Sunday, October 4, 2009

A Free Weekend in the City

Finally we had a Friday free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was good to relax and enjoy exploring the city without any time restraints.
The most exciting part of the day:
The Kunst Historiche Museum.
I only went through the picture gallery, but it's so mind blowing that I was there for a couple of hours! I got to see Reubens! Finally! They even have a huge exhibit of some Reubens and his contemperaries. I wasn't allowed to take pictures. So that was a bit of a bummer. But there's just something about seeing art live that speaks to the soul.
I also got to see a Carrivagio. If you think his use of light is amazing in text books, then you should see it in person.
I also saw Rembrandt, and Duerer. Jaw dropping.
On Saturday, we left Vienna for an afternoon to visit Klosterneuburg. This monestary is gorgeous! It was founded by Leopold I, but later it was renovated into it's current Baroque glory by one of his descendents, Leopold III. Unfortunately, Leopold III died before he was actually able to use any of his grand apartments. And so they remain basically untouched to this day. The monestary is most famous for it's altar piece by Verdun.