August’s weather has not been terribly kind. Blistering hot during the week, to the point where the city prohibited use of the Grillplätze in its parks; thank goodness those of us with gardens could heat up the Weber and not our kitchens on the hot days. Rain washed away two sets of long weekend plans, and nearly ruined this past weekend. But I digress.
Edward Burtynsky is a photographer who specializes in large format industrial, or “manufactured” landscapes that make a statement; and the kiosks around the city were featuring this distressed Colorado River delta, now a toxic stream, that caught my attention.
In order to keep our sanity on another inclement Saturday, Tony and I forced ourselves to visit the least un-interesting exhibit we could find in the city. In spite of ourselves and the museum staff*, we even enjoyed it.
Salt pans, aquaculture, rice terraces and traditional Indian rituals offered industrial, social and cultural statements.
Damage from a 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, an environmental statement.
This final photo, of a planned community in Florida, makes all kinds of statements.
Leaving the museum and ducking in between raindrops to catch a tram, I spied an altogether different kind of comment.
*A pet-peeve of ours in this country is not so much that the society is cash-based, it is the attitude that comes with. Two couples ahead of us purchased their tickets with cash (in English). We attempted to do the same, in German, and got attitude from the clerk when we handed him a €50 note for the €18 tickets . He asked if we had €20; when I replied that we did not, he basically said that he would not sell us tickets because he was running out of change.
Sigh. The museum had only been open for 5 minutes. Cash-based society, but no cash in the till? I gave him a “Mom” stare down and he politely accepted our note. C’mon, Vienna, you can’t have it both ways.
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August 22, 2017 at 20:17
The entire CIS is cash-based, and every self-respecting adult knows not to hand someone a large bill first thing in the morning. Perhaps you just need to travel a bit more and not expect everyone to be like the Americans? Also, Austria has a lot in common with with many other countries. All the things you complain about are things that are very common in other countries, especially when you travel farther east. Smiling and saying, genuinely, have a nice day instead of frowning go quite a long way.
August 23, 2017 at 12:53
Dear kyivtowien,
Austria is not a member of the CIS; I assume that statement simply implies the similarities of cash-based economies.
In the event you overlooked the blog front page in your haste to judge me, there are categories on the front page with pull-down menus that describe some of our travels; other adventures occurred before we moved to Europe and so are not included on the blog. Under “The Neighbors,” you will find our journeys to Czech Republic; Slovakia; Hungary; Slovenia; Italy; Switzerland and Germany.
Under the “Further Afield” pull-down there are additional geographical subcategories, all of which describe our travels to many places that were also cash-based (Morocco, Doha, Yerevan, Moscow, Kiev, parts of Romania, Serbia, and certainly Istanbul among them.) In fact, I recently purchased a rug in Marrakesh with cash; that story is rather humorous, I think.
As for “farther east,” we also spent nearly two weeks in Japan several years ago. They are far, far, from cash-based, however.
I stand with my statement about the museum clerk. My husband and I were playing tourists in a tourist destination and visiting a tourist attraction. We offered cash for a service and were met with disdain. This has happened at many times of the day in Vienna, and over a variety of services. At the other end of the spectrum, once we tried to pay for lunch with cash, but the nearest Bankomat was broken. The proprietor told us just to drop the money off the next time we were in the near, which we did. The Viennese (as well as the Austrians in general) can have their grey economy; there is no place for it, however, at major tourist attractions.
And finally, I do agree with you that I should travel a bit more. 🙂
With best regards,
Victoria