Monday, November 29, 2010

Neko-ben



Neko-ben = Neko (cat) + Bento (lunch box)

Thursday, November 4, 2010

The Big Sleep in Vienna Part 4

Part 4: Art and Music

After so many Gothic, Baroque and Neoclassical churches and palaces, Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) looked surprisingly simple as it was originally intended to be a part of everyday life. It was such a treat to see the evolution of art on the spot.





And Egon Schiele’s paintings at Leopold Museum are visceral.









Mahagonny Song Spiel & The Seven Deadly Sins by Brecht & Weill at Theater an der Wien. The latter premiered in 1933 and showed a sense of history, yet it was undeniably contemporary; in other words, it was a perfect show to see for our last night.  Auf Wiedersehen Vienna!

Monday, November 1, 2010

The Big Sleep in Vienna Part 3

Part 3 : Food, Dogs and Cats

Vienna is Wiener Schnitzel and Figlmüller's is the most famous Wiener Schnitzel restaurant of all. Their Schnitzel is enomorous. There was even a “Schnitzel-man” on the promenade and of course, Mozart look-alikes.








The Zum Schwarzen Kameel (The Black Camel) bar & restaurant has been around since 1618. Its standing wine bar serves delicious canapés. It got very crowded with locals just after 6 and some of them were with their dogs.








In fact, dogs were everywhere: cafés, bars, markets, book stores, and the subway (with mouth guard)…. Here is the sign for a dog run, but it seemed like everywhere was a dog zone.








There was even a fountain of a Renaissance king and his dogs at the Buda castle in Budapest. It beautifully showed harmony between people and dogs.









On the other hand, cats were rarely seen. But, in the yard of Beethoven’s apartment in Heiligenstadt, several street cats were hanging around. At least 2 of them were black!