we started off in belgium. i loved it there it was nice to get the opportunity to practice some french again after a year studying architecture my exposure to the language has taken a bit of a back-burner.
brussels was beautiful. clean and exciting. la grand place is a beautiful place to gather and drink at night. there was a jazz concert on one night and the atmosphere was just electric in the crowd. The building there that stood out most in my mind was probably the UN building purely because of its sheer scale.
from brussels we travelled to bruges. it was nice to get away from the big city and chill, soak up some sunshine and enjoy the quaint village. i always love to travel a little bit outside of the huge cities because it gives a clearly sense of the countries identity. bruges gave me a better feel for how belgians live, the style and identity of the nation. and the crepes were second to none.
next stop berlin
too much to say really. its how i reckon every city should be striving towards. it fully embraces its difficult history whilst being open to innovative and exciting new styles of architecture and art. it brings a new life to the city and makes for an exciting environment. the contrast between the old and new injected the city with a great atmosphere. i wish we had time to stay here longer and i can't wait to go back and see some of things we missed.
Inside the Holocaust Tower at the Jewish Museum.
'what is important is the experience you get from it. the interpretation is open.' danel libeskind
arrived in prague and greeted with the most miserable weather!! i was kind of exhausted by this point as well but i was so excited to see the charles bridge though and it didnt disappoint. my favourite part was probably the tour of the underground catacombs. i didnt know that the city was once a level lower and had been rebuilt up a floor to protect against flooding. it was insightful to learn that something like that was possible and a plausible solution to such a problem.
museum of modern art in prague
we journeyed outside of prague for the day to kutna hora to see the bone church which is furnished with sculptured made from hundreds of bones belonging to the monks who managed the church. really creepy. the visit was worth it to see st barbaras cathedral with its incredible vaulted ceiling.
vienna next on the itinerary. we didnt stay there long. i was excited to see it because of the musical history to the city. being an avid music fan i couldnt wait to experience the feel of a place known as the 'city of music'. furthermore i would rate egon schiele and gustav klimt amongst my favourite artists, not to mention the museum of architecture based there.
perhaps my expectations were too high but i didnt connect with the city at all. visiting the hundertwasser house was interesting and hundertwassers paintings i found especially beautiful. however wandering the streets i found the city to have a lot of rough areas and i didnt feel particularly safe. couldnt see much inspiring architecture either. tough to compete with the likes of berlin and prague i suppose.
compulsory pretentious arty photo of me sketching away outside the hundertwasser house
'the straight line is a godless one, it's the only non-creative one, the only line that does not fit in with man as being created in the likeness of god'
friedrich hundertwasser
http://www.hundertwasser.de/mediaplayer/?file=E-The straight line