Monthly Archives: July 2024

Jul31

The Belvedere Gardens

Posted on July 31, 2024 by perfectusvarrus

Tuesday, 02-July-2024

It was a bit of a wandering around day. Stretching my legs, catching up with family on the phone, I just let my legs go, and trusted to Vienna that I’d end up wandering into some interesting places.

I walked, I wandered, and I found myself in a palatial garden strikingly similar to Versailles.

Just… think about that statement. We live in a world where I can just unexpectedly wander into a palace garden that, when first made, would have been guarded… and that entering likely would have been a crime punishable by death.

Man, today does have some good sides, doesn’t it?

There’s not too much to tell about the gardens – I wandered, enjoyed the informational placards, and took it as an opportunity to relax and let my mind wander. I tried to sort of “walk the labyrinth” in the garden, but frankly it didn’t quite work out too well since the gardens were designed to be symmetric (showing mankind’s supremacy over nature), but it was definitely still interesting.

The real unique insight I had was the difference between European gardens and Asian gardens – specifically the palatial gardens here, and the scholar’s gardens that I’d seen in New Zealand (which were modelled after Chinese gardens). I tried to find Wikipedia articles about the two, to corroborate my thoughts and to help provide a bit more insight for my beloved readers… but wasn’t able to find anything. So, take the following with a solid teaspoon of salt:

European Palatial gardens – Seem to be focused more about showing opulence, and mankind’s control of nature. Symmetric, with some private areas (probably for scheming).
Chinese Scholar’s gardens – Seem to be focused on giving the owner & enjoyer unique perspectives, and interesting places to stand and contemplate the world. Specifically not symmetric, and I believe were intended to appear natural, as if they’d just happened to spring up. Lots of private areas (probably for scheming).

Jul31

Getting my phone fixed in Vienna

Posted on July 31, 2024 by perfectusvarrus

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Tuesday, 02-July-2024

Tuesday had been a fairly relaxing day for me – I’d gotten my cell phone repaired, and…

Huh. You know what? I wasn’t going to write up a post about fixing my phone, but in retrospect I think I’ll put one together quick, since it was a fairly impactful event on my trip.

Back in Krakow, I’d cracked the screen on my phone. I’ve dropped and tossed my phone countless times; being as careful with it as I can, since it does happen to be a critical lifeline and safety tool, but also trusting that the heavy impact-resistant case would serve its duty and help to keep the phone safe.

While having dinner at Pimiento one evening, I’d slipped while taking a photo of the glorious dinner in front of me… and in trying to catch the phone as it fell, I’d smacked it into the corner of the table. The angle and force turned out to be just right, or just wrong, and a lovely shatterpoint appeared on the screen.

It was almost purely cosmetic, thankfully, and so I was able to avoid an emergency repair to the phone… but every time I flipped it on, it would remind me that it was damaged, and possibly not waterproof anymore, and maybe it would get worse, and…

Yeah, anxiety.

Once I arrived in Vienna, I looked into repairs. They weren’t cheap, and the first two places I went wanted a week to fix them. I’d looked in Prague as well, but they’d been even worse… wanting two weeks minimum, and frankly being kind of jerks about it (fitting in with Prague in general…).

One evening though, while picking up a bottle of wine and some snacks from a grocery store in the nearby mall, I saw a small shop off to the side… and walked in. They took a look, and apologized in advance for the price and the time it’d take – 10% less than their competitors, and only an hour to fix.

I… uhh… I played it cool, and told them I’d be back in the morning to get it fixed.

It was an anxious hour, truth be told, not having a phone on me. Which should probably worry me a little bit, but… ehh, I’ll think about that later, when I’m not travelling far from home. Thankfully it went quickly, just long enough for me to get a nice lunch, and soon enough I was back picking up my newly-repaired, re-armored, and happily working phone.

Moral of the story? It’s worth shopping around for expensive repairs, and I’m probably too attached to my phone. Good times.

Jul30

Monument in honor of the soldiers of the Soviet Army – Denkmal zu Ehren der Soldaten der Sowjetarmee

Posted on July 30, 2024 by perfectusvarrus

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Tuesday, 02-July-2024

I didn’t expect to find a monument to the Soviets in Vienna.

I didn’t expect to find a monument to the Soviets… at all, really. I mean, after so many countries that had previously been part of the USSR, and after learning about so many atrocities that were committed by the Soviets, the thought of a monument to them was a bit unthinkable.

Yet here I was, standing in front of a rather beautiful one, in the heart of Vienna.

Reading into it online, I couldn’t find much about why it’s still been maintained into the current era… but that it was originally built back when Vienna was separated into districts run by the different Allied powers after World War 2. Have I mentioned that, yet? Similarly to how Berlin was hacked in half during the Cold War, so too was Vienna… except that it was carved into four quadrants; USA, USSR, UK, and France. This monument was built in the Soviet block, but within easy viewing distance to the other three.

Regardless, it is a beautiful monument. And, I’m happy to add, has been added to recently… the large wall behind the monument, separating it from the Belvedere Gardens, has been repainted into the Ukrainian flag – a fitting way to add new context, in my mind.