August 18-19 Belvedere and Vivaldi
August 18 Tuesday
For today our main activity of the day was our tour of the Upper Belvedere. Originally constructed as the summer palace for Eugene of Savoy the property was awarded to Eugene (for purchase) for his service to Austria at the Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683 at the age of just 20.
In learning about Eugene he has fast become one of my favorite historical figures, earning my personal admiration. Born to a french count who passed when Eugene was 10 and to Olympia of the house of Mancini. Olympia was exiled from the court for an alleged relationship with Louis XIV meaning Eugene was essentially orphaned and he passed into the custody of the court of Louis XIV. Spending his adolescence within the court studying upon courtly life and military matters Eugene was denied his military commission by Louis XIV for what Louis described as Eugene's distasteful appearance that was not in line with Louis' belief of beauty. Taking his skills to greener pastures Eugene was invited into the service of HRE Leopold I, and assumed the command of his brother's regiment, who had passed just weeks prior to Eugene's military appointment. It was in command of this regiment when at the Siege of Vienna (1683) Eugene would distinguish himself and his regiment for great personal valor in aiding the beleaguered garrison. His success here would be only the beginning of one of the most fantastic military careers of the era, proving to me that time and time again it is not rank, or name, or status, that makes the man, but his merits, and it is by his merits we shall know him.
August 19 Wednesday
Today began in much the same fashion as usual that I have come to so deeply appreciate in Vienna. I started my day a little earlier than yesterday, though we didn't meet until this evening, as I wanted to make the 'most' of my day. I started as per usual with a chai latte at the nearby cafe o'Pal taking a long moment to enjoy the Viennese air and to watch the world go by. After I made my way to the billa about a 30 second walk away to get the necessary groceries I would need to make myself sandwiches for lunch and pasta bollongese for dinner for myself and whoever may be hungry. Finishing at billa I made the brief walk home to unload groceries and head down to the basement to start a load of laundry. From here I took the time to make a couple ham and cheese sandwiches to go so I might be able to go on my walk down through the museum quartier over to a little more of the ringstrasse.
After a long day of sauntering through the old quarter of Vienna it came closer to the time to meet for our concerto at the Karlskirche tonight so I went to get an authentic Viennese haircut, that in my opinion came out pretty spectacular. To conclude this relatively uneventful day we meet at the touring dome of the Karlskirche for a rendition of Vivaldi's four seasons. I haven't much expertise in terms of critiquing classical music but Vivaldi's four seasons is a performance I have heard before but this was most certainly the more magestic of the two. More magestic if only for being located in a massive vaulted church deep in the heart of the city of music.
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