29.12.2013

the end of the year.

V.


Hello guys! :) Boy, this year has gone by fast, I really gotta say. So many wonderful, exciting, and new things have happened to me this year. I've seen Budapest and London for the first time in my life, my sister got married, my sister got pregnant (while we're still at it), met new friends, experienced new things.. But there were some sad moments as well, of course. This year taught me that it is never a good thing to dwell on the past too much, it's better to get ahead in your life and welcome the future with a positive attitude. This year was full of trips, travels and meeting new people. Thanks to you and this blog I was able to share all my experiences in pictures and words, so thanks a lot for following Esthoria and listening to the same old stuff everyday. :) For the last time this year I would like to once again share with you the day I spent in Vienna with my family today.


My father, who has developed a huge admiration for the british painter Lucian Freud, the grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and one of the most significant figurative painters of the 20th century, convinced us to go see an exhibiton of Freud's oeuvre here in Vienna. It is the first time ever to be able to eye on his paintings in Austria, as he had always refused to exhibit his work here or in Germany.

The exhibiton, which you can see in the Art History Museum in Vienna (Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien), was conceptualized with Freud's collaboration in the months before the painter's death in July 2011.




In Vienna, it is quite extraordinary that a painter of his time and style is being presented in a museum that mainly houses Egyptian art, Roman Antiquities, medieval- and Renaissance paintings. If you, however, look at his art and concepts more precisely, you'll notice that exactly this kind of surrounding makes sense and is even essential to understand his paintings. As he has stated a lot of times, he was not only inspired by surrealist art and Neue Sachlichkeit, but also knew the artworks of Tizian and Schiele very well.




Lucian Freud had developed his succinct style quite early. He's mainly known for his pastose paint application of his model's skin. While he was painting in a more reserved way in the early 60ies, his painting style from the 80ies and 90ies shows an extreme transition from detail to colour. Also, he emphasizes on depicting people's real faces and bodies rather than painting them in a idealistic and non-unflattering way.




I must say, I was quite impressed with his work, as I have never really dealt with his paintings ever before (yes.. shame one me the art history student)! :) After having visited the museum we were of course quite hungry and deciced to go to my family's favourite restaurant in town (-can you guess what it is? If you read this blog frequently, you should know!) :) YES, LEVANTE of course!



Shortly after we had made our orders the waiter came back to our table and said to me: "No Iskender Döner today?" Out of shock that he knows what I always eat when I'm here I couldn't say anything and just stared at the guy. My father was the one who then turned to me and said: "How often do you actually go to Levante?!" It was then that I realized that I should maybe try something new from time to time and not always go to the same place out of habit.. :) But it's just so delicious, what can you do?? :)

Alright, after lunch my parents headed home and Mike and I stayed in Vienna and got ourselves some cake in one of Vienna's most popular bakeries.






We then went to Starbucks and drank some coffee. Later we just were just walking around the city and found some incredible new spots. :)







Alright guys, that was it! :) That's all I have to show/tell for this year. I hope you've enjoyed this post. As we're heading off to Budapest tomorrow morning, I already wish all of you a wonderful New Year's Eve! Have fun! :) I'll see you in 2014!

Guten Abend! Good evening! Bonsoir! Buona sera!  

28.12.2013

christmas update.

V.


Hey guys! Lately, as you can imagine, Esther and I have had a lot of stress due to Christmas preperations and so on. But believe you me, it was worth it. Totally. I personally had a beautiful Christmas Eve with my entire family. We ate lots of great food, had some laughs and enjoyed each others company. :) If you want, you can now look at my photographic documentation of December 24th. Enjoy!


I got up at around 8am that day and accompanied my father who was driving to a Mostheurigen nearby where we had ordered meat and spreads for dinner the week before. After we had gotten home, I took photos around the house and watched my mum prepare the Christmas food for the night.














For lunch we had some lovely soup. Btw.- that's the famous soup I was talking about in the Christmas question tag some posts ago! :)

After it had gotten darker outside I got ready for church, which my grandma and I attend every year before Christmas eve at around 4pm. This time Hilde, the mum of my sis' husband Clemens, came with us while the others stayed at home. At around 5pm we were ready to celebrate Christas eve and went inside the living room to look at the beautifully decorated tree! :) While sitting in our comfy chairs and sofas we unpacked our presents.






I will definitely do an extra blogpost about my Christmas presents, as they were simply too awesome as to not share them with you. :)



And then we were off to my favourite part of the evening.. Can you guess what it is..? Yes, you're absolutely right,- the EATING part. :)



Lots and lots of awesome food,- I was so full, I almost exploded. But it was worth the pain! :) The same night, Conny, Clemens and Hilde had to drive back home to Vienna, so at around 11pm we said goodbye to them,- but not before I got to take a picture with my little niece! :)


Alright. :) After that they were free to go. While they were dropping off my grandma at her house the rest of us cleaned up the table (well, mostly my mum to be completely honest..) and eventually got to bed really tired but happy! :) As I must have already mentioned a billion times on this blog, I just love when the whole family's together, especially when we're able to welcome someone new in it, like Hilde. I find these special occasions very joyful and cannot wait 'till next Christmas when there will be a pattering of little feet under the Christmas tree for the first time in decades! :) I really hope that you guys had a wonderful Christmas with your family - or boyfriend or friends or friend or whoever - yourself too! :) And if you still haven't had enough of our Austrian Christmas Eve flashback,- then here's a little video I made, documenting the whole day from morning 'till evening. Enjoy! :)



If you're an Ipad or Iphone user, here's the link if you can't see the video: