Re-cap of Januar und Februar

Since December, there have been many changes in my life.  Both happy and sad.  The sad events I will not mention.

The good events are as follows:

~ trip to Dresden - TWICE.  Once to DJ at Bunker and another time to visit with wicked friends.
~ trip to Prague - with amazing Berlin friends for a DJ gig at ||RARE|| with Bloodygrave & die Lust! performing.  Highlights of the trip were the spoiling from our incredible Czech hosts (love to them!!!) and the long daytime walks in glorious weather through Praha.
~ DJing Blitz X
~ DJing Møntagsduncker

The biggest, bestest news is having my Artist Visa application accepted.  This means I can stay living and working in Berlin for one more year.  At the end of that year I simply have to go back to the Government offices and apply to have my visa renewed.  Words can not express the excitement I feel at the moment, but also the sadness of not seeing people in Vancouver for another year.

January and February were busy months for me with travelling and all the visa requirements and collection of the appropriate documents and letters, so unfortunately by blogs fell to the wayside.  Here is a shortcut through my experiences in the past 2 months.


Es ist Berlin, daß ich liebe!!! by Es ist Berlin, daß ich liebe!!! is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.  If you would like to use my photos for something, please use my 'view my complete profile' link to 'contact me' via email.

BERLIN

Azlan...  the newest addition to Anne's little cat family.

My "Trippen" shoes shoe print in the snow outside Anne's flat where I live.

My first attempt at making Knödel...  traditional German potato dumplings.

Fernsehturm and Bode Museum.

"Everything's good".

Teufelsberg.

"Clouds" exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof.

Walking down a frozen canal.

Abandoned children's hospital.

Peter Hook and the "Unknown Pleasures" tour at K17.

DRESDEN

View from Frauen Kirche.

Kunsthof Passage.

PRAGUE

Oldest Jewish cemetery.

The gang looking over the city.

Bloodygrave & die Lust!

The DJs for the evening at ||RARE||.

I have 2 weeks in Berlin, then I go to London for a week then back to Canada for a few weeks before I return to Berlin!!!  I must make the most of my time.

<3
Devi

Vienna - the architecture edition

Oh Vienna...  for many years I dreamed of visiting this architecturally stunning city, somewhat unscathed by the horrors of WWII.  Allied air raids and artillery combat between the Wehrmacht and the Red Army immobilized tram services, water and power, as well as destroyed or damaged thousands of public and private buildings.  Vienna was bombed fifty-two times during WWII and 20% of the entire city lay in ruin.

Walking in the rain down one of the many pedestrian walking/shopping areas.

The Wagner Apartments - Secession style architecture designed by Otto Wagner (1841-1918).

The Karlsplatz U-Bahn - station also designed by Wagner.

More beautiful architecture...  not sure of the architect.

The Secession Building - built in 1897 by Joseph Maria Olbrich for exhibitions of the Secession artists.  Klimt was the first president of the Secession Artist movement that began in 1897.

Building across from the Secession Building.

University of Technology.

Hundertwasser Haus - Expressionist landmark designed by the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, with architect Joseph Krawina as a joint collaborator.  This is the second Hundertwasser building I have seen in my European travels this year.  The first was in Switzerland on a drive-by.

Striking sculptures along the way.

St. Charles's Church.

More art...

Random fact:  In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit rated Vienna first for "quality of life", tied with Vancouver, Canada.  How about that!!!  :D

Devi

Vienna - the death & decay edition

There is so much to share about Vienna.  I took around 550+ photographs, and after editing I narrowed it down to 350.  Narrowed...  right.  I think for interests sake I will divide my experiences in Wien into a few blog postings.  Otherwise the post will feel like a run-on sentence.  o.O

Let's start with the dark underbelly of Vienna...  charnel houses, catacombs, a funeral museum and a cemetery.

Stephansdom - stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first being a parish church consecrated in 1147.  Stephansplatz was the location of a former cemetery, but laws were passed requiring the graves to be removed.  During this time most people wanted to be buried on church consecrated ground, so this request was a bit of an upset.  However, no one said anything against moving the bodies below the church, so they went further underground into catacombs and charnel houses -  a vault or building where human skeletal remains are stored.  Unfortunately photography was forbidden underground.

The stairway to the Stephansdom catacombs.

Kapuzinergruft - the Imperial Crypt - the second catacombs we went to.  It lies below the Capuchin Church and monastery and was founded in 1618 and dedicated in 1632.  The bodies of 145 Habsburg royalty, plus urns containing the hearts or cremated remains of four others, are deposited here, including 12 emperors and 18 empresses. The most recent entombment was in 2011 - Archduke Otto (1912 - 2011) and his wife Archduchess Regina (1925 - 2010).  (wiki)

The large urn likely houses the ashes of the deceased, however the smaller one was usually used for preserving the heart.

The Funeral Museum.

This is a handmade funeral wreath from the Victorian era.  It is made of tiny glass beads and takes about 6 months to make.  These replaced floral arrangements because naturally, they lasted longer.  Dark ones were reserved for married people and white for single people and children.

"Madame Récamier" by David - a painting made 3D.

This fascinating object was used quite often, but without any true success. It basically alerted the caretaker of a cemetery if the dead would rise. A newly placed corpse would have one part attached to them for 48 hours. Within that time if the corpse moved (always because of a body tremor or muscle twitch) a switch would click over and ring a bell to alert the caretaker.

You can turn your loved ones' ashes into diamonds!

There was the fear in Vienna that one would wake up buried alive. So there was an option for you to have this knife in the coffin placed above your heart, so if you should wake up alive you would instantly be stabbed through the heart. This option still exists today... for €300!

Zentralfriedhof - central cemetery.

Memorial and ashes of victims of National Socialism.

Special memorial for children and teens who were deemed "unworthy of life" - used for experiments and euthanization..  Grave site for victims of National Socialism.

Other areas of the cemetery.

And of course...  the Austrian pop/rock musician Falco...  He is the first and only artist to date, whose principal language was German, to score a number-one hit in the U.S. with "Rock Me Amadeus".  RIP.

To follow...  a final summery of my time in Vienna...

Devi