I left the palatial gardens of Belvedere behind, continuing my wanderings through the parks that Vienna had arrayed out before me. I passed a really neat looking business park (headquarters to Erste Bank, I think), a well-placarded train station, and finally found myself walking down the paths of the Vienna Arsenal.
It was lovely – just wandering, watching, and appreciating the quiet. From what I could tell, the Arsenal was a museum, but had closed a bit ago. Long enough for the tourists to have left, at least, which left me able to enjoy the area basically by myself… save for the few staff who were hustling off to their cars for the evening.
It was quiet and calm, and I enjoyed it immensely.
As a side note, I saw a few paintings up on the wall nearby, showcasing some of the exhibits available in the armory… and wow. This one – the artist didn’t have to go this hard with this impressive of a piece, but they did. For us.
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).
Monday, 10-June-2024, through Saturday, 15-June-2024
I liked Riga.
It felt a bit smaller than Tallinn, and didn’t have the strongly-defined (and walled off) old town, but the old town was definitely there, and was absolutely lovely to wander around. Whereas Tallinn was built around the walls of the old town, Riga seemed to be built around the river – beautiful parks running along both banks, with amazing sculptures throughout.
Lots of beautiful buildings, and I definitely spent quite a bit of time just wandering and appreciating the architecture that surrounded me. It definitely felt like it was newer than Tallinn’s old town, with buildings that seemed a bit more… sculptural? Maybe? I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there was definitely a subtly different feel to the city. Neither good nor bad, but definitely interesting.
In all candor, I was also starting to burn out while I was in Riga. This marked my halfway point for the trip – it was my sixth week traveling, and I was starting to feel it. Museums became a bit more monotonous, and I didn’t quite have the endurance to see multiple galleries in a single day. I was still walking a ton (between 5 and 10 miles a day), but I was taking it a bit more slowly… and needing a bit more down time in the hotel in the mornings and evenings.
There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s part of anything – six weeks of vacation and museums and walking can wear on a soul similarly to six weeks of work… it’s a better type of wear, and I’d choose it every day over going back to the chaos of work, but it’s still there.
I took some days lighter than I normally would have. I rested a bit more, watched a bit more cartoons, and finished the book I was reading. I did laundry at a laundromat downtown, and relaxed at a cafe while the machine tumbled. I didn’t take a hard-rest, but I definitely slowed down a bit… I can’t tell you if it would have been better to fully stop, but I can say that slowing down definitely helped quite a bit.
Ohh! One extra fun part!
I found an archery range! By “range” I mean “a few cloths draped between trees, with some targets set up and a very overworked guy trying to keep the kids from shooting each other”. Like… seriously, how was this legal? I had fun plonking a few arrows into a target… but dear god it was concerning being around there.
Now, the part that everyone loves – Food! Where did I eat while adventuring around Latvia?
LIDO – A sort of cafeteria-style place, grab your tray and pick your food. Interesting, and I believe it was fairly authentic Latvian fare?
Rozengrals Vinarium Civitatis Rigensis – Very fancy spot, in an old wine cellar, with a strong medieval theme. Fun, but… I don’t know. I went on a Tuesday, and I think it’s more of a “go on the weekend” kind of place.
Big Bad Bagels – Awesome and simple. The bagels were great.
Portofino – Delicious italian spot… though their website was out of date, which meant that the meatballs that I was craving weren’t on the menu. But still, good food!
Caffeine – Awesome and simple coffee shop, beautifully welcoming for me to spend some time blogging.
This Place Doesn’t Need a Name – Ehh. This was okay. Wouldn’t really recommend, though the decor was really cool.
Cherry Fix – I spent an evening purging my system of this dinner, and then three more days recovering. Do not recommend. This’ll get its own blog post soon enough.
