Into the streets!

Or, more like back to the library. May Day is actually a pretty big deal in Europe in general and Vienna is no different, though it is naturally very... Viennese... about its celebrations. Those mostly consist of just about everyone heading for the park, cafe, or other place of relaxation, newspaper reading, and chatting. Oh yeah, and many choose to stroll along the streets in the first district, looking into closed shop windows. I spent most of the day reading in the Stadtpark (where else?) and keeping this guy company...

Sitting on a bench near this Schubert memorial (not a grave... he's buried in Zentralfriedhof) gave some time to notice one of its interesting details.

A muse (or perhaps a personification of music herself) holding a harp and riding a sphinx. Because Schubert was just that awesome.

Anyway, May 1 also marked the beginning of the "get serious about the research again" period. While writing up my Salzburg findings for a presentation to be made next week, I am also digging in to the newspapers and music journals at the Österreichische National Bibliothek. I now know a whole lot more about the week of March 14, 1966 than I ever wanted to know... all I want is the concert reviews, but interviews with Neil Armstrong about Gemini 8 are also cool, I guess.

The library reading rooms are actually in the Hofburg because, once upon a time, the national library was, you know, the Hapsburgs' personal collection...

Of course, nobody actually works in the Prunksaal anymore. It now serves as the place for exhibitions hosted by the library. The most recent one examined the Anschluss through the lives of several Jewish individuals--prominent Austrian intellectuals, artists, politicians, and writers--as they experienced it.

That said, it's not like the "working" parts of the library are un-interesting. For instance, this is my coffee break view...

The Heldenplatz... parking lot of heroes.

And the library is smack between the antique instruments collection and the Ephesos Museum...

So, all in all, I can't complain about the working conditions. Except for the fact that the actual reception study involves microfilm... lots of microfilm. Which means motion sickness from all the scrolling.

Also, I may have finally made headway with an archive. Somebody knows somebody, who knows the really important person. Fingers crossed!