Green is the word of the day

Everything is suddenly and amazingly green around the schloss.  I didn't notice it until today.  It might be because there aren't a lot of green spaces in Venice.  So when you get to green spaces like here, you notice them more.
There's the deep, dark green that looks almost black of the pine trees, the soft, misty, green of the trees on the island in the lake, and the bright, happy yellow-green of the trees overhanging the lake. 
Even the lake has a green hue today.  Reflections of the trees and spring, yes but it's so intense with everything else.
Like Nature woke up over the weekend and decided to paint a monochrome of green for us to delight in.

Everything but the mountain of course.  It's still got snow on the peak and in the shadows.

Shifting

I finally finished shifting the Supreme Court collection from the back hallway to the library balcony.  Yay me!
It's something I can look at and say I did that.  It's the whole end of the day accomplishment thing.  You can point to something tangible.  I get the same thrill of pride when I see the Ministry Resource Collection at Divinity. 
The last few days I've been writing for the library.  This place needs a Mission statement and values really badly.  A collections policy wouldn't hurt either.  You wouldn't believe the number of dupes we have.  I'm trying to stop the flood of duplicate outdated books that come in.
Plus they don't really match what we do anymore.  Not that the historical perspective is bad, but no one uses those books, as far as I can tell, and we only have so much room in the place.
If I learned one thing at Yale it's that the library has to support the mission of the people/institution that use the place.  And that the collection development needs to match that mission and educational needs. 
So far this library doesn't.
It did years ago, but now it's been lost or stuck in the past while the seminar moved ahead.
I hope to help fix it.  I made a start by going over the new publication catalogs we get.  Yesterday I highlighted a bunch of books from Oxford University Press Spring history catalog.  They had some timely and topical materials for the Seminar.
It would be nice to get some of them in for the shelves and sessions.  I have 3 other catalogs that I went through.  Not as much as OUP, but some are things that, if I had the budget and the authority, I would order for the place in a heartbeat.
Since I don't I handed it off to the program directors so they can order things.  I'm putting the other three catalogs in boxes as well.

Some Venice photos.

Just because I felt like sharing some of the fun ones. And honestly they were too fun to not include somewhere.
I loved the name of this bridge.  There was a Ponte de L'arsenal o del Purgatorio, but no Inferno.  I found the lack of hell in the trio very disappointing.  There were 3 bridges right in a row.  It's only fair the final one was Inferno.  You get all prepared for it, and then nothing.  If they were following a theme they should finish it.  But that's my opinion.

And what can brown do for you?  Only in Venice is the UPS truck a blue, yellow and brown striped boat.

Jeez, make the walk a little narrower, why don't you?  Those of us who are claustrophobic still can breathe!

It's a dog and his boat.  Oh yeah, and the guy with opposable  thumbs.  Venetians love their dogs.

Su e Zo per il Ponti part 2 or Adventure in Venice.

Okay, I'm back now.  It's Monday morning here at the library.  After Venice cataloging isn't such a chore.  Although the law books don't make it easier.  But personally, I think Venice makes everything better.  It's such a strange city when you think about it.  But so magical.

I did get into Venice about 6 am, despite some worries in Verona.  We sat at the station for 90 minutes there.  I don't know why, but it didn't help me sleep.  (Not to mention the seats.)  The compartment was very cool.  Like the Hogwarts Express train cars.  Except no underage wizards and trunks.  I have photos.  See?

After getting into Venice I left my bags at Santa Lucia and got on the vaporetto to San Marco.  The city had barely changed since I was last there 13 years ago.  While that's part of it's charm, but it's also sad in a way, I think.  It's like a living archives not a real city.  But those are thoughts for another post.
I met another single traveler in for the day.  She was trying to figure out what to do and where to go. She had forgot her guidebook.  I felt for her.  I hate traveling without one too.
We wandered around Piazza San Marco for a while taking photos.  I had to buy my ticket for the Su e Zo and found out the starting time and place(the corner of the Doge's Palace and 10 am) then window shopped with Yula. She didn't quite understand the whole race thing, but that's okay.
I found this cute little bakery deal and had a chocolate brioche, yum.  Where else can you get chocolate in bread and consider it breakfast?  Okay, other than Paris? 
Since we were looking in the streets around San Marco everything was out of our price range, Versace usually is.  But it's fun to look, and the streets and the Square were so quiet.  Even the famed pigeons weren't out in force.

At a little before 10 I lined up with other 'racers'.  It's non-competitve, so racers isn't quite the right word.  But that's what they call us, so it's okay with me. 
There were flag waving displays, costumes, music, and ceremony for the start.  It's all  so typically Venetian.  Then at 10 the barrier was lowered and we were off! 
It starts out slow because of the first three bridges which all are in the first 5 minutes.  The trail ran us through the gardens into the actual homes and streets of Venice and around behind the Arsenale with a view to San Michele and into Castello and right by the church of S. Giovanni e S Pietro.  There are lots of celebrity tombs.  Renaissance celebs just so you know.  It's also quite beautiful.  We had our first snack right outside on the steps.  There are a few shops, restaurants and take-out places.  I saw a few people eating gelato instead of the raisin roll.  Which wasn't a bad choice, cause you know gelato...

I poked into some shops, bought some millefiori, and then started on leg 2.   By this time my feet were screaming for pity.  But we had to press on.  I really wanted that completion medal.  And when I say we, yes Larry came too. 

And yes, there are photos.  A few anyway.  He thought the whole thing terribly easy, but he got to be carried.  Cheater!

Su e Zo per il ponti

This is the annual Venetian up and down the bridges race!  I have wanted to do this for about 10 years!  I finally have the chance to go since it's close.  Okay, not like across the street close, but there's no jet lag involved.  I love Venice, so overnight on the train isn't a huge hardship. 
Except no one wants to come with me.  Or can.  But I'm so excited about going, I know it's the right thing to do.

100 Euros for the train to Venice.  A bit pricy, yes, but going to Boston or D.C in business class on Amtrak isn't much more than that.  I'd get to Venice about 6 am on Sunday so I can go to Mass, do the walk, shop, browse, take photos, meet new people, then come back to Austria in time for work on Monday morning.
It can't be worse than hiking a mountain.  Plus Venice is sea level.  I miss the ocean.
And it's Venice. 

The sucking vortex of evil(aka the library closet)

It isn't quite like the Borg, but I am revising my opinion that Resistance is futile.  It seems like there's more in there everytime I go to open it.

I found more YA books yesterday AFTER I finished the list.  Plus there's session stuff I can't reach.  Then there's the duplicate books that haven't been cataloged.  I'm searching the Perpustakaan (the current online catalog)for all of them and then checking the shelves to make sure they are actually here before adding a second copy.

I screwed my courage to the sticking place and actually opened a box that said it was 'history'.  It sorta was.  Lots of things on the schloss itself, some files of sessions, magazines and something that looked like PR materials. 
If I do it before the caffeine kicks in, I don't have time to be afraid.  Or very afraid.  So that's on the list for the end of the week.
I would like to do it tomorrow, but I have to actually clear a spot somewhere in the office before dragging it out of the vortex of ev--I mean closet.

And if you don't believe me "Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"

I'm being very literary today.  I've quoted Dickens, Shakespeare, Shelley, and Frost.  Not sure why.  It could be the fumes from the polish.

A really clean library

That's what they'll have when I leave.  If nothing else it will be clean and ruthlessly organized.  Today I made a huge dent in my master list, when I got wood polish!

My boss was a little amazed that one bottle of wood polish would make my day.  But she had gotten used to the non-glowy look of the wood in the library.  I knew better.  I'm using the Day Missions Room at Yale Divinity Library as my inspiration for the wood cleaning.
I told her we needed a gross of it.  She thinks I'm kidding.  I'm not exactly.  There's a lot of wood.  Plus the place hasn't been cleaned since Max (Reinhardt)died.  Okay, maybe sometime in this century, but not recently.  I went through 4 dust cloths in about an hour!  They are black with dust and dirt and whatever else...I don't want to think about it too closely.

Another problem is that the wood that makes up the place is really dry.  One match and whoosh!  I'd spray the polish and the wood would just suck it right up before I could get the cloth on it.  I'd love to hose it down with Murphy's Oil Soap, but that would entail moving the books and we just don't have the storage.

The schloss photographer came by in the afternoon and took my photo as I was cleaning the shelves.  It was a big deal.  He said no one's cleaned the place in his memory.  Bright side?  I made a dent in the dust and dirt and I'm helping the poor lonely books.  Down side is that I smell like wood polish.  It's not exactly the sexiest smell.

And don't get me started on the library closet.  Sigh.  At least the library is organized if a bit dirty and old.  The closet horrifies my librarian's soul.  But it will surrender.  Resistance is futile.

Sunday afternoon in town

It's a majorly beautiful day here in Austria.  Low 20's and the sun is shining and the birds are singing.  Everyone is out riding bikes or walking around.  Oh, that's Celsius.  Makes it about 73 degrees F.

I was going to the zoo, but my feet hurt, so I decided that I wasn't going to walk around today.  Okay, I walked a little. 
I went into town and back.  I decided to see the Getredistrasse, which is the main shopping street in town.  It has lots of stores, cool signs, and it's mostly populated by tourists.  Besides there was pizza!  I did get some t-shirts for friends, but I didn't get chocolate today which was my other goal. 
I was distracted by the Christmas in Salzburg shop.  This time of year it's less Christmasy and more about Easter.   
The ornaments are actual eggs that have been painted, detailed, or just decorated like a Christmas ornament.  It's not actually just for the tourists, although it is a tourist shop(mostly).  They do Easter trees here, so I've heard.  Easter is a very serious business here. 
Instead of baskets they have little egg cartons, so you choose your egg and it is protected.  I kept telling myself I didn't have to buy a dozen even though that's how many the carton was for.
How I'm getting these home is beyond me.  Have to get bubble wrap, I guess, in my suitcase or carry on.

More damn mountains

This time in Germany.  I've realized while I like mountains, climbing them isn't my favorite activity.  Although the cardio is really good and I could use the toning that it gives you, but still...

Five of us went to Berchtesgaden on Saturday to climb Jenner.  It's 1,800 meters(about 6,000 feet) so a pretty good hike.  I forgot my passport so I had to smuggle myself into Germany.  I bet that's not something you hear everyday.  :)  Honestly if you're in one EU country they don't care too much.  Except the UK.  But I digress.

After a walk through Salzburg to the train station we hopped one train to Bad Reichenhall, then switched to another to Friesling(I think that's the spelling) and then took the bus to the mountain.  Impressive.  Pretty.  Steep.

Grant went off on his own, since he was faster and more motivated to make it to the top than we girls.  Although we took a steep route to Mittlestation.  Practically all uphill(haha)  As Lisa said, Well, it is a mountain.
Stopped for snacks a few times, had clear mountain water from an Alpine fountain dealie...very cool by the way.  (Sorry no photo) It was a very warm and sunny day, so I'm really glad I packed the sunscreen, because melanoma is no one's friend.

They are still skiing on Jenner, so we had to watch out once for skiers near the mittlestation.  Seems so odd to see skiers in April!  But we were pretty high up.

We decided Mittlestation was as high as we wanted to walk, so we took the cable cars the rest of the way(shh, it's a secret).  Great views from the summit.  Okay, I didn't make it all the way to the summit, just a little below it.  The snow was still pretty deep and I don't have goat feet.  Just sneakers.  Even with Stickly(my pet walking stick) it was daunting.

After climbing and riding down we walked a bit around the town at the base of Jenner.  There's a lake and some touristy shops we poked into.  Then caught the bus back to the train station at Berchtesgaden to head to the Therme in Bad Reichenhall.

That goes down as one of the best experiences here so far.  The Rupertus Therme is a spa deal with these heated salty pools in different areas.  The outdoor one is sooo lush, as my British friends have said.  You float, swim and enjoy the jacuzzi like areas(chasing the bubbles is fun) while watching the sun set over the mountains.  It's a seriously wonderful end to a day. 
They have saunas, massages, water gymnastics, and a cafe.  It's a big family thing as there were lots of kids and couples there swimming and soaking.  I highly recommend it.  You know if you're in Germany(southern Bavaria) or Austria.

Moods of the mountain

I've been watching the Untersberg since I've been here.  It's not like the moods of the ocean, but I love it.  On Monday the mountain was hiding.  There's this huge bank of clouds hovering over it.  I missed it. I'm so used to it being right over my shoulder.  It cleared up, but it's never the same even in the same day.  Just the very peak was clouded.  Tuesday it was hazy.  And the end of the week it was clear in the morning, then clouded at the peak later on in the afternoon.

I really enjoy watching the different moods.