piran café

Opened last Friday, through 11-January-2009.

Via ArtDaily:

Austrian art takes center stage in the second in a series of exhibitions showcasing highlights from the Albertina’s collection of 20,000 international contemporary artworks. 220 works by 33 artists.

Albertina’s website is here, and a list of the artists featured and a few snaps from the exhibit are here. Very nice gallery.

Daily 10 am to 6 pm
Wednesday 10 am to 9 pm
€ 9.50
Albertinaplatz 1
1010 Vienna

Albertina 01, originally uploaded by pirano.

Here’s another pair gripped by Euro2008 fever. Or some sort of fever. Just outside Wien Südbahnhof. A Gadling photo of the day today.

Wien Südbahnhof , originally uploaded by pirano.

This should please at least some in the on-going “Where are they REALLY from” debate: The AP reports that the 430-year-old school which features Slovenia’s renowned Lipizzaners, is on the verge of bankruptcy after showing a loss of EUR 1.9 million last year. A US tour was canceled, and at least part of a bailout plan includes increasing the number of local shows from 38 to 69 this year.

That’s a bad idea, according to some:

Several unidentified riders told the newspapers Oesterreich and Wiener Zeitung this week they are worried about the welfare of the prized and pampered horses, and that the animals would risk injury if put through too many performances. In the 1980s, some stallions became lame after the number of shows was increased to 70 a year.

A pair of origin debate links: [dr filomena] [carniola].

It hasn’t been a good month for animals in Vienna. A shelter where a chimp, who goes by the name Matthew Hiasl Pan, has lived for 25 years, is going bankrupt, which could leave the primate homeless. The Association Against Animal Factories, an animal rights group in Vienna, tried to have him declared a person so they could gain guardianship.

But in a ruling yesterday, Austria’s Supreme Court said that a chimpanzee cannot be declared a person. Donors have offered to lend support, the AP reports, but under Austrian law, only a person can receive personal gifts.

Next step? The European Court for Human Rights.

lj-2007-01-31, originally uploaded by pirano.

I’m heading to Vienna on the 28th, but not for the world’s first divorce fair that will be held that weekend. (I’m just going to the airport.)

There’s a captive audience for such a gathering in the Austrian capital, to be sure. The divorce rate hit an all-time high of 50% in Austria last year, while 2/3s or all marriage in Vienna go tails up, providing a perfect setting for this inaugural trade show.

Held under the motto, ‘New Beginnings’, the BBC reports, Day 1 (27th) will be reserved for men, and Day 2 (28th) for women, “so couples can avoid awkward encounters and retain a degree of anonymity.”

Up to 20 exhibitors have registered so far, not only lawyers and mediators, but also estate agents, life-crisis experts, private detective firms and DNA laboratories offering paternity tests.

One company will offer therapeutic package holidays for newly divorced people.

There’s no mention of vow-preserving activities, so if the fair doesn’t live up to your happy ending expectations, let me suggest a few:

- True Romance: Allegories of Love from the Renaissance to the Present is at the Kunsthalle Wien through 03-Feb, an exhibit tracing “how this ‘great emotion’ is articulated in the fine arts.”

- There was a time when Klimt’s famous Kiss adorned the walls of many a girls’ dormitory room. To remember those better days, behold the original at the Belvedere Palace.

- Or, on a more practical level, get an 18 EUR family admission ticket to the Mozarthaus Vienna (a savings of up to 9 EUR).

Mozart statue, Burggarten, Vienna, originally uploaded by pirano.

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Cute, huh? A laid back January concluded with a few days in Vienna. From a half dozen personal favorite pics posted to my flickr gallery in January.

Mozart statue, Burggarten, Vienna, originally uploaded by pirano.

Hotel Geblergasse
Geblergasse 21
Vienna

Stayed two nights, 30-31-Jan 2007

At just 34 EUR/night, I can’t say enough about this place. The rooms were fairly basic but clean, the staff helful if a bit surly. But it was only 34 EUR/night, for a major international city. Convenience reigns –it’s a two-minute stroll to/from the Alser Strasse metro stop; depending on timing of metro connections, you can get from the lobby to the Westbahnhof station metro stop in less than 15 minutes. AND there’s free (!!) internet connections in each room (but bring your own network cable) as well a few free computers in the lobby.

I shall (absolutely) return.

Geblergasse’s Venere.com page.

Spotted this joint while killing time this afternoon near Wien sudbahnhof, just across the street from the Belevedere Palace. Unfortunately, it looks as if it’s been closed a long time. 

VIENNA — Whose horses?

It’s a ongoing point of contention between Slovenia and Austria: “They’re ours,” says Slovenia of the well-known Lipizzaners. “Be gone, knave, they’re ours,” says Austria. (See imperious attitude in poster).

Whichever side of the battle you’re on, the facts are such: the original stud farm is in Lipica (sounds familiar?), a village in eastern western Slovenia’s karst just a few kilometers from the Italian border, but was founded in 1580 by Archduke Karl, son of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor, Ferdinand I, to breed horses for Austrian nobility. Further confusing its ethnic origin — a local Karst horse was bred with Spanish, Arabian and Berber stock back then, creating and eventually unleashing a four-legged mini United Nations on the world.

Here’ the link to the museum in Vienna (no I didn’t go), and here’s the link to the stud farm in Lipica.

VIENNA — Spent much of this afternoon looking at heads in the Austrian capital. Here’s a couple, and a few more on my fledgling flick page.