Prague and Vienna

Currently I am in Prague and it is STUNNING. I have absolutely 100% fallen in love with this city and its mesmerising skyline. This got me thinking about beauty, and the ability it has to transform. A few days ago I was in Vienna, a great city, but I was so tired from weeks of poor sleep and it was raining and I felt ugly and tired and just wanted a bloody cup of English tea. However, on our tireless mission to try and see everything we did not stop that day and walked until we found an art gallery. This art gallery was hidden away from our ignorant eyes and this coupled with us continuously getting lost when we finally found it, it felt like we'd found Vienna's hidden gem. Tucked away behind parks and universities was lurking a beautiful and grand palace, the type which you'd think a capital city couldn't hide so scrupulously. I looked out at the grounds and the view already made me feel more at peace. We chose this gallery because we wanted to see the exhibition 'Gustav Klimt - NOW OR NEVER', which housed the largest collection of Klimt's work in the word. It was to celebrate his 150th Birthday and his life long affinity with Vienna.

Honestly I was amazed, the beauty of it all made me feel very small. The Kiss is such an iconic piece and so to see it, in all its massive glory, just hanging there felt very surreal. Walking round quiet galleries really does give me a type of happiness which is unrivalled, to just be able to sit there and stare at a painting you have known all your life, a painting which you have a print of in your house, a painting which you always liked but never imagined would be so impressive in the flesh was very refreshing, it made me forget all my tiredness. His use of opulent gold coupled with the half finished pencil sketches created a sort of beauty i was not used to. The serenity of the faces of the women he painted gave me serenity also; it had medicinal effects.

Vienna was stunning, and Prague has been a massive whirlwind - we bumped into people we knew from home and had a very surreal moment screaming in a market. Getting my tragus pierced in a crazy back alley was probably a high- and low light, if I have nothing else to remember this trip by except a piece of metal in my ear it'll be worth it. Tomorrow morning we move on to Berlin and I am so excited; last year I did an ERASMUS placement in Barcelona and one of my great friends from there is joining us for the last leg of our trip. However, reality is dawning and my beautiful beautiful trip is coming to an end. I have been incredibly lucky to go away with the best people and have gotten to know and love them so much more. My estimations of Europe have also increased enormously, such variety and friendliness lurks in our continent that I KNOW that I will be back to explore more. This trip has been unlike any of my others, I have fallen in love, and loathed, trains in equal weight, I have seen what has been hidden in my own continent and I have become more aware of the wide and extensive histories all of these countries have. Interrailing has been great for me, it has been (for the most part) a stress free way to travel and I would recommend it to everyone, for I now know it is healthy to see as much as possible of the land you are part of.


Florence