Screen on the Green

I've been wanting to go to see a film at the Everyman Theater in Angel called "Screen on the Green". It is the local small (more Art House) theater right off the Islington Green Park - hence the name.








It was having a screening of "Super 8", the new film from J J Abrams and Steven Spielberg, so we couldn't resist.




The unique thing about Screen on the Green is that it has a full bar inside the theater, where one can order drinks as well as popcorn and cake.

It reminds me of a small theater/brewpub that I visited in Salt Lake City called Brewvies.





It has digital projection and is a pleasant and intimate theater. They often have morning screenings of children oriented films as well as genre film festivals. It reminds me a bit of the Nuart or New Beverly theaters.







Now this is the way to see a movie.

Shakespeare's Old Globe Theatre

Our friend Jason invited us to join him at the Shakespeare Old Globe Theatre for a performance of Anne Boleyn. It isn't a play written by Shakespeare. In fact it is a recently written play, but it is written in the style of Shakespeare, and is meant to be performed in the round, which is the way the theater is designed to showcase productions.









I reserved our seats, and also paid an extra 1 GBP to have a cushion. I didn't realize it, but the theater only has benches with no backs. For another 1 GBP, I could have reserved a folding seatback that would have given us some back support. Either that, or if we were to sit in the back row, we would have had the wall to lean back against. The person in front of me had the back support, and he kept leaning back into it, and hitting my knees.

The production was great, and I feel as though for the first time I got an idea of how Shakespeare's plays were meant to be performed. There is a lot more relating to the audience, and the long and lengthy monologues solicit audience identification.

The stage is much as I had imagined it from descriptions in school. It was exciting to see such a passionate and faithful recreation of a theatre that last stood in the 1600's.





The theatre is as accurate as can be achieved in this modern day. It is complete with an authentic thatch roof, which was what caused the destruction of an early incarnation of the theatre.








Nowadays, the roof has a sprinkler system just in case.






Shakespeare's Old Globe Theatre is the brainchild of actor Sam Wanamaker, an American who had the idealistic/naive notion that such a theater would have been standing when he came to London to work on a film back in the 70's. To his surprise, only a small plaque existed to mark the location. For the next decade, he gathered support and money to acquire the property and build the theatre. Sadly, he died before he had the chance to see his dream completed.




In front of the theatre are stone plaques recognizing the contributions of different organizations and individuals who helped to make it a reality.








I was pleased to see some the American Film studios represented as contributors.







After the show, we had a small tour of the theatre and the adjoining Shakespeare museum. I don't know that it is necessary to take the tour if one has tickets to a show. I probably would have skipped it in hindsight.






It was a warm day, and we ended it with a nice glass of the classic English Summer Drink, Pimm's, in a park near the theatre. A truly lovely day.

London's Pothole-Ridden Roads

Okay, so I've driven throughout a bunch of Europe now, and I can easily say that the UK has some of the worst roads.

It's embarrassing that this once great nation has some of the worst maintained roads in the 1st world. Sadly, whether or not England is part of the 1st world seems to be more and more a matter of opinion these days.

I don't know if the roads weren't built properly in the first place, or if the weather is just particularly hard on the roads, but there are an estimated 2 million potholes throughout the UK. To be honest, that number seems low to me.

In my neighborhood, there are patches on the patches, and still there are potholes. I tried to practice roller blading on my street. HA! I did learn to stay up however, and I figure if I could manage to blade on my streets, I would be ready blade with the Sunday Afternoon Blading group.

A group is now petitioning the Transportation Authority here to have signs posted where there is a severe pothole. The sign would look like the one above. Absurdity rises to new levels. I say just fix the roads. Perhaps some of the vast numbers of people on unemployment and benefit over here could be put to work.

Vienna - The Schmitterling House

It was raining, and Tony and I had some extra time, so we went to visit the Schmitterling (Butterfly) House, which occupies the Orangerie at the Hofburg Palace.










I don't know if it is worth the price of admission really, but it was a fun diversion from our standard fare of sites and museums.






We walked through the hot and humid space trying as best we could to capture the illusive butterflies on film.





They were quite beautiful, and we were somewhat successful in our Schmitterling Photo Safari.




Before long, it was time for lunch. Tony wanted to have one last Kasekrainer before heading to the airport, so we hit the Wiener Wurstl stand and each got one.






We decided to take the express train, which really is an express train from Central Station to the airport. It is very painless and affordable and definitely the best way to get there.



We discovered (no surprise) that we could get one last piece of Sacher Torte at the airport. The perfect way to end a wonderful trip to Austria.

Vienna - Dr. Freud

One of Vienna's most famous residents who fled the Nazi's to London was Sigmund Freud. As a Jew, and seeing the turning tide in Europe, he took his family and moved to London when it was clear that things did not look good.





However, the building in which he lived and had his office still stands. It is now a museum dedicated to him.







There is not that much inside the museum, however the furniture that was in his waiting room has been returned to decorate that room much as it was at the time he lived and had his practice here.

The flat was basically split into two halves. One half was the residence, and the other half was his office. Both had separate entrances. Unfortunately, Freud's famous couch is not at this museum, but is housed in London at the British Museum.

It was interesting seeing this space where Freud developed his famous theories on Psychotherapy, that have so changed and shaped the modern world.

The Vienna Coffeehouse Scene

Vienna has some beautiful coffee houses. Some of the most magnificent I have ever seen. Many go back to the 1800's.

One fine example of these is Cafe Hawelka. We first heard of this cafe on a travel show. It has been run by the Hawelkas for many, many years. Mrs. Hawelka passed away a few years back, but Mr. Hawelka, who just turned 101, is still around. I can only imagine the changes that Mr. Hawelka has seen in Vienna over that time.




We went to Hawelka Cafe in search of a classic Austrian pastry called Buchteln. It is a classic yeasted roll filled with jam. They only serve it in the evenings after around 8pm. We managed to have them straight from the oven and piping hot. Absolutely delicious and worth the effort to have them.




We also tried a couple other Coffee Houses. We liked Central Coffee, which is in an amazingly beautiful building.




The pastry bar is stunning. We tried pastries a several of the different coffeehouses, and I can't imagine any of them serving something less that wonderful.



I tried a Cherry and Pistachio Tart that was incredible. Tony and I learned to order a Cafe Melange, which is similar to a cappuccino, but uses Whipped Cream instead of the frothed milk.





Viennese Coffee Houses introduced the world to the laid back coffee culture. This is in sharp contrast to the grab and go Italian Coffee Bar. Instead, a coffee in Vienna allows the customer access to lounge as long as they would like.

Vienna - Kunsthistorisches Museum

I try only to do one Art Museum on a trip, as Tony is not a huge art fan. This trip it is the Kunsthirtorisches Museum. And what a beautiful museum it is.






It was built by the Hapsburgs to show off their amazing art collection. It is a truly diverse and fun collection. It has art that is both serious and entertaining.



The building is itself a work of art. It is by far the most beautiful art museum I've ever visited. Thank God it wasn't destroyed in WWII, for though all the art could be moved to secure locations, the building could not.



Even Tony enjoyed the collection at the museum. We followed Rick Steve's tour of this art museum. His museum tours have served us well over the years as they tend to hit the highlights while keeping the length of stay to a managable size.



We wandered through the beautiful galleries filled from floor to ceiling with stunning paintings representing some of the best of both Northern and Italian art.










There are fine examples of art both religeous and bawdy.








The museum also houses some fine Caravaggio paintings that I really like, and it was great to see them in person.





It was fun also to see some reappearances of versions of some of the paintings we had previously seen. We saw Velasquez's "Las Meninas" in Spain. Here they have a painting of Princess Margarita as an image simply to show how she is growing up also by Valasquez.








Tony was a good sport, but clearly not as impressed by the collection as me.



The collection is a manageable size and is a beautiful display of some awesome works of art. I highly recommend visiting this museum when in Vienna.

In fact, I might visit it again if ever I am in town again.