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Friday, August 19, 2016

Vienna


Gordon:  We are enjoying a "rest day" in Vienna, if resting is going to three art museums in 24 hours.  We are staying in the Museums Quarter in the city, so we are within walking distance of a surprising number of museums ... and palaces.  I cannot recall visiting a city with so many monumental buildings.  Our guidebook suggests that the Habsburgs may have focussed on monument building at the cost of other aspects of governance, and it certainly appears to be a possibility.  In any event it is a beautiful city to visit, with a partially pedestrianized area within the ring road that is a pleasure to wander through.

As the capital of an empire for a long historical period, Vienna is the repository of a staggering amount of art.  Yesterday we went to the Albertina museum to see their "Monet to Picasso" collection.  This morning we were at the Kunst Historic Museum.  Less female genitalia than you might expect, but the world's largest collection of Bruegels, as well as a large number of works by Dürer, Rembrandt and other old masters.  This afternoon we were at the Leopold Museum, which focuses on hometown art heroes Schiele and Klimt.

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