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).