Saturday night was Vienna’s Long Night of the Museums. Over one-hundred-twenty museums were open from 18:00 to 01:00, and a 13€ ticket got you into as many as your could manage. In six and a half hours I managed:

Josephinum, a collection of medical wax models
the Tooth Museum, right around the corner from the Josephinum
the State Hall of the Austrian National Library
Otto Wagner’s Postal Savings Bank
Secession, specifically Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze
the Albertina
the Butterfly House

I only went to ones I have not yet visited, with the exception of the Albertina; I was hoping to find a painting by Klee that I first saw a few years ago. I remember it as a small watercolor of a cow on a mountain, but it was unfortunately no longer on display. I was kind of done by that point; it was late, I had spent several hours criss-crossing town on foot, in trams, and on the U-Bahn, and despite pleasantly cool weather outside, the inside of everywhere was uncomfortably warm. I felt like a fresh oil painting. But I’m also an expert at overextending myself, so I decided at the last moment to visit the Butterfly House. It’s virtually next door to the Albertina, and since it was almost 01:00, I figured they would kick everyone out pretty soon anyways, and I really just wanted a quick look at the interior. Not only was it the sultriest of interiors of the entire evening, it was also not exactly as advertised. Due to it being either the wrong time of day or year, most likely both, there weren’t a whole lot of butterflies fluttering about. There were loads and loads of cockroaches. Everywhere. And not behind glass. Right out there with everything else. At least they weren’t scuttling about. I have a completely irrational fear of scuttling cockroaches. Also finding them in unexpected places. I once pulled open a silverware drawer only to find a cockroach lolling around in a spoon. I slammed the drawer and approximately one nano-second later was standing in the living room. By the time I reassembled my spine enough to open the drawer again, it was gone. I know they can’t hurt me, but I freak out all the same. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s their dazzling speed, their uncanny ability to disappear in the blink of an eye through an electrical socket without frying themselves, their affinity for hanging around toilets, where one’s guard and other things may be down, or the common knowledge that there’s never just one. But I can kind of handle them if they are sitting still, and the Butterfly House roaches were doing just that, but essentially on every possible surface, including the vines drooping into the pathways, and the walls that were oh-so-easily brush-up-against-able. I made sure to shake out my jacket and double check the cuffs on my jeans before going home. Perhaps being in such close proximity to so many roaches, without the comfort of a glass barrier, allowed me to make one tiny baby centipede step towards overcoming my hair-trigger turn-and-run reflex towards them. At least I hope so. I found it amusing that one can rent this venue for, say, a wedding. The idea of brides, bridesmaids, and roaches, all together on a special day…endless entertainment. There’s a cutesy note on their website about the butterflies acting as witnesses, but curiously no mention of any other insects doing the same.

When I bought my ticket for the event, I was handed a small packet of gummi butterflies. I checked this morning that it did actually contain gummi butterflies, and not gummi cockroaches. 

Austrian National Library State Hall

Otto Wagner’s Postal Saving Bank – classy then, classy now

best to not sniff the flowers in the Schmetterlinghaus