Baroque | Tales from the Hutt

Wednesday, 31-July-2024

The Church of Saint John the Baptist at the Béguinage… or, as it’s known now, the House of Compassion, sat a stone’s throw from my rental. It’s a pretty church, if looking a bit old and in need of a pressure washing, and it (along with the square around it) made for a very excellent landmark for my adventures.

Wednesday evening, after my adventures in the city, I realized that I hadn’t actually walked inside the Church of St. John the Baptist at the Béguinage. I’d walked past it quite a few times, but hadn’t seen the door open previously… or if I had seen it, I hadn’t quite picked up on it and walked in.

Today, I headed inside.

I was expecting your standard-issue church – some stained glass, a fancy organ, maybe some statues and paintings. A gilded alter, you know the drill.

I didn’t see what I was expecting.

I mean, okay. I did find all of that. I didn’t notice any of it, at first, though – instead having my attention captured by what had been made of the church.

It was an art exhibit.

It was stories of refugees, of asylum seekers, and of the homeless population.

It was a meeting place, with a long table with dozens of chairs in the center, seemingly waiting for people to come in and have a communal meal.

The whole interior had been reworked – and as I wandered, I ran into a docent who told me the whole story: I short, the church had become abandoned during COVID. Belgium has quite a few churches, and a dwindling religious population it seems, and so when the previous pastor retired… this massive stone edifice that would have been the cornerstone of any religious group in the United States was simply left empty. They tried to get a new pastor, but as none were available the congregation simply moved on, and left the building locked up.

Squatters moved in – but instead of defacing or damaging the building, they turned it into a home for asylum seekers and refugees abandoned by the system. The previous congregation slowly came back, helping them maintain the building, and the church turned from a place of worship into a place of survival… and then, when the asylum seekers and refugees found more permanent housing, it was transformed again into a memorial to their struggle and the struggle of so many like them.

I adore this.

I can’t say how much I adore this idea – instead of huge cathedrals laying unused, as a gilded monument to the power that religion used to hold, they’re turned into places to help those in need. I spoke at length with the docent, learning about how the whole process went, and got his contact information so that I could reach out once I finished settling into Ireland.

It really was an incredibly moving experience – all the more so because it was unexpected and unplanned. Absolutely worth stopping in.

Saturday, 29-June-2024, through Thursday, 04-July-2024

Vienna.

Ancient seat of the Hapsburg Empire.

A city of high ceilings, soaring architecture, and gilded palaces. Sweeping gardens, soaring domes, and expansive museums were everywhere – A golden history alive and well in the current day.

There were also other reminders. Two imposing flak towers, left standing when they proved too challenging to demolish. Indirect references to the cities previous Jewish population. Veiled references to the historic traumas that the city, or more accurately its peoples, had experienced.

I found that I loved Vienna at first, though after learning some of its deeper and more divisive history I found that love turning a little black. Vienna still holds a place as one of my favorite cities on this adventure, at least so far, though there’s a bitter taste that was left after learning of the levels of inequity, lost promise, and antisemitism that checker the city’s past.

Let’s actually flip the script a bit here, and talk about food first.

First and foremost – I adore Austrian cuisine, I’ve learned. Schnitzel is amazing, delicate-yet-hearty breakfasts are glorious, and good coffee over slow meals is critically underappreciated in the United States. Seriously – I ate Schnitzel four times, I think, and three of those meals were from the same place. I don’t know why… but something about the crispy crunch and savory chicken is just… so good.

Schnitzel Konig – I adored this place. Simple, easy, and delicious. Great price, and excellent both eating in and taking away. Turns out – I adore schnitzel. Who knew?
La Bes – A lovely small-ish bakery near where I was staying. Great coffee, excellent breads and pastries. Couldn’t ask for more.
The Legends – A good spot for breakfast, again right near where I was staying. Not anything particularly special, but a solid start to a solid day.
Kunsthistorisches Museum cafe – A cafe in the art museum, what more could I ask for when I got hungry while visiting the art museum? Honestly, it was really good, and not that overly expensive, so… would recommend as part of the museum, so you can have some downtime between exhibits.
That’s Amore – Solid Italian spot right near where I was staying. It wasn’t bad, but was exceptionally slow… possibly because of the World Cup which was monopolizing everyone’s attention. Still – I’m trying to slow down a bit and enjoy myself, so this was a good excuse to be relaxed.
Schachtelwirt – I stopped in here for a quite bite of lunch, and wasn’t disappointed. Good Weinerschnitzel, solid sides, quick and simple.
Cafe Scalina – Simple and solid breakfast near where I was staying… fried eggs, latte, some pastries… nothing too exciting, but good fuel for the day.
Tomochan Ramen – This was a neat stop. I noticed them while exploring the nearby Belvedere Palace, and figured that I could go with a nice bowl of ramen. What I didn’t expect was that it was also a Halal restaurant… and so the Ramen didn’t include pork. I got beef instead, and it was surprisingly excellent!
Cafe Central – Now this was a special place. A very old cafe, from 1876, this cafe has hosted illustrious thinkers such as Freud, Trotsky, and many others. More importantly to me, it very likely hosted my Grandfather back when he was a young boy living in Vienna. The ambiance was amazing, the food excellent, and the sense of history and “why yes, I am exceptionally fancy, thank you” was incredible. I didn’t include any pictures here, since they’re going to be getting their own entire post!

With our bellies fed with excellent food pictures, where do we go from here?

Vienna wasn’t a small city, and I found myself using Electric Scooters for most of my excursions into the city… at least to get to the general area of my destination, before finishing up on foot. The scooters were pretty tightly controlled, in regard to where one could park them, but at this point that’s been pretty common from what I’ve seen.

People follow traffic laws, as one would expect, and navigating around the city was frankly a breeze. Many people spoke English, though I did get to flex what little bits of German I do know without any condemnation of rudeness.

Simply put, the city was staggering. Everything was ornamented, everything seemed to exude the opulence and royalty of Vienna’s past, and people seemed to simply live that life. I didn’t see too much modern infrastructure, but then again I didn’t venture particularly far outside of the old-town area. I’m sure that I’d be able to find hip areas of urban art and modern stylings, if I had felt the desire to look… but as it was, I simply enjoyed the history and historic opulence of the older portion of the city.