#8
Thursday, March 17, 2016
So, I’m sitting in my Granny’s
living room and a little Scottie dog is yawning beside me. It’s nice to be here
even though the sun’s hiding behind a wall of grey & the wind’s a little
bitter. By some bizarre blessing our first few days were full of sunshine—we
were up & down the sand dunes, jumping here and there amongst the pools of
water, chasing the dog about. I’ve eaten too much chocolate since I’ve been
here and too much time doing nothing, but oh well, I’m feeling relaxed.
Maybe a bit more about Vienna: So we
headed out to the Josephinum to see the stark anatomical models housed there.
The Venus there, with her blond hair elegantly combed, wears a chain of pearls
& yet her gut is entirely exposed. It was surreal. I could have spent an
age gazing at the wax models, until they’d entirely melted away. Right before
us was a seamless synthesis of art and science, you have to admire the Italian
sculptors of days gone by for their talent and dedication.
We also toured the Mad House of
Vienna, Narrenturm, which contained all sorts of odd things—contraptions you
could only raise your eyebrows at and wax models of a thousand different
ailments, all perfectly rendered. The building was perfectly circular, ostensibly
so the patients would simply wander back round to their rooms if they had a
mind to leave them, but also due to the astrological aspirations of the then
Emperor, Joseph II. Patients were housed by star sign, so as not to upset some
sort of cosmological idea or another, & the Emperor would lock himself away
in the upper stories—a mad king in a mad house.
What else did we do… we skated
gracefully (well, I wobbled about) beneath the Viennese Rathaus & ate
sausages & breathed in the cold air. It’s never so bad when everything
around you is happy and buzzing with life. We had wonderful Italian at a place
around the corner & ate superb cake at Demel & generally felt quite
fancy.
I didn’t want to leave, and wish I
could go back. This instant even! (and there’s a rhubarb crumble sitting in the
fridge here right now so that’s saying something, hehe).
Well, well. It’s time to play catch
up with these entries. I’m about 8 behind. Oh dear.
Ashleigh.
PS. School, well it’s spring break
so there’s not much going on. Once again exams are rapidly approaching & I’m
feeling increasingly anxious. It’s like clockwork, really. The Enmodes project
has been interesting, & they seemed pleased with the presentations, so that
was nice. Our A&M engineers did an impressive job ^^
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