VIENNA'S "ALBERTINA"...

...is reputed to be the finest art galleries of Austria,
housing one of Europe's most significant "print rooms" with about 65,000 drawings as well as about 1,000,000 old master prints.
It features works of almost every significant artist in every genre.

A tiny sample of its treasures:

PAUL SIGNAC   ( 1863 - 1935 )

ANTIBES; THE TOWERS  1911

Gustav KLIMT  ( 1862 - 1918 )

Nymphs ( Silver Fish )

Henry Lebasque (1865 - 1937)

On the Green Bench (1911 )

Home again, jiggady jog

Let it be said, that a little vacation is good for body and soul.
Coming home, however, is at least as good.
The weather was just the other side of fabulous. Nothing but sun shine and 28 to 30 Celsius.

There were two high lights: A leasurly trip along the Danube, through the wine growing region of the "Wachau" and a visit in Vienna to the "Albertina" one of the greatest art galleries of Austria.

First a few images of the "Wachau"
Although Austria features many areas in which wine is grown, one better than the other, the north bank of the Danube with its gentle slopes, exposing the vinyards to much sun is one of the best.

A pleasure cruiser, plowing its way up-river and behind the vinyards of Dürnstein.

The village of Dürnstein and just above the ruin of the 

Castle Dürnstein.

It was in this castle, first mentioned in a deed in 1192, in which King Richard I of England (Richard the Lionhearted) 

was kept prisoner by 

Leopold V, Duke of Austria.

Vinyards on the shores of the Danube.

Transmission break

We are going for a little vacation !
Starting with 2 days in Vienna, (Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte")
and visiting old friends.
Then into the Wine region of the Wachau, along the Danube.
I will most likely not have access to the internet, although I'll take my little laptop with me...
just in case ..............
so, please remain faithful to 
old Bertstravels.

Cleanliness is next to ..........

A most important thing, when on Safari, is "Cleanliness".

In the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe you may not find 

a luxurious hotel with shower and tub.

Therefore you must simply make do 

with the amenities which offer themselves.

Above here we have a modern shower:

A canvass container, filled with water from the river Runde 

and suspended on a rope strung from tree to tree.

One simply stands underneath, stark naked, turns the little valve at the bottom, 

allowing water to stream through many little holes unto your body.

Be quick about it. Use a little soap, and rinse off. 

All with about 4 or 5 liters of water.

Once you have emptied this canvass bag, it's your job to go down

 to the river and fill it up again for the next "clean-freak"

You, of course, are not the only one who wants to stay clean.

There is a family of Elephants, who use a pond as their tub 

and, of course, they have a built in shower.

At a very shallow stretch of the river

you may pretend that you've found a tub for yourself.

The spot had better be "very shallow", since Crocs and Hyppos operate in the deep spots.

They fortunately shun the shallows.

In "Stöckl's Garden"

Just across the Main Square from our house, there is a "Konditorei" (sweet bakery)
who produce not only Gingerbread and other deserts, which count among the "finest in the land".
but Mrs. Stöckl tends a flower garden which has to be seen and admired. 
Since not all of you can go and visit the "Konditorei Stöckl" I would like to show you some images of their garden:

The flowers are real.   However,I have my doubts about the bird.

Their "sweets" are as good as their flowers are beautiful.

Kirchleintragen in Bad Eisenkappel

It's the 5th day of June and the temperature ranges around 30 C.
This is a good day to talk about the first day of February, a cold, snowy day in Bad Eisenkappel,
where the "Carrying of the little churches" ( Kirchleintragen ) is practiced.

Ante pante populore, kocle vrate cvilelore.

This is  the little rhyme ( part Latin and part bastardized Slovenian ) which is chanted by the citizens of Bad Eisenkappel, an Austrian community situated close to the border with Slovenia, during their slow procession from the local church to the river Vellach. The chant is repeated at high volume again and again,until it begins to sound a little like a church litany.
Children from Eisenkappel and surrounding communities had made miniature images of a church, carried on long sticks from the local church to the river Vellach, where these works of love and art are carefully deposited into the rushing water.

Why do they do that ?

Because, back in the late Middle Ages the river Vellach escaped its shores, flooding much of the town, forcing the citizens to flee to higher ground, where they sought refuge in the church.
Having escaped the water, they prayed in the church and promised to fabricate miniature images of the church to float them down the river, if they and their homes should be saved from the raging waters.

See there, no sooner had they made this promise,  the waters stopped rising, in fact, they receded and returned to their proper bed.

(And Bertstravels claims, and has in fact stated in a previous Blog entry, that praying is a useless endeavor. That should teach him.)

It was 7PM dark and it snowed heavily.

The model churches, lit from within by candles float almost ghost like down the main square.

The large white circles are, in fact, out of focus snow flakes.

Large and small churches, all hand made

by children from the public school

are being carried to the river.

Big sister helps in the carrying of the model church.

The waters of the river Vellach  play havoc with the paper and cardboard models.

The promise and the annual keeping of this promise

quite obviously was and is effective.

There hasn't been a flood in Eisenkappel since.

fotos: Bertspix, 2009

Don't ask ... Just believe !

Fronleichnam.

Today, members of the Roman Catholic congregation celebrated the Festival of „Fronleichnam“.

I truly wanted to know what this festival is all about, and so I spoke to a number of people in Bleiburg, whom I know to be seriously professing Catholics, as well as to some, more or less „liberal“ Christians. I also consulted the Internet with a number of questions on my mind.

This is what I found out:

The Festival celebrated today is the „Feast of Corpus Christi“, celebrated in Austria under the name „Fronleichnam“. This word, so Mr. Google tells me, is derived from the words „V'rom“ meaning „the Master“ and the word „Leichnam“, meaning „body“

Today the word „Leichnam“ is used only for the human body, after death has occurred, but in former days it simply meant the „body“.

I also found out that this Festival has found its origin at the beginning of the 13^th century and I would like to translate here to the very best of my ability a German language entry in Wikepedia:

„The Feast of 'Corpus Christi' finds its origin in the appearance of the moon, witnessed by two nuns, in the year 1230, while on a walk during the night hours.They saw the moon in its full glory of its roundness, however with a gap, or a black hole.

In accordance with 'God's teaching' the Moon represented the Christian Church, and the gap/hole indicated that there was a Festival missing. This 'Vision' happened for another 20 years and then, at the urging of her confessor, Juliana of Liege, one of the two nuns, went public and agitated for a festival, celebrating the Eucharist.

By an edict issued by Pope Urban IV, this festival was introduced into the Catholic calender of Festivals in 1264.

The manner in which this feast has to be conducted is prescribed meticulously in Catholic Liturgy.

Can you imagine that ? Two lonely nuns, strolling at night, looking up at the Moon, they see a hole

and they see the same hole for 20 years. Maybe they still could see it today.

(In any event, one could ask: what did two nuns do out at night, strolling around and gazing at the moon?

We now have two occurrences which tax our belief system:

The first one is that two nuns saw a hole in the moon. They probably saw what we now jokingly call „the man in the moon“ ….

The second and surely the most important is the absolute mandatory belief that during Mass, celebrated by a Priest, wine and a wafer change literally, not symbolically, but literally, into the blood and body of Christ. This daily miracle is called „Transubstantiation“ and the Catholic Church teaches that this change from wine to the blood of Christ and from bread to the flesh of Christ is an occurrence „passing our understanding“ and „is a mystery“. But it happens without doubt, every time a Mass is celebrated.

They are not kidding.

I put the question to 4 „good Catholics“ (admittedly not a very large sample of the population)

Two of them made it very simple for themselves: „I am a Catholic and I don't question the teachings of the church. I simply believe“.

The third said: I suppose I ought to believe it, and sometimes I do. Other times I find it difficult.

The fourth „good Catholic“ said: „Are you joking ? Nobody believes this, not even the priest of our congregation. It simply is a symbol of the „Last Supper“ and what Christ said on that occasion.

Then I spoke to several „Liberal Catholics“. I shall not give individual answers. To summarize their replies however, I can tell you this: „We have a number of so called „teachings“ we ought to believe.

Some are easier than others. But the story of the Eucharist, regardless of what any Priest tells me, is simply beyond credibility.

It's a nice story about the conversation during the „Last Supper“ but is no more than when I raise a glass among friends and say:

„Cheers! May we meet again, all in good health and still happily married.“

This tale of „Transupstantiation“ is a „tale“ and a sorry one at that.

There were many participants at today's procession. It would be interesting to know how many „simply believe“ and how many actually „think“. All of them, however, doubtlessly, good people.

Here are a few pictures of today's procession:

Four helmeted Fire fighters carry the cover over the priest

who cradles the golden tabernacle containing the "body of Christ."

Since Bleiburg is a border town between Austria and Slovenia

many members of the local church are Slovenian, as is shown on the top of the banners carried by the faithful.

The local brass band, playing slow paced, somber music.

In this tabernacle is the Eucarist.

the body of Christ.

Does this Priest believe it ?