While I do not have as much time now to organize my fotos and write something that I hope is worth reading, I did want to share some different sort of images with you.
After I left Vienna, I took the train to Salzburg and spent more days exploring the nearby villages and mountains. Twice I saw this wonderful look of man and nature together. It was a fruit tree that grew smack up against the building and the branches had been trained to grow around the windows. Contrasting the green fruit and leaves with red chrysanthemums in windows boxes made for a lovely, although almost grid-like, effect.
My friend Sylvia had explained the subtle differences of Austrian home design to me, explaining that so many tourists expect all Austrians in this region especially, to live as in the film “The Sound of Music.” She is not keen on the homes that have that “touristy look” and prefers the more authentic Austrian home fronts. But it is also fun to remember that Austrians are people too and like all people, they will have different tastes. I love being reminded of this and as we turned a corner, I saw this cool African sculpture with this giant fishing hook. Enjoy.
And finally, I wrote about my friend Mimito Sorrydista affectionately known as “The Man of the Wind” back on my June 8 blog entry. He caught me online last night on Facebook and we chatted for a bit. He told me that he was chased out of Florence but he did not have much more time than to explain to me that is was because of “vigili in borghese. ma il pubblico che poco prima si stava divertendo anno infierico contro di loro. protestando che l'arte va rispettata.” which I understand to mean that possibly someone made a complaint about street artists, or specifically him, but I have no details. I am aware of some problems with the street artists in Florence, but also aware that the new government might be a time to change things.
He then proceeded to tell me that “la realtà in austria è decisamente pregevole. apprezzano e si divertono con gli artisti.” or Austria appreciates artists and makes it fun for them to do what they do.
He is currently performing among about 200 street artists from around the world in Linz, Austria. The festival is called “Linzerpflasterspektakel.” Can you say that three times fast? Check out their site www.pflasterspektakel.at (in English too) to see who the performers are. Hurry, the festival ends Saturday the 25th!
I must say that while earning money depends on the tourists, like always, this festival does house the artists during the festival, reimburses for transportation (within reason), and gives the artists a food budget. Still, tip nicely or at least something, because there is more to life than eating and sleeping. The artists must buy costumes or art supplies and often spend a lot of time outside of performance hours to hone the skills you witness in only a short period of time.
Buon lavoro, Mimito!
