Time Difference: -8 hours (from Brisbane)
Soundtrack: Mozart
Currently Inspired by: Mozart
Words written: 70,038. Not feeling it!
How sad I was to leave Vienna! After only four days, and only two of those
days up and about, I became immensely attached to it. Prague was next, and it suffered by
comparison, poor thing. It is actually
an exciting place, full of beautiful buildings and interesting culture, however
after the spring sunshine, music and almost blinding beauty of Vienna it seemed
to have a darker and sadder air about it, like an old man who carries a
lifetime of cares on his face. The fact
that it was overcast for the most part did not help matters. When does Spring actually hit up here, I
wonder, because I’ve been wearing a jacket solidly since December and after
those magical two days of sunshine in Vienna I have had to put it on again
almost every day! Much like Beatrice, I
fear I must sit in the corner and cry hey ho, except for a season change rather
than a husband (heaven forfend).
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| Amazing astronomical clock |
Who would have lived in the middle ages if given a
choice? My god, life sucked back then
didn’t it? If you weren’t rotting
internally from some malnutrition based ailment then you were being poisoned by
the lead based “cure”, stabbed in a duel, horribly tortured and then burnt
alive for witchcraft or dying in childbirth (mother or baby or both). The astronomical clock in the Prague town
centre is an extraordinary feat of astronomy and engineering, and is the oldest
one in the world still functioning. However
legend has it that incredibly clever and forward thinking clockmaker Hanus was
blinded and had his tongue cut out by city officials upon the completion of his
work, so he could not create another for any other city. Now, I don’t know much about WHS but I think
that might be frowned upon in this day and age.
I’m sure if offered the option to sign a gag order, or be blinded by a
big fuck off piece of steel, he would have chosen the former. Anyway, I have some doubts as to the veracity
of that story, but I’m sure it happened to someone, somewhere at some point
during the middle ages.
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| One of many beautiful buildings |
Prague town had quite a few interesting places like the
clock tower, each with a touch of the quirk about them. The Charles University is apparently the
oldest in Central Europe, although I understand it is no longer used for
classes so I’m not sure if it can claim that title? The Old New Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter
is thus named because when it was built in the 1200s it was the new synagogue
however it was partially constructed from old stones brought over from
Israel. The Prague Communist Museum is
rather amusingly placed in a building that contains two other businesses: a
McDonalds “restaurant” and a Casino. The
Tyn Cathedral contains a statue of the Virgin Mary that apparently came to life
once and grabbed the arm of a thief that was trying to steal the gold necklaces
left around her throat in tribute. That’s
not the quirky part. Apparently they
couldn’t release the thief from the statue so they cut his arm off. After all, why would you wreck a statue when
there is human flesh to be sawn off?
Arms grow back, right? That STILL
isn’t the quirky part. Even though there
is no chance that this actual story ever happened, inside the cathedral is a desiccated
human arm, preserved, apparently for posterity and to lend some credibility
this story. I shake my head in wonder
than anyone remains faithful to any religion.
But ANYWAY. My overall impression
of Prague is that it is a beautiful, fun and interesting place to visit and I
would recommend it to anyone. You can see photos of Prague here.
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| One of the decorations |
Outside Prague in a town called Kutna Hora is the Sedlec
Ossuary, a church which contains internal decorations made entirely from real
human bones. I get the feeling this is
one of those situations where the phrase “only in the Czech Republic” could be
applied. It’s a ghoulish site, and one
feels ghoulish looking at it, particularly when grinning for photographs. Still, it’s an extraordinary feat of artwork,
if nothing else. Apparently the bones
were “donated” by the mass graves that held victims of plague and war, and nobody
minded because the spirits of the people were gone and the bodies were just a
shell. Nobody minded, I wonder, did they
ask everybody? It is estimated that
between 40,000 – 70,000 bodies were used in the decorations. That’s a big family survey. The rest of the town was stunning, and had a huge cathedral, despite never in history having had an archbishop. At one point they were so rich frm silver mining that they decided to build a cathedral "just in case" they ever got one, but of course the silver, and therefore the money, ran out and so the cathedral which didn't even have an archbishop for it ended up taking hundreds of years to complete as work had to be continually stopped so they could save more money. How about feeding the poor, huh? Because of the silver mine there was also a mint, and the workers used a hammer type object to stamp the coins. Apparently thieves in prison could have their sentences commuted if they volunteered to work in the mint for one month, holding the coin while the worker slammed the stamp onto it. If they failed to last one calendar month (because their hands were smashed beyond repair and they could no longer hold the coins) they were sent back to prison. Click here to see the photos from Kutna Hora.
A little complacent after seven months of travelling, I
bought my ticket to Salzburg without even looking at what kind of a journey it
was ended up taking a monster eight hour long way around via Munich (where I am
going after Salzburg) via both bus and train.
The bus was late in arriving to the train station, and I had to run with
my suitcase and knapsack to make it. I
burst on red faced and gasping, much to the amusement of my fellow passengers,
and the train pulled out about three seconds later. I am so unfit. I seriously began to get this horrible
pressure in my chest and I was thinking “what, am I having a heart attack from
a ten minute run??” and began to cough uncontrollably. Seriously, I would stop coughing, the tickle
would build up and then I would start coughing again probably less than half a
minute after I had just finished. The
people who had been staring were now edging away, and I was turning puce from a
combination of the run, the cough and desperate embarrassment. It finally subsided after a good twenty
minutes and I had two seats either side of me on which to stretch out, so it
wasn’t all bad. No idea what the hell
that was all about! I’ve run before, for
longer, and that never happened.
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| Alps |
Salzburg is an adorable little postcard town. I didn’t realise it was so small. It has a population of 150,000 and receives
300,000 tourists per year, mostly for the Sound of Music tour, and some to see
Mozart’s birthplace and the Mozart Museum.
I came for both, and they were both excellent. The Sound of Music tour takes you to several
locations where the movie was filmed, over Salzburg and a little way outside
it, in a small village and its surrounds.
It was so wonderful to see, in the flesh, bridges, houses and statues
that I remember from the actual film, and to sing along with a bus full of tourists from all over the world
that nevertheless know the songs word for word.
I cried a little during Eidelweiss, I have to say. I defy anyone to drive along Austria’s lush
green hills, stunning, snow capped Alps in the background, in a group all
singing that beautiful song softly and reverently, and not get a little teary! Especially if you know what it means, not
literally, but what its significance is to the Austrians.
The Mozart Museum contains, to my intense pleasure and
utmost astonishment, actual original compositions by Mozart, in his own
hand. I stood and stared for so long at
these articles, carefully kept under glass but, I imagine, infused with a tiny
amount of that genuis’s energy and spirit.
How I longed to lay a finger on a piece of it! You are not even permitted to take photos
inside this museum, which generally doesn’t stop me, but security was very
tight at this one. He is such an
inspiring figure in many ways, and in some ways he is a little...
disturbing. For instance I had no idea
that he had such a propensity for scatological humour. Don’t know what that is? In a word: shit. It is humour about shit, shitting on people, eating
shit, arses, etc. Many letters of his
were discovered in which he writes shit-related poems or talked about making up
shit related canticles - letters to his father and even his SISTER, who
apparently shared his humour on the subject.
A friend, after he died, attempted to destroy some of these so that only
an ideal view of him would remain, however some made their way into the hands
of historians via his wife who thought a real picture would best serve the
public, and this is how we know. I didn’t
know until I went to the museum and saw a target he used to use for shooting
practice upon which was painted a picture of a man bending over with his
trousers down and another man about to lick his bottom, and I came back and
searched for answers. You can imagine
the kind of things I was typing into Google.
I probably have an FBI file.
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| The fortress |
The rest of Salzburg is equally as delightful, and I spent
many happy hours just wandering around and getting as lost as it is possible to
get in a town this size. There is a huge
fortress which overlooks the city, and apparently it is either an almost
vertical twenty minute “walk” or a train thing that gets pulled up the slope,
neither of which really appealed to me.
Fortunately it was closed due to inclement weather and I was spared the
choice. This is the last time I am going
to thank the cold and rain however, lest it enjoy my praise and continue. The most notable sight in the rest of the
town, for me, was the cemetery and catacombs.
The cemetery is really beautiful and well kept, and the catacombs were
the creepiest place I have ever been in my entire life. I thought all catacombs were underground, but
there are above the cemetery and a few steep and uneven flights of stairs
up. They contain merely roughly hewn
stone chapels, are incredibly cold and dark and difficult to see in. Alone in the top chapel, I became convinced
that there was some kind of spirit presence in there with me, and began to
march down the stairs as fast as I dared, my brain creating a tap-tap noise on
the steps behind me (which in hindsight was probably the pull tag from my
poncho), which I was sure was going to make me hurry and fall. I have never been so glad to get onto solid
ground and into the daylight, and company!
Heart pounding, I gave a sheepish smile to the couple at the bottom,
convinced they had seen my rush down all a-flutter and were suppressing their
sniggers until I left. Gathering up my
poncho, I flicked it over one shoulder, Roman emperor style, and nose in air made
a haughty exit which was only slightly hampered by turning my ankle on an
uneven step on the way out. Click here to see my photos from Salzburg.
Off to Munich this afternoon!
Til Next We Speak
*LOVE*
N
Hilarious, and interesting as usual, thanks for this, unusual and unique view of the Classical music world and it's quirky side, the underbelly of the most famous composer!
ReplyDeleteI remember those catacombs! Terrifying! Especially as a child!
ReplyDelete