Wire chandelier in the lobby of Le Meridien
Dear Shaded Viewers,
I'm sunbathing out on my terrace at my room at Le Meridien in Vienna. (Rumor has it that I'm staying in the room that singer Katy Perry usually lives in, here on the top floor. The not-very-private terraces of the five or so 7th-floor rooms seem conducive to pop-star fence-hopping hedonism… or maybe they're just designed to be intentionally paparazzi-friendly.)
I worked it out this season so that I would get a nice dollop of laid-back Europe before I head back to Beijing next week–because really, Europe and China are basically in two different solar systems. Curiously, there is an interesting article in today's Herald Trib about the Beijing-based, government-harassed Chinese author (forget his name but he wrote "God is Red." Such a fab title) who escaped China through Yunnan into Vietnam and made his way to Berlin. Now he has literary freedom but I wonder if he'll get bored of Berlin's sleepy slacker culture….
Art piece behind the reception desk at Le Meridien
Installations in Le Meridien's lobby. My favorite pieces, however, are the eclectic sound installations in the elevators and revolving door.
I took a nice long stroll this morning, west of the Museum Quartier and wandered into this beautiful Catholic Church…
For me, no trip to Europe is complete without some sexy Jesus porn.
This is my fifth trip to Vienna but I'd never been to the quiet cobble-stoned streets of Spittelberg which are not too far from Le Meridien.
A curious 19th-century ski shop that seemed frozen in time, but also never open.
Vienna street art
Lip sculpture by the elevator at Le Meridien.
Tonite is night 2 of MQ Vienna Fashion Week…my roundup of the shows will be posted at the end of the week.
Later,
