and other geometric patterns displayed at the Guggenheim in New York. But when I saw Klimt's pieces, I was speechless.

I Felt Like a Voyeur.

I couldn't pry my eyes away from the couple's passionate embrace on The Kiss. The grandeur of the art in size, the gold color, the expression of the woman... it was unlike any art I've ever seen. The brilliant specks of gold in the background appears to bathe the couple, intimately holding each other, in starlight. The art is set on the edge of a flowery meadow, and you can feel the bliss and love. It makes the viewer feel that their gaze is an intrusion. I felt compelled to look away, but I could only move closer. I had to see the delicate woman's expression and the gentleness of the man up close. It was quite powerful.

The Belvedere also introduced me to Egon Schiele's work. He happened to be Klimt's prodigy, and it showed in his art. Now I'll have to search for his bio too. 2018 is the centenary of Egon Schiele’s death, so the Belvedere is showing its collection of Schiele paintings to mark the occasion. What I saw from his work whet my art appetite.  This museum is a must see again the next time I'm in Vienna.

Death and Maiden, Egon Schiele

After seeing the Belvedere, I took tram D back to innere stadt and headed to Demel's, which has been been around since 1786 as the imperial and royal court bakery, and has indulged tourists like me in all sorts of pastry goodness. I could have tried their version of Sacher Torte so I can give an opinion on which had the better cake, but in the end the "come-hither" look of the apple strudel from the glass confectionery case was impossible to ignore.

I passed by the Albertina and was surprised to see people walking up to the museum entrance. Hmm. I was certain the museum closed at 6, but I quickly checked the hours online and found that they're open until 9 pm on Wednesdays. And what luck, it happened to be a Wednesday! The Albertina is actually also a palace converted to a museum. Since I was on an art enthusiast's euphoria, I decided to continue my art education at the Albertina. Their collection ranged from "Impressionism and Pointillism to Fauvism and Expressionism, from New Objectivity and the Russian avant-garde to Surrealism and Picasso..." Quite impressive, and I enjoyed it more so than I thought I would. I still don't like Cubism, but Picasso actually had some periods that I enjoy. I also enjoyed introduction to Emil Nolde's work. Perhaps unsurprisingly because his art bear the influence of van Gogh.

  

Stormy Sea (1930). “There is silver blue, sky blue, and thunder blue. Every color holds within it a soul, which makes me happy or repels me, and which acts as a stimulus,” the artist mused.

Picasso's dove became an international symbol of the peace movement.

Monet's The Water Lilies

And then it was time to kiss the city good night...