I got your kult-cha right here

CM dragged me out of the house yesterday at the unholy hour of 4pm, which is Primo Naptime Hour around here these days. We were both in need of some photo inspiration. I'm remembering that this take a picture every single day thing, while exciting, is also somewhat stressful, especially when you're sleeping your life away in the living room. There are not very many awesome pictures that can be taken while lying supine on the couch, it turns out (although lord knows I'm trying). So, out of the house we went, just a few blocks down the Mariahilferstraße to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna's biggest art museum.

As always happens in these cases (why oh why do I never learn?), I was so happy I left the apartment. First of all, the museum building itself is one of the most gorgeous in Vienna, which is saying something. It's all giant staircases, and ornate floors, and painted ceilings.

Zum Beispiel, THIS is the cafe. And now that I've bought a Jahreskarte (annual pass) to the museum, I can come here for coffee and cake any time I want.

I can't get over the floor. SO BEAUTIFUL.

The art itself isn't half bad, either. We didn't come close to seeing the whole place, but we browsed through the Picture Gallery (those Habsburgs were quite the art collectors), and zoomed through the Egyptian Collection (hieroglyphics and sphinxes and mummies, oh my).

I heart you, wide angle lens.

While drifting through the Flemish section, we found several painters making reproductions of the paintings. Being so artistically disinclined that stick figures are a challenge for me, I am completely astonished that anyone has the skill to do something like this.

12/365

In the same room, we stumbled upon a movie being filmed (we think). We were lurking around trying to eavesdrop and be inconspicuous when a guy on the crew came and told us we could walk by if we wanted to, but to not look directly into the camera. We opted to walk the other way instead, because honestly I'm not sure I can trust myself to follow those directions. But first we watched a guy get so flustered by the camera that he tried to walk between the velvet rope and the paintings, thereby setting off a loud beeping alarm that surely wasn't planned for whatever they were filming.

Phew. I may not always comport myself as well as I should in places like museums and churches, but at least I'm not THAT guy.