Internet Cafe/Callshop etiquette

Can you tell that I am killing time? Tonight I am FINALLY going to meet the Parents in Bratislava. I can't wait. Having been awake since before 7, I am pretty bored with today now. There's a festival on in town, but it's raining so I decided to come and catch up on some internet. Th 17th District is a good place to live if you need an internet cafe. There are millions. Some of them seem to be 95% private enterprises- yesterday I went into one a little further down Hernalser Hauptstraße than my usual one to get some credit for my cheap international sim card, and I'm fairly certain I interrupted some kind of meeting of the African Mafia. I am glad I shan't need to go there again, I was scared. Luckily, the callshop/internet cafe at the end of my road is quite nice. It's none smoking, which is definitely a plus in this nicotine-obsessed country. Usually it is quite quiet, the usual clientele seem to be Eastern European teenagers watching videos of fast cars and/or techno music. There are also 4 cabins with phones in. Until today, I have never heard a sound from one of them, even though they are always occupied. This afternoon, there was a woman shouting in a language I didn't understand. It's still going on now. Somebody has clearly upset her A LOT, because she is really angry. Unfortunately, this person is not the only one who knows it. In fact if I were them, I would be running like hell to get as far from her as possible, because if she comes into contact with this person, damage will be done. I don't have a lot more to say on the subject, I just wanted to share my suffering with you all. Now I think I will go home and watch Spooks and count down until it's late enough to get the bus to Bratislava!

Street Art (?)

What constitutes art? This is a question that I'm sure is asked everyday, mainly to bored school children who would rather be playing killing mafia bosses or pretending to play Scrabble or doing something similarly pointless. It is a question that I first asked myself way back at the beginning of the year. I did a lesson on photography, and as homework the teacher asked them to bring in their favourite photograph and 200 words on why they like it so much. From a class of 20, 4 of them had all bizarrely chosen a photograph of an American aircraft carrier. I later discovered that this photo had appeared in that morning's edition of Heute, the Austrian equivalent of the Metro, only much MUCH worse. So, while some of them didn't take it seriously, there were a couple who really did. I saw some holiday photos, and some of old relatives, and one, which struck me as interesting was of a piece of graffiti. I knew that this student was interested in street art, because in the first lesson with them when I asked what they recommended in Vienna, he told me about some walls where it is legal to paint. And it really got me thinking. Is Street Art really art?

Around where I used to live there was a lot of graffiti. There is a lot of graffiti in my new Bezirk. Is it art? No. It is mainly meaningless scribble, a name at best. I thought I had a photograph of some but I can't seem to find it. Sometimes I feel that I am in the minority because I don't feel the need to go around scrawling my name on the side of a building, or spraying a line along a wall. In my mind, there is no question- these tags ARE NOT ART. But is this true of all graffiti?

I remember a couple of years back (quite a few now, actually!) I bought "Wall and Peace", containing examples of Banksy's work. I loved it. For Christmas this year, I was bought "Exit Through The Gift Shop", a film about various street artists. It was really interesting. Dad also seemed to be quite captivated by it, I remember seeing him perusing the book several times, and he watched the film with me. Mum, on the other hand was not so impressed. I don't think she could see past the illegal activity of defacing someone else's property. I'm not saying that either of these opinions are wrong, just pointing out that some people say it's art, and some disagree. Over the course of the year, I have photographed a lot of street art.

 This banana is done with a very simple stencil, yet it looks really good. I like it. Do I like where I found it? No, it was on Albertinaplatz, in the historic city centre.

 These beetles are also a stencil. I think they work really well. Also, they are down by the side of the canal where they are not disturbing anyone.

 Along the sides of the Donaukanal are these walls where street art is permitted. Some of it is funny, like this bra, while others are topical. Gadaffi, take note.

 I <3 Boy is everywhere. I don't know what it means, but it's kind of cool. What's more, it is not done in places of historic beauty.

 "Ois Guade", or "Alles Gute" in Real German means "all the best" a random phrase to paint, I feel, but I think it is a nice thing to say so I think the artist didn't spray the wall out of malice or for any sinister reasons, he was merely trying to brighten the place up. He succeeded.

 I really like these people, I can't remember if I've posted it before, actually. It makes me think of the Wieners. The man in his top hat, still clinging on to the Imperial past. The woman in her fancy clothes, thinking she's better than everyone else. The teenage boy, who is just like every single one of my students, particularly with the cigarette hanging from his mouth, and lastly the waiter, without whom I genuinely believe the city would fall apart.

 The word "whom" has long been a bone of contention among some of my friends. Some use it, others insist it is redundant. I belong to the former camp, and am always pleased to see grammatically correct paintings.

 I LOVE this next one. It is part of a huuuuge painting, it takes up the whole wall of a tunnel. Clearly a lot of work went into preparing it, and I think that if some of these things appeared in galleries, they would recieve huge critical acclaim rather than being criticised, just because they are outside.

 This one reminds me of someone. Can you guess who?

 I took this picture ages ago, in October or something. I remember thinking at the time "If I were clever, and a respected artist, I would call this The Death of Summer" because it was taken just as the seasons were changing but the chairs were still there from the summer.

 The graffiti/street art style is clearly popular, because this was a bike repair shop by the side of the Donau which had intentionally been sprayed like this.

 And now we're back to stencils. This one is probably my favourite. I took the picture in winter, you can't see it at all now because the vines have grown over it. Maybe if I were the kind of person to read too much into things I would comment on how the artist put it here intentionally, to comment on the transience of love. But I'm not that kind of person, so I won't.

 One of the artists I remember seeing in the Banksy film was Space Invader. I don't think I would ever have noticed his work if I hadn't seen the film. There are quite a few examples of it in Vienna, most of them are quite small and high up, only noticed by people who are really looking.

So...to answer my question. Is "Street Art" ART? I would say yes. There is a time and a place, it is not always appropriate, but there are clearly a lot of talented people out there and I think it's a shame that they don't always get the same recognition as "normal" artists. I think a lot of people think it all looks the same. Well, I think a lot of old paintings all look the same and I'm not really a fan of those, but it doesn't make them any less valid.

PS I know it is highly ironic that it is only now, in my last couple of weeks in Vienna that I actually get round to posting something with an actual structure and theme. Maybe I will try harder henceforth.

Wien-ing the race against time

As I mentioned previously, I only have 13 days left in Austria. WOOOOOOOOO. I went for a walk along the Danube.

 It is rather lovely in the sun. There are lots of disreputable looking bars all along the riverside.

 The building in the distance is some kind of social housing project. It looks like a kind of cool place to live, not far from the UN.

 I would never like to go waterskiing. I am sorry, but I just do not like to do Activities.

If you walk the other way, there are some kind of floating platforms which you can sit on. They are very popular, and you have to get there early. 

It is very relaxing, I caught the sun just lying there with my book. I was having a lovely time on my own for about two hours. Then, to my shock and horror, I had company. An old woman cycled up to my raft, and came and sat next to me. She then removed her shorts and shirt to reveal her swimming costume. She then proceeded to roll down her swimming costume, leaving her bits out for all to see. I was NOT IMPRESSED.

The Viennese are so arrogant, I can't wait to get away from them. 

 Here are a few other random photos from my wanderings. The Hofburg is pretty nice at sunset from up by the Albertina.

 Cafe Mozart is awful. The cake is good but the cafe is full of tourists. I shall NOT be going there again.

 This stork is in the First District. He is advertising a pharmacy. I think if I needed to buy drugs I would buy them from here.

 Architectural features always catch my eye, even if most people think they are boring.

 The Peterskirche is nice, from any angle.

 Recently it has been some kind of festival. I have not seen any of the events, but I like these big W things made from the flag.

 In the Botanical Garden there is a bamboo forest. I went in preparation for Japan.

 Sadly I only had my little camera with me, so this was the only photo that was worth salvaging was this one:

And that really is it for today. Goodbye, dear readers!

PS sorry for the weird layout of these posts, the computers in the internet are WEIRRRRRRRD.

Ich bin's!

Vesperal salutations to you all! Firstly, I must apologise for my long absence. I do not really have an excuse, other than that nothing really blogworthy has happened. I have spent a lot of time moping on my own and basically counting down the days until I return to the UK. I never thought I would be looking forward to the prospect of being unemployed and living with the Parents but such is life! Working only 13 hours a week leaves me a LOT of free time. This would be fine, were it not for the fact that I have a grand total of 1 friend. So, I spend  lot of time walking the streets of the city with my camera and sitting in the sun. I have now actually got to the point where I cannot bring myself to photograph anything else. Here are some of the results of the last few weeks: 

I love how Imperial Austria still like to be. Everywhere there are reminders of The Way Things Were. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. This next one is a private joke for the Inner Circle. Hope you have as much of a giggle as  did:

While I do not like living here, it cannot be denied that the city is beautiful. This is probably why people have a hard time understanding why I'm not really happy here.

Everywhere you look, particularly in the First District, there is something beautiful. Maybe I should have studied architecture. Actually no, Bad School is an architecture school and it would appear that being arrogant is a prerequisite for working in this field.

I think it is Dublin that people call the City of Doors (I remember seeing a postcard when I was there with words to that effect), but Vienna could probably give it a run for its money. 

Have a guess how much a 40 minute Fiaker ride costs. Go on, I dare you...

65€! For less than an hour! I was shocked. Not that I would ever want to go on one anyway.
Outside Julius Meinl there are some new, presumably temporary, statues. They are a bit weird.

Up there is a bar with an excellent view of the city. I am not rich enough to have been there yet. Maybe, just maybe, I will meet a rich man and he will treat me to a rooftop cocktail before my departure (Sorry Boyo).

There are loads of random pieces of street art all over the city. Some of them are pretty rubbish, but I liked this one:

I was a bit apprehensive about going back to my old neighbourhood in case I was spotted by an Undesirable, but I had to because I wanted to take a picture of this bridge:

Even though Strauss is no longer on his plinth, the Stadtpark is still worth a visit. Especially when it is about a million degrees outside

The Blue Man vases by the river/stream/trickle are excellent, whoever designed them (probably someone employed by Franz Josef as he seems to have commissioned everything in this Stadt!) must have had an excellent sense of humour.

Mr Boring commented on the lack of architecture in my recent posts. I hope this one is making up for it. Here is the roof of Stephansdom. Someone VERY uncultured once made the comment that "it looks like a bad handbag" Clearly she does not know what she is talking about.

The Volksgarten is looking lovely at the moment. It is full of roses, but I only photographed those yesterday so you will have to wait for me to put them up.

This is Augustin, remember him? He is the drinking LEGEND who survived the plague because he was drunk.

Bring your own Lederhosen? ALWAYS. If there is an event involving Trachten, I bin dabei!

Spittelberg is a nice part of Vienna. The Christmas market there is lovely, but it is also quite beautiful in the summer. It is also quite deserted at 9am on a Friday morning. Do NOT ask what I was doing out and about that early!

Aaaaaah, controvesial gnomes (yes, that is a Nazi salute).

I love this bridge over to the MQ. Like, seriously LOVE IT.

One of the best things about being out really early is that you miss all the tourists. This is the first time all year that I have been able to get near this lovely elephant.

Here is another nice door, this time on the Natur Historisches Museum. Doors doors doors.

These flags are outside the Hofburg Hotel. I would never have enough money to stay there, but I do appreciate all the different colours.

I am not sure how, but photographs of the Innenhof of the Hofburg have as yet escaped my beady eye. Not any more!

On Saturday morning I went to Schönbrunn. I was there early, before they even switched on the fountains. It was laaaaaahvley. The garden has been planted with flowers so it is looking nice in preparation for the Parental Visit next week!

The Gloriette is a lovely place. Inside the cafe there was a man playing the piano so I stood outside and listened for ages. It was like a little free concert while I took my pictures!

One thing I do enjoy in Vienna is watching people. This woman was particularly amusing. She was Italian I think and shouting VERY loudly. Dignity people, always dignity.

And that concludes another epic ramble on very little. I keep thinking of things that I want to write actual, proper posts about but when I finally get online things just pour out of my brain like nobody's business. Oops!