Trip to Central Europe! Prague, Vienna, Budapest, oh my!

Well it's official, next month I'll be on my way to Prague, Vienna, and Budapest! Picture me doing my best Kermit the Frog impression - my arms flapping wildly around my head while I scream!!

My lovely traveling companion is intent on sampling the historic deserts and coffee of these three cities to refuel her passion for cooking and I'm excited about the natural history and medical museums, like the Naturhistorisches Museum and the Josephinum Medical Museum.


Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna

I think we both agree on our excitement to see antique stores, lots of art, and beautiful architecture!!!

In addition to learning a few words of Czech, German, and Hungarian, I've been doing a bit of reading. I read Rick Rodgers' wonderful and exhaustive book on the deserts and coffeehouses of central Europe: "Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafes of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague." The top three on my list are in Vienna: Café Sacher, Demel (bakery and coffeehouse), and Café Central.


Café Sacher, photo from website blog.hotelclub.com


Demel Bakery, photo from website www.chocolate-fish.net


Photo from Christian Brandstatter's book Vienna 1900: Art, Life, & Culture.


Lithograph by Gustav Kalhammer "View of the Hofoperntheatre form Cafe Heinrichhof," 1912, from Christian Brandstatter's book Vienna 1900: Art, Life, & Culture.

I'm now reading Christian Brandstatter's book "Vienna 1900: Art, Life, & Culture." It's a great overview of Viennese culture: music, fashion, art, architecture, politics.

Some visual highlights from that book...


Gustav Klimt's Beethoven Frieze, 1902 - click image for larger version


Advertising postcard for the Secession building, 1898


Egon Schiele before his painting Begegnung (Encounter), 1914

I am so excited to visit the Secession building and see Gustav Klimt's Beethoven Frieze. I saw a beautiful reproduction of it at the Neue Gallerie's Klimt exhibition in 2008, in NYC. I was also able to see the Egon Schiele 2006 Neue Gallerie exhibition and now I will be able to see their work in their hometown!


Emilie Flöge in "Concert Dress" designed by Gustav Klimt, 1906

Emilie Flöge was the longtime companion of Gustav Klimt. She was a fashion designer and part owner of the Flöge Sisters salon, an important part of the Viennese fashion industry. The neck line of the dress above is so amazing. I'd love to sew some sort of collar thing as an homage. Hum...


Wiener Werkstatte, stairs leading to fabric dept. salesroom

I'm also looking forward to see the Wiener Werkstatte Museum. From 1903 to 1932, the Wiener Werkstatte was a workshop and a collection of craftsmen and artists working in almost every medium. The Architonic website says this:

At the turn of the century around the year 1900 the city of Vienna was, next to Paris, one of Europe’s leading cultural centres. This was due to the rise of the middle classes, who were in the process of emancipating themselves from the model provided by the aristocracy and were searching for ways in which they could express themselves individually in art, architecture and music. Against this background the members of the artists’ association ‘Secession’ and Vienna’s Kunstgewerbeschule, the college of arts and crafts, founded the Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna Workshop) in 1903. This became a brand in itself and developed into a company which marketed not just furniture and small articles of everyday use made of glass, ceramics, silver and metal, but also jewellery and clothing – in line with the spirit of art as a holistic concept.

And in Vienna we plan on seeing the opera. Faust or Tosca are the operas being performed when we're there. I'm leaning toward Faust.


Watercolor painting by Rudolf von Alt, "Grand Staircase of the Vienna Hofoper," 1873


Hofopern Theatre (Vienna State Opera House) from website www.thetravelen.com.


Interior of Hofopern Theatre (Vienna State Opera House) from website www.thetravelen.com.

So much to think about and research before I leave...oh and packing! My next step is to learn more about Budapest.

A Murder of Crows, an Unkindness of Ravens

I was tucked into a leather chair enjoying my second cup of coffee of the morning and reading "Still Live: Adventures in Taxidermy" by Melissa Milgrom when she mentioned an "unkindness" of ravens. How have I gone this many years and not heard this term?!


Title: The Raven (Corvus Corax), Source: White, The Rev. Gilbert: “The Natural History of Selborne” (1879). Image provided by www.fromoldbooks.org.

Years ago, I'd learned of another fantastical name for a group of birds, a "murder" of crows, and upon discovering "unkindness" of course I rushed to my computer to learn of more bird group names.

Wikipedia has a page called "List of collective nouns for birds." A few of my favorites are "a seige of bitterns," a "watch of nightingales," a "parliament of owls," there are so many. I feel my life is one step closer to completeness now that I'm aware of this whim to name groups of birds with such fanciful names.

Returning to the book that started this line of query, "Still Life," there is a great review of the book with photos on one my favorite blogs, Morbid Anatomy.

Back to my book and now cold coffee...

Funny Dog in My Neighborhood

Kickin' back...



Close-up!

Edwardian Ball 2011 Project

For this year's Edwardian Ball I found a gorgeous vintage Victorian mourning dress with amazing lace at the fabulous La Rosa Vintage. Oran, the manager, really knows vintage wear and suggested I make a wine-colored underskirt and matching front bodice piece. What a great idea, as the dress is so black, it needs something to make it stand out.





I found some synthetic silk for $2.39 a yard at Discount Fabrics on Irving Street. The cost really took the pressure off as I've never sewn with light, silky fabric before. I could totally mess up and not lose much $ and I could always resort to wearing, under the dress, a long, black slip I already had.

Despite the synthetic fabric being incredibly static-y, it wasn't too bad to sew. The seams didn't pucker as much as I'd feared and despite the cheap cost, didn't look bad at all...yay!



I used historial pattern Butterick 3418.



It's a really easy pattern since I wasn't going to bother with a proper waistband (as it's a simple underskirt) or the embellishment suggested by the pattern.


Simple rolled hem



I am happy with the result and it showcases the lace so wonderfully.





I then moved on to making a simple piece that would go across the front of the dress. The dress already had a row of snaps on one underside of the bodice -- ah ha, originally there must have been a piece that was placed across the bodice. I made a rectangle with hems of four sides with snaps along the left and sewed it onto the dress on the right side.



I am super happy with the outfit and had so much fun at the event! Sadly it was a photo-light evening, only one photo of me the whole night (eek, I look so haughty) and you can't see much of the dress, but wow check out Patrick, he really went all out!!!