Last Saturday we headed to the Kunsthistorische Museum for some culture. Our friend John had never been there before, so we invited him to come along. John is from Afghanistan, you might have heard of it as the worst place in the world, with no museums (they blew them all up). So this was John’s first museum. We were happy to get him a season pass đŸ™‚
Oliver and Daddy next to the head of Aristotle. Chris was excited to see what Aristotle looks like, but I am not so sure it was carved by anyone who knew him…
I love this mosaic. I think I put up a pic of it every time I make a post about this museum, so sorry for the redundancy. But it is fun to explain to Elora what all the little pictures are in this mosaic which tells the story of Theseus who went through the labyrinth and killed the Minotaur in Greek mythology.
I absolutely love this sculpture, even if part of it is missing. I just don’t understand how a sculptor can make stone look like draping fabric, it is amazing to me.
Oliver got bored of the art work, but found some really neat lights in the floor of one room which was full of gold plates, bowls, and jewelry. Elora loved the treasures, and Oliver loved the lights – so this room was a hit with the kids.
Oliver and John climbing up the magnificent staircase. I never get sick of walking around this beautiful building! John’s family is still back home, and he’s trying to get legal/residency things taken care of to bring them here (it’s tough). He loves playing with the kids though because he hasn’t seen his own children since leaving them 2 years ago. It’s really hard on him…obviously.
Chris loves to tell Elora stories about the paintings. Oliver loves to climb up on the couches, then get down, then climb up another one. Occasionally I even get to enjoy a painting before he moves. Please note that Dirty Teddy also enjoys looking at the paintings. Elora insisted that he wanted to come along and see the art museum.
This is one of Chris’ favorite paintings, it is of Michael the Archangel casting the devils out of heaven. You can see that Chris really takes artwork seriously… About the museum, John said, “It’s really amazing. I have never seen anything like it.” He was quite impressed. I think he enjoyed the art museum better than the semi-nude ballet concert we took him to last year. That one was a bit awkward…
We found a section of this floor that we walked through the very first time we came to the museum, and that I have never been able to find since! The floor with the paintings is like a maze, and since we can never see it all with the little kids we have to enjoy it one section at a time. The sad part is there are some paintings I really love that I can’t find anymore… so I was excited to find this area once again. This painting is of Moses removing his shoes when near the burning bush, and there is a whole series of Biblical paintings in this section that I really enjoy.
These are Elora’s favorite paintings, I think we have posted about them before… strange heads that are created out of different themed objects. One has a theme of fire, the one above is harvest time with fruits and vegetables, one has fish, and one has trees. I will have to reread the descriptions of the paintings, there is tons of speculation about the interpretation of these works.
We walked up to the top floor and enjoyed the view up into the dome, and also down through the different floors. The kids sat on the floor and played, while the rest of us enjoyed the architecture.
I love all the intricate carvings that are done inside the dome. I think this is the most beautiful building in Vienna.
In the gift shop there is a little table set up for kids to be able to color. It is awesome! It keeps them occupied (Elora more than Oliver) and they even have little coloring books that are pictures of the paintings in the museum for the kids to color. So fun.
Elora was being a little ham, and asked me to take her picture with Teddy. Dirty Teddy really enjoyed the museum as well.
As per usual in Vienna, it was raining when we got to the museum, but beautiful by the time we left, so the kids got to run around in the grass in front of the museum.
And they stood still for me to take a photo of them in front of the statue. I wonder how old they will get before they get annoyed when I want to take pics of them. Right now they still think it is fun…
On the way to the Naschmarkt for a kebab, Elora found a little black ladybug with red spots. How she saw it in the grass over a fence, I have no idea, but she stopped and insisted on putting it on her flower so it could walk with her. I have never seen a black ladybug before, it was kind of exciting! She was so sweet talking with her bug, and we finally convinced Elora to find some nice flowers for the ladybug, because I don’t think the Naschmarkt would be the ladybug’s home of choice…
Funny side note on Elora and kebabs – when Elora wakes Chris up in the morning, she will come in and whisper in his ear “Do you want a kebab?” It is hilarious and super annoying, because it tickles really bad when she whispers in your ear! She loves kebabs, and chowed down on the meat in mine and Chris’. I told Chris we need to start asking if they will sell us a kid-size kebab!
